Wardner (video game)
A side-scrolling platformer from Toaplan published by Taito.
Wardner, a 1987 arcade platformer from Toaplan and Taito, puts players in the role of a boy named Dover who sets out to free his girlfriend Mia from the warlock Wardner. Later, it came to the Famicom Disk System and Sega Genesis, each with new content. Planned NES and PC Engine versions never materialized.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Toaplan
- Publisher
- Taito
- Designer
- Etsuhiro Wada
- Composer
- Osamu Ōta
- Platforms
- Arcade
- Famicom Disk System
- Sega Genesis
- Genre
- Platform
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Wardner is a side-scrolling action-platform game similar to Ghosts 'n Goblins and Rastan. The player controls Dover through five stages (six in the Genesis version) set in a fantasy land, rescuing his girlfriend Mia from the titular warlock by defeating his servants, some of whom act as bosses at stage ends. Some levels are linear, requiring running, jumping, climbing, shooting, or dodging enemies and obstacles. Later levels become more maze-like and exploratory, offering different routes to the end. Gold orbs collected from enemies increase firepower, and money earned can be spent in shops at the end of each stage for protective items and new attacks, some of which are also obtainable during levels. Hidden bonus secrets are found on certain setpieces, important for high scores and extra lives. A checkpoint system respawns the player at the last checkpoint reached. Losing a life occurs from enemy hits, collisions with obstacles, falling off the stage, or running out of time. The game ends when all lives are lost unless the player inserts more credits to continue.
Development and release
Taito brought Wardner to arcades in 1987, and it hit North American cabinets as Pyros. The soundtrack came from Osamu Ōta, working under the name Ree, marking one of his earliest video game credits before he worked on Twin Hawk and Snow Bros. In a 2012 interview, former Toaplan composer Masahiro Yuge recalled that Ōta joined the company when the team was still small. Tatsuya Uemura noted in a 2009 interview that Etsuhiro Wada created the project, which also took inspiration from Wizardry. A music album featuring tracks from Wardner and other Toaplan titles came out in Japan through Datam Polystar in June 1989. Daiei Seisakusho handled a Famicom Disk System port, which Taito released only in Japan on 25 March 1988. Sammy planned to bring a version to the North American NES under the name Pyross, showing it off at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show 1990. Dragnet developed a reworked Sega Genesis port, which Visco Corporation launched in Japan as Wardner no Mori Special on 26 April 1991, with Mentrix Software releasing it in North America that May. NEC Avenue announced a PC Engine port in 1988, later shifting it to the CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM² formats, but despite completed work and multiple delays, it was cancelled. M2 published Toaplan games for Japanese consoles, and in 2022 both the arcade and Famicom Disk System versions appeared as downloadable content in the Hishou Same! Same! Same! compilation for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.
Reception and legacy
In October 1987, Game Machine ranked Wardner as Japan's ninth top-earning arcade cabinet, beating out Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh and Black Tiger. Critics generally liked it, with many drawing comparisons to Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins. Commodore User's Mike Pattenden highlighted its presentation, visuals, and difficulty. Clare Edgeley from Computer and Video Games praised the gameplay and level design. Robin Hogg and Cameron Pound of The Games Machine commended the action, graphics, and play. Crash reviewers Steve Jarratt and Julian Rignall found it unoriginal but enjoyed the gameplay. Den of Geek called it a solid yet unmemorable Toaplan release. The Sega Genesis port drew a more divided response. Today, Tatsujin—a company named after Truxton's Japanese title, founded in 2017 by Masahiro Yuge—holds the rights, having joined Embracer Group in 2022.
More in Taito Games of the 1980s
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