WELL. It's been a while since I've done one of these, but that's because I suck at video games. Only once in a while I can beat a game, or find a game that's easy enough to beat. This one took me about 1 to 1.5 hours to beat. And it was fun. So let's get started.
This game is obviously the third in the series. The first Gradius was on the NES and Gradius 3 was on SNES. I have no idea where the 2nd one fits in, since I've never heard of it, or tried to play it. For a SNES game, it kicks ass. It's not as famous as Metroid or Super Mario World, but it's just as fun. I picked this game by random and just started playing. I couldn't stop till I beat it.
If you couldn't tell by the top picture, this game is a SHMUP (Shoot 'Em Up) which means you just fire your lasers at everything that moves or shoots moving things. It's a very satisfying genre, and this game represented it well.
Now, I've played a few other SHMUPS before (by the way, the acronym is pronounced just how it looks), and this one is very different from the ones I've played, but in only one area. That would be the powerup system. Let's take a look at...uhm...Raiden, for example. In Raiden, when you see a powerup, say...blue laser, then you touch it, and now your ship is equipped with a blue laser. Simple. In Gradius, you do get weapon advancements, but they come in the form of weird orange circles with silver spikes around it. Each time you get one of these orange circles, the option on the far left is highlighted. You can either choose to activiate this option and get the effects, or get more orange circles and highlight other things. Each time you get one orange circle, your highlighter moves one space right. So some weapons need some saving up, but they can be worth it. That's another thing that's different, actually. The weapons are pretty unique. They have ground/ceiling hugging missiles, ripple lasers, rotating clones, and backshots. Also, the orange circles can activate different kinds of shields and special abilities. But these only partly made up how fun this game is.
The level design is pretty good. Before each level, you get this tranquil period where you have the chance to stock up on some orange circles, if you need them. This is very helpful because this game is hard. It's as hard as trying to dodge air molecules [exaggeration]. Unless you are the god of SHMUPS or you use save states on an emulator (like I did), you WILL die. It is inevitable. Fortunately, the game does come with some codes that facilitate your shooter experience. There are codes for 30 lives, full weapons, and warps. I did not use any of these codes the first time I played and I really wished I did. But I used save states instead, like I said. Well anyways, back to levels. The levels are really unique in that they put you in different parts of space, if they existed in real life. The graphics are good, and they help put you in the setting and get the right mood out of you: the mood to shoot the ass out of the other ships. And unlike some other SHMUPS, this game tried to be unique in bringing different elements into their gameplay. For example, some levels require you to slow down and shoot THROUGH walls and rush through before they close up again. Other times it's like a narrow passage that keeps rising and falling, and you really have to bust your ass to get through. Things like that just kept the spark going and kept me playing.
Will you get any story in this game? Well, maybe the manual has it all, because there is not a lick of story in this game. Right away you're dropped into space and you're shooting things before you know it. If you want a story, I can make one up for you right now:
In the depths of space, one lone starship pilot will risk his life and liver to save the galaxy from the grip of the evil dark space king. He will use everything in his power to restore order and peace into the -
Ok, that was sounding too much like any other cliche space story.
The sound effects are classic. Some people say that the audio doesn't matter in video games. Those people will find the people that do care about the sounds in their closets waiting to do...things to them. And I am one of those closet-peoples. I think that sound matters and this game delivered great sound. The music is enjoyable to listen to, especially at the boss fights.
Speaking of boss fights, those get very interesting. Like any good game, the bosses have a lot of variety. You're constantly shifting your strategy around to defeat them and move on, which is very stimulating. One thing the bosses have in common is this blue orb that they have on their bodies. You shoot them enough to reveal it and then you shoot the orb and then it turns orange and they explode. Hell yeah.
So overall, I thought this game was a satisfying 1 hour of my time. It was entertaining and fast paced. Just like all SHMUPS should be. It was a unique game, which only added on to the fun. And almost everything about it is good. One problem I had with it, and many others might have with it, is the difficulty, like I said. I mean, this game is really hard as it is, and your ship can only take 1 hit (assuming you didn't activate the shields yet). You just have to be REALLY careful until you get your shields, and then you can be KINDA careful. This game just kicks butt. I like it a lot.
The sound effects are classic. Some people say that the audio doesn't matter in video games. Those people will find the people that do care about the sounds in their closets waiting to do...things to them. And I am one of those closet-peoples. I think that sound matters and this game delivered great sound. The music is enjoyable to listen to, especially at the boss fights.
Speaking of boss fights, those get very interesting. Like any good game, the bosses have a lot of variety. You're constantly shifting your strategy around to defeat them and move on, which is very stimulating. One thing the bosses have in common is this blue orb that they have on their bodies. You shoot them enough to reveal it and then you shoot the orb and then it turns orange and they explode. Hell yeah.
So overall, I thought this game was a satisfying 1 hour of my time. It was entertaining and fast paced. Just like all SHMUPS should be. It was a unique game, which only added on to the fun. And almost everything about it is good. One problem I had with it, and many others might have with it, is the difficulty, like I said. I mean, this game is really hard as it is, and your ship can only take 1 hit (assuming you didn't activate the shields yet). You just have to be REALLY careful until you get your shields, and then you can be KINDA careful. This game just kicks butt. I like it a lot.
Gameplay: 9/10
Controls: 6/10
Difficulty: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Music/Sound: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10
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