TGS 2003 Gradius V Update

Konami had a playable demo of Gradius V for the PlayStation 2 at its TGS booth, and we took a quick look to see how it's coming. The version of the game on display is more or less the same as what we saw at E3, which is to say it's looking beautiful and also pretty damn fun. Gradius V plays like all the other Gradius games you may remember from way back when--as you collect power-ups, you can select from various ship upgrades like speed, missiles, lasers, and options, which are little glowing orbs that circle your ship and provide extra firepower. This time around, you can actually control the options with the right analog stick, which is a first for the series.

One of the levels in the demo was the same as what we saw at E3, which took place in space and had you blasting away at some sort of giant red pulsating space orbs. Another level in the TGS demo, however, appeared to be new and involved some vertical scrolling (though it still took place from a side perspective) and had players avoiding some sort of giant robotic walker with long, spindly legs. If anything, this sequence proves that Gradius V will carry on the series' tradition of big, obstreperous boss characters.

Though we didn't get to see much that's new about Gradius V, we're still equally excited about its mixture of old-school shooter mechanics and new-school 3D graphics. The game's February release date fast approaches; in the meantime, we'll bring you more on the game as soon as we have it.

See more of GameSpot's coverage of the 2003 Tokyo Game Show.