You were a gladiator, and you kept moving to the side, gradually losing pieces of armor. The joystick lets you move your shield up and down. It was pretty detailed, from what I recall.
Is this it?
YES. Thank you! It was so weird but I can’t put my finger on why. Is it really just called Gladiator?
No idea - I just searched for ‘gladiator side-scroller arcade game’
Sigh That probably should have been my first move. Thank you again.
Yep.
I remember the demo of that game.
“Agathon!”
“Irene!” (Pronounced “E-ren.” Also the only boss the demo doesn’t insult.)
And of course there’s a TV tropes page.
Looking at the video, I think it was just weird on its face…
I played this a ton in my first year of university in England. It was call The Great Gurianos (at least in th arcades I played in).