Pyros

Wardner (Pyros in North America) was produced by Taito in 1987.

In Wardner, you take on the roll of a short, chubby guy whose name I am not aware of. The game starts when you and a girl are approached by a wizard promising a “fantasia” of sorts. You follow the wizard, and he kidnaps the girl, commenting that she will make a nice gift for Mr. Wardner. We can’t have that, can we?On your quest to save your friend, you have to travel across 5 levels, to reach the evil Mr. Wardner. You will have to destroy monsters, jump over and duck under various traps, and collect gold and orbs to help you with your journey. You have a weapon meter on the bottom of the screen, which shows your current weapon, and weapon power (1 to 8). All weapons use the same power, so if you change weapons, you won’t lose the power. The power, rather than making your weapon stronger, lets you fire it faster.

The Japanese title of the game is Wardner No Mori.