Gradius Collectection is maybe not for everyone, but old school gamers will sure apreciate it. Detailed review.
First of all, the game contains Gradius, Gradius 2: Gofer No Yabou, Gradius 3 (arcade), Gradius 4, and Gradius Gaiden which is a game that never was released outside of Japan. There's also a Gallery where yo ucan listen to the games' soundtracks and two X68000 version of two games' soundstracks as well as an added bonus. Also, there are movies from a few other Gradius games. Inside any games' options, you will get settings for difficulty, screen size, life, "default settings", power up style, hit box size, screen zoom, slow down rates(from alot, to none), and lastly, a key configuration. The option menu can vary from game to game, but is mainly similar in all of them. The last thing to mention is that you are able to save and load games at a certain checkpoint, anytime. This can be cruecial if you are not skilled enough to defeat any of the games in one go without losing enough lives.
For the games, before i start reviewing them, I will have to point out that each games are very well emulated from their arcade and home console counter parts. Now, onto the games...
Gradius:
Gradius was originaly released in 1985 and was mysteriously renamed "Nemesis" in some parts of the world. In... "Nemesis", your goal is to pilot the Vic Viper through 7 stages in order to destroy the evil "Bacterions" empire. The gameplay is simple, you can move in 8 directions and shoot 2 bullets on screen at a time per ship and options(will be described below). When certain enemies or waves are destroyed, a red power-up will be droped in the screen. If one is grabed, a word from the "power-meter" will be highlighted and will be available to chose as a power-up. If you don't select a power-up and collect an other, the next word will be highlighted until it reaches the end, just don't get too many, else it will loop back at the begining and yo uwould had collected too many power-ups for nothing. Blue power-ups will destroy any small enemies on the screen. While i' m at it, the most essential power-up are the options. Options are red little orbs that folow and mic your ship's movements and attacks.
Now, for 1985, Gradius has really good graphics and it is very clear that the developer were aiming for something right there. The music is rather good, but some songs feel very uninspired(stage 3 for example). The main gameplay in Gradius is what counts. Like in many shoot-em-ups, hit anything without a shield, and it is instant death. The only problem is that they take away your power-ups when you die (even speed-ups), making it harder to get to the boss than fighting it. Also, enemies become more agressive as you get more power-ups, AND after every stages without dying once. This can make the game end sooner than you've expected, which is a shame because gradius is definitely a good game worth playing. Also, the options can have some little troubles folowing you around sometimes.
Overall, Gradius is frustrating, but quite fun and will keep you entertained for quite a while.
Gradius 2: Gofer No Yabou :
The sequel to the original Gradius, Gradius 2 was called Vulcan Vulture in some parts of the world and was released in 1988. The Style of gameplay is pertty similar to Gradius' and only one thing was changed. Now before starting and after every continues, you will be presented to a screen where you can select a pre-set of weapons, including the all new from Life Force, the Ripple Laser. Also, we are now introduced to the force field, a shield that protects your entire ship, but only last 3 hits. The gameplay is rather unchanged, but instead of playing through 7 stages, there are now 8, with stage 7, serving as a "Boss Parade". Graphic wise, the game looks splendid. The game has many detailed sprites and they are always interesting to see. The music, is just plain sweet. Many of the tracks feels original and are very catchy, also , even that old boss theme from Gradius makes a return.
Finaly, Gradius 2: Gofer No Yabou is very fun and quite superior to it's predecesor. Even though i forgot to say that the hitting detection can be weird soemtimes, the game, will pretty much never let you down. Frustratingly addicting, great music and graphics is what i say, if you like retro games.
Gradius 3(arcade)
The third game of the serie never made it in North America, well only as a port on the SNES. Gradius 3 on the arcade was released in 1989, a year after Gradius 2. So, first of all, the style of gameplay is once again ,barely unchanged. You still have the pre-sets of weapon from Gradius 2 with a few new weapons and shields, but now we are introduced to the "edit mode". The "edit mode" lets you choose some weapons at your own desire and risk to make your own power-bar. This is a great idea, because figuring out the best weapons to use during a Gradius game, is very helpful. The only draw back is that a few selections are locked and will be only accessible after beating the game on it's normal difficulty settings. Now, again, the gameplay is rather similar to Gradius 1 and 2, but there is a seventh slot in the power-bar now, which is usualy the well known devastating crash, or somethign else.
This is all there is new to the gameplay. Before i talk about the gameplay, i want to say that the graphics, again are great, but some sprites feel recycled. Also the music is great aswell, but only a few songs do not match up G2's quality. Well, onto the gameplay. Gradius 3 plays just like the other games, except for unknown reason, you can't get to the very front of the screen(right), which is a giant pain. The reason why my writing doesn't seem too happy about Gradius is that the developers did the biggest mistake that anyone should never ever do in their life. They've made the game near unplayable, by making it unhumanly hard. Starting from the begining of stage one, uf you haven't been practicing, there are chances you die right away in that stage. Diying once is unacceptable in Gradius, because it literaly spells out "GAMEOVER" right away due to the harsh difficulty. Also, every stages are harder than the one before. Even if it seems impossible, it isn't, because i know people who spent years practicing and beaten the game on it's normal difficulty settings. It's only a shame, that they,ve made it like the others and tha tit loops when you beat it. Oh yeah, the hiting detection in this game, constantly changes depending on what object you hit.
