Vanguard (video game)
1981 scrolling shooter with diagonal scrolling and four-directional fire.
Vanguard is a scrolling shooter arcade game from 1981, developed by Tose and released by SNK. It debuted in Japan and Europe that July, with North American manufacturing rights going to Centuri in October and Italian rights to Zaccaria later that year. Cinematronics handled conversions for cocktail-style cabinets in North America. Tose had already developed several games before Vanguard, including *Sasuke vs. Commander* (1980), though they remained uncredited as SNK outsourced the work.
The game ranks among the earliest forced-scrolling shooters, arriving after *Scramble* and *Super Cobra* (both from earlier in 1981) and in the same month as *Cosmic Avenger*. Like Sega’s *Space Odyssey* (also 1981), it includes both horizontal and vertical scrolling sections, but *Vanguard* adds diagonal scrolling as well. Players pilot a ship through tunnels to reach a final boss. An 8-way joystick controls movement, while four buttons arranged in a diamond let the ship fire in four directions independently of its direction of travel.
Atari, Inc. brought *Vanguard* to the Atari 2600 in 1982 and the Atari 5200 in 1983. A sequel, *Vanguard II*, appeared in arcades with top-down, multidirectional scrolling similar to *Time Pilot ’84*, but it remained obscure.
**Plot** The Gond terrorizes nearby space colonies with periodic destructive raids. To end this reign of terror, the player pilots an advanced fighter ship with powerful offensive capabilities. The mission: enter the cave inside the Gond’s asteroid home, fly safely through every zone—Mountain Zone, Rainbow Zone, Styx Zone, Stripe Zone, Bleak Zone, and the City of Mystery (also called Last Zone), where the Gond is said to reside—and destroy the Gond. Failure means the colonies are doomed.
**Gameplay** *Vanguard* plays similarly to *Scramble*: the ship automatically scrolls forward through levels. Fuel constantly depletes, but unlike *Scramble*, destroying enemies replenishes it, so running out is less common. Some sections scroll vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
The ship fires lasers in four cardinal directions using four separate buttons. Collecting an energy pod grants temporary invulnerability, allowing the ship to destroy enemies and tunnel walls by ramming them.
The game has two tunnels, each with multiple zones. The first tunnel includes Mountain Zone, Rainbow Zone, Styx Zone, Rainbow Zo
- Developer
- Tose
- Publisher
- SNK
- Release Year
- 1981
- Genre
- Scrolling shooter
- Platform
- Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200
- Notable Feature
- First shooter with diagonal scrolling
Lore & Background
Vanguard was developed by Tose, uncredited as an outsourced developer for SNK. Tose had already created several games before Vanguard, including *Sasuke vs. Commander* (1980). The arcade version was licensed to Centuri for North American manufacture and to Zaccaria for Italy. Cinematronics converted the game to cocktail cabinets. The game uses custom sound chips to produce digitized voice and synthesized sounds, including zone announcements and a warning when a power-up is about to end. Its introductory theme is borrowed from Jerry Goldsmith's score for the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the power-up music is from Queen's Vultan's theme from the 1980 film Flash Gordon.
Reader's Guide
Vanguard is historically significant as one of the earliest scrolling shooters, released the same month as Cosmic Avenger and following Scramble and Super Cobra. It introduced diagonal scrolling sections, a novelty at the time, alongside horizontal and vertical scrolling. The game's four-directional independent firing system, controlled by four buttons in a diamond arrangement, was a distinctive gameplay mechanic. The Atari 2600 port, programmed by Dave Payne, was the 21st best-selling Atari cartridge of all time and was praised by Video magazine as a faithful translation. The Atari 5200 version received mixed reviews, with some praising its graphics but criticizing its controls. Vanguard was the top-grossing arcade game on US Play Meter charts in December 1981. Its legacy includes a less successful sequel, Vanguard II, and the game's title was later used by NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere as his title within the organization.
Did You Know?
- Vanguard was not the second game developed by Tose; they had already made several games before it, including *Sasuke vs. Commander* (1980).
- Claims about the Atari 2600 version being the 21st best-selling Atari cartridge of all time cannot be verified from reliable sales data and appear to be invented.
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