Vanguard (1981)

For the 2007 MMORPG, see Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Vanguard (ヴァンガード) is a 1981 arcade game developed by TOSE, and published by SNK in Japan in 1981 and later during the same year in Germany by the same publisher, while it was licensed to Centuri for manufacture in North America in October 1981 and by Zaccaria in Italy during the same year, putting SNK on the map in those regions. The game was also licensed to Cinematronics for conversion to cocktail arcade cabinets in North America.

The game is one of the first shooters with scrolling in multiple directions. It is also the first color game released by SNK and an early example of a dual-control game, similar to the later Robotron: 2084, but using four directional buttons rather than a second joystick.