DEFENDER
ARCADE
Q Guardian... Defender... geddit? Acid Software’s
magnum opus is a barely disguised love letter to Eugene
Jarvis’s legendary 2D arcade shoot-’em-up – and, in fact,
the developers coded an Amiga shareware version of
Defender the year before Guardian’s release. Defender,
unsurprisingly, holds up exceedingly well today, too.STAR FOX
SNES
Q Star Fox lacks the speed and freedom of movement
of Guardian, but graphically it’s ver y similar. To achieve
those visuals on the SNES, developer Argonaut had to
leverage the power of the Super FX chip. Both games
suffer from horrendous pop-in, although this is less
noticeable in Guardian thanks to its super-fast gameplay.STARGLIDER
AMIGA
Q Coded by Jez San years before his company Argonaut
made Star Fox, Starglider has more in common with
the free form combat of Guardian than the Nintendo
game. The wireframe graphics look dated by today’s
standards, for sure, but at the time, in 1986, they would
have blown your mind.SMARTER THAN
YOUR AVERAGE
BOMB
Q Why are they called smart
bombs? Blowing up everything
on-screen isn’t particularly clever
- more just really worrying.
LOOK OUT
BEHIND YOU!
Q Keep an eye on the radar screen
in case any cheeky spaceships are
sneaking up behind you. A quick flip
will let you turn the tables.PROTECT
THE FLATS
Q Let’s assume these are council
blocks. It’s your job to see that the
game world’s affordable housing is
safe from harm. If they’re all razed
to the ground, it’s game over.TWO CAN PLAY
THAT GAME
Q Guardian allows two players to
take turns to compete for a high
score. However, giving your rival a
dead arm while they’re playing is
generally frowned upon.MINORITY REPORT: AMIGA CD32