So, Gradius 3 has the potential of being a great sequel to Gradius 2, but all the flaws in the game AND it's unhuman difficulty really holds it back. Even with those flaws aside, i can say that Gradius 3 is quite good. It's just a shame tha tmany people will give up, before beating it.
Gradius 4:
Gradius 4 was released in 1999, but only in Japan... "again". the style of gameplay is unchanged, but in fact, the "edit mode" was taken out and all you get is two new presets of weapons. In other words... instead of going forward, Konami went backward in time to try to fix Gradius 3's problems i guess. Anywho, the graphics, are rather questionable. Yes, the sprites are extremely detailed, but animations are rather awkward and blocky, even to the detailed 3-D objects. The music, is good, but not outstanding. It literaly seems recycled and somewhat remixed from previous games, even the boss song, but it does sound cool though. Also, the voice acting is downright awful.
Now, the gameplay is similar to the previous Gradius games "obvious", but many of the stages are, like i said, recycled just like the music. The first stage looks like the first stage from Gradius 2, the third stage is a mix with Gradius 2's cystal level and 3's bubble level. Thankfully, Konami reduced the difficulty, but still, the game feels rather unplayable. Many of the deaths you have to suffer through are cheap and unfair, yes al lthe other games are unfair, but here, it seems just plain cheap. The game plays well, until level 3, where animations are the key for doing a cheap death for your ship. It's not like that throughout one stage, but in fact, throughout the entire game. If you don't know how, you die, but still it required me some luck to pass some sections, even with full power-ups.
Overall, Gradius 4 will get your attention and you will play the game for awhile. Unfortunatly, you will notice that you are being killed by cheap shots and that the game uses way too much mode 7 animations and that the music isn't spectacular. Gradius 4 is quite a downgrade in the series and needed a fix. It isn't as rewarding as it seems and will only frustrate you but you will not be having too much fun, playing it. Still a fair game, but not worth killing your nerves for it.
Gradius Gaiden:
Released in 1997 on the Playstation in Japan "yep, again" really was the sequel to Gradius 3. It never was a port, but a completely new game, for the console only. Gradius Gaiden's style of gameplay is again, almost unchanged. When you start a game, the game will ask you to select between 4 different ships, al lwith their own unique power-ups. Also two new shields were added in the game, one is the weak "barrier" who is meant to protect against obstacles such as ground, ceilings, and walls, then the barrier is the last new shield. It makes your ship completely immune to everything for 3 seconds. Lastly, you can set any power-ups in any order you want to. "Need options really quickly? Put it first or second!". The only disappointing thing is that they've taken away the two player mode from the Playstation version. Anywho, the gameplay is unchaged, except for the new layout of the the power-bar. Other than that, you will have to fly through 9 stages of very well designed stages. For example ,ti was the first time a snow stage was introduced in the Gradius series. Alot of the time, the game is just filled with actions, but one time, the game will tell you to chose one out of two path in a stage leading to a different end boss, even if the next stage is the same on either paths. The game really packs so much stuff in content and design that i will only say, great. There's a snow level, a level made out of dead enemy ships, a crystal level where your lasers do reflect from them. A moai stage, an organic stage, a forest stage, a classic stage being destroyed by a black hole, and so on... There's a few exception where the game could feel that one little problem could be fixed, but other wise, the gameplay is very enjoyable and rewarding....and not cheap. the graphics are almost entirely in 2-D except for a few 3-D objects. They are very well animated, colorful, and full of personality and structure. Same could be said for the audio, which are in fact very well orchestrated adn you might feel like having them on your music player.
Finaly, Gradius Gaiden is a great shoot-em-up. With impressive graphics and audio, it is literaly eye and ear candy. The game wouldn't be so great if the game play wasn't as good as the audio and graphics, and it is. It's a shame tha tthe two player option has been striped, but the game is still very enjoyable , even, alone. I really have to disagree with GameSpot's score for Gradius Gaiden which was a bit over 7, but not an 8.
If you can play it, i really recommend it, any versions.
So, you've might had spent atleast 5 minutes or more reading this lenghty review. All there is to say now, is that i hope i haven't wasted your time, and that Gradius Collection is very well worth buying. The few draw backs it has and it's well known difficulty will not apreciate everyone, but for old school gamers and hardcore gamers, this will be more, than just a time killer.
If you can find a copy, it is highly recommended that you buy it, if you like those sorts of games.
Review write by;
Meffaliss05
Final Score: 8.5 (Hey , i spent 10$ for the UMD, and i think i would buy it again for my Go! That good.)