Wardner

Wardner is a side-scrolling action-platform game similar to Ghosts 'n Goblins and Rastan where players control Dover, the main protagonist, through five stages (six in the Genesis version) of varying themes set in a fantasy land. Dover must rescue his girlfriend Mia from the titular antagonist by defeating his servants, some of whom act as a boss at the end of a stage, in order to progress further on the journey.

Some of the levels featured are linear in nature, populated with obstacles and enemies, requiring the player to traverse the stage by running, jumping, climbing, shooting or dodging enemies. Other levels featured later in the game become more maze-like and exploratory, making the player take different routes to reach the end. Along the way, gold orbs can be picked up by defeating enemies to increase the player character's firepower, as well as money that is used in shops at the end of each stage to acquire protective items and new attacks, though some of them can also be obtained during the level.

Wardner was released in arcades by Taito in 1987, while the North American version was distributed under the name Pyros. Osamu Ōta served as composer for the game's soundtrack under the alias "Ree", in one of his first video game roles prior to Twin Hawk and Snow Bros.. Former Toaplan composer Masahiro Yuge stated in a 2012 interview with Japanese publication Shooting Gameside that Ōta joined the company when their staff was small. Tatsuya Uemura stated in a 2009 interview that the project was created by Etsuhiro Wada and was also influenced by Wizardry. In June 1989, an album containing music from Wardner and other Toaplan games was published exclusively in Japan by Datam Polystar.

A port of Wardner for the Famicom Disk System, developed by Daiei Seisakusho, was released exclusively in Japan by Taito on 25 March 1988. A version for the Nintendo Entertainment System was developed and planned to be published by Sammy in North America under the name Pyross. This version was showcased to the public during the Summer Consumer Electronics Show 1990.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Wardner as the ninth most successful table arcade unit of October 1987, outperforming titles such as Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh and Black Tiger. Wardner was met with positive reception from critics, many of whom compared it to Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins. Mike Pattenden of Commodore User praised the presentation, visuals and challenge. Clare Edgeley of Computer and Video Games gave positive remarks to the gameplay and level design.

Likewise, both Robin Hogg and Cameron Pound from The Games Machine commended the visuals, action, and gameplay. Although Crash's Steve Jarratt and Julian Rignall noted its lack of originality, they praised the gameplay. Den of Geek, however, regarded it to be a solid but forgettable title from Toaplan.