The Guardian Legend

The Guardian Legend welds two genres together: an overhead shoot-'em-up and a top-down maze adventure, and both halves are good. You play the android guardian Alyssa, sent to a hollowed-out planet to disable the self-destruct sequence before it wipes out Earth.

Flying over the planet surface switches to a vertical scroller with power-ups and boss fights; landing drops you into labyrinth corridors where you walk, shoot in eight directions and hunt keys. Progress in the mazes unlocks the flight corridors, and the two halves share a single weapon and health upgrade pool - so time spent in the labyrinth always pays off in the shooter. Compile's design leans on that loop hard, and its boss roster and soundtrack are among the studio's best work on the NES.

• ▸Two genres in one: vertical shoot-'em-up and top-down maze exploration
• ▸Shared upgrade pool - items found in the maze power up the shmup sections
• ▸Large boss roster with distinct attack patterns
• ▸Compile's characteristically aggressive scroll speed and dense bullet patterns