Great Gurianos
Alternative title: Gladiator  (Arcade)
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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In Great Gurianos  (or Gladiator), the player controls a gladiator who must battle through a castle. The game is viewed from the side while the screen scrolls. The player controls the gladiator's shield as objects fly towards him. The gladiator is also able to strike opponents with his sword. There are also icons to collect to boost your armor or give bonus points. The gladiator also has the ability of temporary invulnerability.

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Gladiator, known in Japan as Ougon no Shiro (黄金の城 lit. "Golden Castle"?), was a 1986 arcade game developed by Allumer and published by Taito. It was followed by a sequel titled Blandia.

The player controls a gladiator/knight named Great Guaranos as he walks through a castle. Moving the joystick left and right moves Great Guaranos left and right, and up and down is used to position Great Guaranos's shield. The game's three buttons correspond to a high, medium, and low attack with Great Guaranos's sword. Gladiator consists of 4 Stages. The first level is the 'Underground Chamber', 2nd is the 'Brick Corridor', 3rd is the 'Roof Top' stage, and the 4th stage is called the 'Mysterious 4-D World'. Your reward for completing the game is to enter the "Treasure Place".

Gameplay is split between two modes; in the "obstacle" mode, Great Guaranos walks forward, and the player must use the sword and shield to defend him from bats, fireballs, arrows, shuriken, and other flying hazards. The "obstacle" mode is broken up by a "fight" mode, in which Great Guaranos must fight against another, similarly-armored knight. In both modes, an un-defended hit to Great Guaranos knocks off part of his armor (his helmet for a high hit, his breastplate for a medium hit, and his leggings for a low hit), and a subsequent hit to the same area kills him.

Your warrior "Great Guaranos" can generate a temporary force field during the obstacle course phases (when weapons and bats fly at him) by rapidly moving the shield up and down. This can only be done once per level. During the combat phases, Great Guaranos can become invincible (flashing golden) for a short time. To do this, you must gather 4 swords in the obstacle course phase by striking them and then bending to pick them up from the floor. This will turn his sword red. Then, during the combat phase, strike the opponent's shield several times. After the invincibility has ended, Great Guaranos' armor will be repaired also. This can only be done once per level.

On the third level during the obstacle course, Great Guaranos can jump up onto the railing behind him and avoid all the flying weapons.
 
To do this, press and hold the shield up when there is a break in the railing. Shurikens thrown during the obstacle course (level 1) are worth bonus points if they are struck just after they appear, as opposed to when they circle back towards Great Guaranos. Most enemy warriors will stop fighting and "jump for joy" when they remove your chest plate. You can defeat a difficult enemy by letting him remove your chestplate, and then strike him twice in the same spot while he's dancing.

The third green axe knight on the third level will often freeze up (cease moving) after some time. If you are having trouble beating him, stay out of range and strike at his weapon and shield until this happens. You may then attack without the knight attacking or defending. Some enemies swords may be broken, rendering them helpless. Simply strike the weapons about 25 times to break them. The following enemies weapons can be broken.. (Stage 1) Solon, Irene (Stage 2) Zaid, White Armored Giant You can pick up the mace of the White Armored Giant in stage 2. The mace has a much stronger attack than the sword, but cannot break other weapons.

Characters

The main character is Great Guaranos (also -sometimes spelled "Great Gurianos"). In the First stage your first fight is with Solon. Solon fights with a standard Sword and Shield. You fight Solon 3 times before facing Irene. In the original Japanese version of the game, and in the first U.S. release (entitled "Golden Castle"), the female enemy Irene's bare breasts were exposed when her breastplate was removed. In the final U.S. release, a bikini top was added to obscure them. The game is also notable because the main character's sprite is half the height of the screen, which is much larger than the sprites in most arcade games released at the time. Gurianos is also a playable character in Allumer's 1992 game Blandia. The final battle for the first stage is with the "Red Demon". The "Red Demon" uses a Spiked shield and attacks you with projectiles (fire balls) instead of a weapon like the previous opponents.

In the Second stage your first fight is with Zaid. Zaid is armed with a sword and Spiked Shield. You fight Zaid 3 times before facing Zenon. Zenon fights with a stronger weapon; a Mace. He also has a spiked shield. The final battle for the 2nd stage is with the "Amazon Archer"; a projectile opponent that shoots arrows.

For the Third stage your first opponent is the "Green Knight". The "Green Knight" fights with a standard Shield and the stronger Axe. You fight him 3 times before facing the "Red Knight". This opponent fights with a shield and Mace. The final opponent for the 3rd Stage is Agathon. He fights with 2 extending swords. But only one is used for attacking while the other is used to guard. For a shield -this cannot be broken. But the sword he uses is the easiest weapon to break in the game (provided you have the sword only). If you have any other weapon (i.e. the 'mace') you cannot break it and will have to move in close for the kill.

The fourth and final stage you are met by the Gold Knight 'Gaius'. He has a nearly unbreakable sword (although it is possible to break it) and a standard shield. After defeating his mortal form he arises as a skeleton armed with the same sword but this time bearing a spiked shield.

Character Descriptions from the game are as follows:

Solon: A Sword Man. A Blockhead Fencer! (Stage 1)

Irene: Woman Soldier. A Mighty Lady. (Stage 1)

Zaid: A Club Giant. A Big Good for Nothing Fellow. (Stage 2)

Agathon: Two Swords Man. A Clumsy Fighter. (Stage 3)

The following Characters have been named from Flyers and the Operators Manual.
 
 Screenshot of the ZX Spectrum version, "Great Gurianos".

Zenon (Stage 2), and Gaius (Stage 4). Also in the Operators manual there is a character named "Princess Maitreya" but there is no 'Princess' to save in the game. However, there does appear to be a 'statue' of a woman in the "Treasure Place" at the end of the game. This could be her. Character names such as "Red Demon", "Amazon Archer", "Green Knight" and "Red Knight" are only TITLES and their true names are not verified.

Taito Nostalgia 1 version

In Taito Nostalgia 1 for Bandai's Let's! TV play CLASSIC plug and play game system, the original Japanese version and a new Amazones version are included. In the Amazones game, player controls the warrior Amazones Sana, and fights with arrow. When the warrior carries shield, Sana can attack and defend at the same time. In addition, there are also new bosses.[1]

Ports

Gladiator was released for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 as "Great Gurianos".
