Gladiator (1986)

Gladiator was created by Allumer and distributed by Taito in 1986, Japanese title Ougon no Shiro (Golden Castle). Despite the Western title, you're not controlling a gladiator in the arena fighting sense, but rather an armored swordsman as he ascends the floors of a tower, attempting to gain access to the riches of the treasure room at the pinnacle. 

The gameplay itself takes two forms. In the first, the hero, apparently named Great Guaranos (or Gurianos), walks from left to right down a lengthy hallway, blocking hails of projectiles - fireballs, blades, arrows, etc. - with his sword and shield. Having survived this onslaught, the hero is met by a series of warriors who try to prevent him from mounting the stairs to the next level. There are four levels before the game loops and becomes even more difficult, and it is already very difficult at the start. Among the opponents are other men with varying weapon choices, a swordswoman, a fire-breathing demon, a bow-shooting amazon, and eventually an undead skeleton.

The game's most distinguishing feature is that the fighters are all armored and their armor needs to be broken piece by piece before a killing blow can be struck in the exposed flesh. Both sword and shield can be held high, low, or in the middle, (joystick controls shield, three buttons control the sword attacks) so battles involve the opponents going for openings in the guard while simultaneously moving the shield up or down to stave off a strike. However, the shield itself can be worn down to little more than a strip of metal if too many blocks are made. On the player's side, many of the enemies' swords can be broken if hit enough, for those who want to try a more conservative style.

The game might not look like much today, but at the time of its release its exceptionally large, well-defined and muscular characters were quite striking and the gameplay was frantic yet encouraged strategy in how offense and defense should be managed. There are also some fun wrinkles, such as the ability to create a forcefield if the magical shield is picked up, the ability to turn invincible if certain conditions are met, or the ability to scoop up one enemy's mace as a replacement weapon.