The Gond Awaits: Why Vanguard Was a Game-Changer in 1981
1🕹 Game Name: Vanguard
📛 Alternate Names: ヴァンガード (Japan), Vangard (bootlegs)
📅 Release Date: October 1981
🔫 Genre: Side-Scrolling / Multi-Directional Shooter
👨 🏻 💻 Developers: TOSE
👨 🏻 💻 Publishers: SNK (Japan), Centuri (North America)
🔢 Max Players: 2 (alternating turns)
⁉ Cooperative: No
🕹 Game Introduction:
Vanguard was SNK’s explosive entry into the shooter genre, known for its distinct war zones, energizing soundtrack, and unique four-directional fire controls. It was bold, fast, and demanded twitch reflexes with layered levels and boss showdowns.
🕹 Game Description:
In Vanguard, you pilot a sleek spacecraft deep into hostile alien caverns in pursuit of the Gond—a monstrous final boss ruling over a deadly intergalactic empire. Navigate zone after zone packed with enemy fighters, deadly terrain, and power-ups.
🎴 Game Play:
👉 🏻 Auto-scrolls horizontally and vertically across different “zones.”
👉 🏻 Players use four directional fire buttons to shoot in all directions.
👉 🏻 Blast enemies, avoid environmental hazards, and collect Energy Pods.
👉 🏻 Picking up Energy gives you temporary invincibility.
👉 🏻 Final zone leads to a face-off with the boss: The Gond.
📕 Background & History:
Released just months before Zaxxon, Vanguard helped define the early shooter genre and was one of the first games to allow multi-directional shooting. It also popularized music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Flash Gordon—yes, it had licensed soundtrack elements!
🐣 Cheats, Tricks, Bugs, and Easter Eggs:
👉 🏻 Grab Energy Pods before swarms for free kills — you’re invincible for a short time!
👉 🏻 “Vertical Zone” can be gamed by hugging the edges — fewer enemies spawn.
👉 🏻 If timed right, some Gond attacks can be dodged by camping low and staying still.
🐱 💻 Hacks:
👉 🏻 MAME hacks enable infinite energy, max lives, and sped-up weapon fire.
👉 🏻 Bootleg ROMs like Vangard X alter difficulty and sprite colors.
🎉 Trivia:
👉 🏻 The game uses music from Flash Gordon and Star Trek, a rare move for early arcades.
👉 🏻 Vanguard was SNK’s first major international arcade hit.
👉 🏻 One of the earliest games with multiple scrolling directions (left, right, up, and down).
👉 🏻 The final boss’s name, The Gond, is never said in-game—only in the arcade flyer.
👉 🏻 Vanguard II launched in 1984 but failed to capture the original's charm.
Lonster's Review 👓
Vanguard is an adrenaline shot straight to the brain. Between the killer soundtrack, those ever-shifting level scrolls, and that four-directional fire setup? This thing had no chill. It made you work for every inch you advanced. The Energy Pod mechanic is one of the dopest early invincibility systems ever — instant power fantasy! This was SNK before Neo Geo, and it already slapped.
Legacy 🌟
While not as remembered as Defender or Galaga, Vanguard carved its place by innovating early shooter mechanics that would inspire R-Type, Gradius, and more. Its directional shooting system laid the groundwork for later twin-stick controls, and its use of cinematic music raised the bar for in-game audio.
Cultural Impact ✨
Vanguard’s use of recognizable film music and ambitious zone transitions made it feel bigger than other shooters of its time. It drew players in with its audio-visual style and kept them with fast-paced action and layered gameplay. It was even featured in old-school arcade montages and retro nostalgia documentaries as a major step in arcade evolution.
Lonster's Final Thoughts 💭
This one doesn’t just scroll — it goes. Vanguard is a hidden gem from the golden age, and if you’ve never shot in four directions while jamming to bootlegged sci-fi soundtracks, you haven’t lived. It’s retro chaos in the best way possible. Don’t sleep on it — The Gond awaits.
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