Simple, fun, addicting, and STRAIGHT TO THE POINT!
Difficulty: Varies
Time Spent: 10 to 20 Hours
Learning Curve: 0 to 30 Minutes
Gameplay: 9 / 10
Graphics: 8 / 10
Sound: 8 / 10
Value: 9 / 10
My Tilt: 10 / 10
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This is perhaps one of the best old school games people still play today besides Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda. As you may already you know you are driving a tiny little spaceship and your goal is to destroy pretty much everything that's shooting at you or in your way. Sounds straight to the point? Well, the twist is to survive all the little silver pixels that the enemies are shooting at you and collect "power ups" that let you select different weapon or power options such as "Speed Up" or missiles. Simple, but fun.
GRAPHICS: There are quite a few graphics error to this game like your plane sometimes disappear then return a second later... but what more can you expect from a game that old?
SOUND: For a game that's been out for so long I don't know what games I can compare to that's in that era. There are audio lags here and there but that is not too much of a deal.
VALUE, TILT: This is the best game to play when you are bored on a saturday afternoon when you are sick of those new fancy games with 'em cool graphics. Gradius, like other shoot 'em up games, is simple, fun, addicting, and straight to the point. No fancy crap where you discover secret locations or secret items. Unlike other shoot 'em up games though is its replay value. Even if you die on a mission you are still mysteriously drawn back to playing a second round. All in all, if you know they are still making sequels to this game to the latest ports such as PS2 then you know this game's got what it takes to survive for over 15 years.