A collection of some of the most solid shooters out there. (Actual: 8.39/10)

User Rating: 8.5 | Gradius Portable PSP
By Bowser05 | Review Date:
You know, I originally wondered why reviewers seemed to complain about there not being Gradius V included in this package, but now I understand why. As you go through this collection and beat each game in order, you will get a craving to play the next game in the series. That is fine, until you get to Gradius IV. Then you want to pop in the last game in the series (Gradius V), but realize that the only way you can play it is by purchasing a whole other game JUST for that. It would have been nice to have that in this collection in order to make it the perfect collection, but don't let that discourage you. This is still worth having (especially since Gadius II and Gradius Gaiden can be near impossible to get a hold of).

First off, the porting of the games is done flawlessly, right down to the slowdown in the original areas. You can even turn this slowdown off so everything runs smoothly (though it makes some parts harder). You can also save at any time you want, so that when you reload the game, it returns you to the last checkpoint you passed with all the powerups, score and lives you had (that means you could go through the same area over and over to get a fully powered ship before confronting a boss). This is a great tool for those of us that aren't as skilled at operating shooters as others. Also, you can change the screen ratio to its original ratio to avoid stretchiness, or just stretch it to fit the screen so that every pixel on your PSP is being used. Lastly, there are two extra features. The first is being able to listen to every music track from each of the included games (and they have good music). The second is being able to watch neat cutscenes for each of the 5 games that summarizes (minust the Gradius Gaiden video) each game with neat looking CG visuals. Anyway, here are the scores:

Gradius - 7.75
Gradius II - 7.0
Gradius III - 8.0
Gradius IV - 8.0
Gradius Gaiden - 9.0

Value - 9/10
Tilt - 10/10

Truthfully, there is only one thing I can fairly complain about in this collection: multiplayer. There is no cooperative play like in the originals, which is a major pity because that is half the fun (for the games in the series that allowed simultaneous play). Granted there could have been other special unlockable features, but what is included isn't bad. Otherwise, this is a collection that contains some of the best made sidescrolling space shooters out there, and most any PSP owner who has patience for good, solid and challenging gameplay out of an action game should own this. No ifs ands or buts. Enjoy.

OVERALL: 8.5/10.0 (8.39/10.0)

EDIT: I forgot to mention two things. First all of the versions included are the arcade versions of the games (minus Gaiden, which was only released on the PS1). Secondly, if you want to know about each game individually, read my review for each of the games. :-)

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