[Taito] Guardian/Get Star

Arcade (1986):
1-2 players(alternating)



Guardian seems to be the North American title, while Get Star is the Japanese title. I see no info otherwise, but according to MAME, Toaplan is also involved with the development/publishing. However, unless I missed something, it seems like it's all Taito otherwise.

Controls:
Button 1: Kick
Button 2: Punch
Up: Jump
Down: Crouch
Up & 1: Jump kick
Up & 2: Jumping punch
Down & 1: Low kick
Down & 2: Low punch


Just so you know what you're in for, the difficulty defaults on hard(your character can only take 2 hits, seemingly 1 more per lower difficulty, so very hard is most likely a 1 hit game).

Your character is constantly moving, unless you crouch. Every so often a red bubble pops up(visible in the picture above), and the more your character can collect in one life, the more they power up(I've never gotten Fire Punch, after Speed Punch. This almost reminds one of Gradius's power-up system, but as I've never gotten the 2nd one, I couldn't say if it would make you choose between them or not). When you die, you can continue(provided you have enough credits) by pressing 1 & the players Start button at the same time. Starting with the 2nd stage, you might see a white square with a blue cross float by, which when collected restores a health point. Enemies also get a bit more durable, with longer ranged attacks after the 1st stage. Boss battles are especially tricky in trying to hit the bosses and escaping, before they pull of their attacks.

A very simple, but difficult game.