Gradius Gaiden
Encyclopedia
is horizontal scrolling shooter video game produced by Konami
and released in Japan on August 28, 1997. It is the first Gradius-named title to incorporate 3D
graphics.
to this title. However, the player can select from several ships, each with a unique weapon configuration. In a slight carryover from Salamander 2
, Missile, Double and Laser weapons can be additionally powered up one level. These power-ups are permanent until the player is destroyed, even if he switches between the Double and Laser powerups. There are two new types of shield. One is called 'Guard', which attaches to the top and bottom of the craft and renders the player immune to physical obstacle collisions. The other is called 'Limit' and gives complete invulnerability and lasts for three seconds.
The difficulty level can also be adjusted from 'easiest' up to 'hardest', for a total of Nine difficulty levels including the boss rush. On the easier difficulties, the more troublesome boss attacks are removed and the number of enemies on-screen is reduced.
At the near end of the eighth stage starting from the second loop of the game play, a Core Warship is added.
A player can rearrange the items in the power meter. This feature is only available in this edition in its series.
and Gradius IV, during the 3rd Bacterian War, the planet Gradius defeated the Bacterians by destroying the center of their power. The threat of invasion was gone and peace had returned to Gradius.
200 years passed....the civilization of Gradius prospered and looked as if the peace would last forever...
But that was before the nightmare returned.
It began with the disappearance of the science vessel which went to the dark nebula known as The Evil Range,
which had never been investigated before due to its notoriety as the Dangerous Nebula, and entering it was prohibited by the government. Soon after the disappearance of the science vessel, the colony planets of Gradius were attacked and ruined by some unknown force. The Gradius Army fought gallantly, but the invaders over-powered and destroyed most of the Gradius Army.
At this point, Gradius Army HQ decided to launch a desperation attack on the center of the dark nebula, which seemed to be the source of the invaders. Receiving the order, four hyperspace fighters launch from the mother ship to the dark nebula carrying the last hope to save Gradius on their wings.
. This ship has two different kinds of lasers available: round and pulse. The round laser, the most unusual weapon presented in this game, fires concentric rings of laser origination. The pulse laser is a two or three pronged burst laser, similar to the twin laser in previous titles.
Falchion β: This ship's weapons are variations on well known themes. The Falchion has a two way missile called a rolling missile, which tumbles to the ground where it splits and shoots both left and right. It also has a three-way limited range shot called Auto-Aiming, that fires a second shot within the angles of 0 to 180. Its laser weapon is the gravity bullet, which is a newcomer to the Gradius series but is present in several earlier Parodius
titles. It is based on the Spread Gun that is yielded by Pentarou in Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ and every title afterward.
Also, it has been speculated that the ship is not new at all, but an upgrade of the Falchion from the 1987 Konami game of the same name. http://www.gamestone.co.uk/gradiusold/cameo_airforce_delta.shtml
until the release of the PlayStation Portable compilation, Gradius Collection, in 2006 for North America and PAL region
s.
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
and released in Japan on August 28, 1997. It is the first Gradius-named title to incorporate 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
graphics.
Gameplay
The core gameplay of Gradius Gaiden remains relatively unchanged. However, two new ships are made available whose weapon configurations are new to the series. Moreover, several changes were made on the weapons system. The chargeable E. Laser, the Reduce size shield, option types, are all items that have been removed in the transition from Gradius IIIGradius III
Gradius III, known in Japan as , is a side-scrolling shooting game originally released for the arcades in Japan and Asia in . It is the second sequel to the original Gradius for the arcades following Gradius II, and was followed by Gradius IV. Gradius III was rereleased for the Super Nintendo...
to this title. However, the player can select from several ships, each with a unique weapon configuration. In a slight carryover from Salamander 2
Salamander 2
is a scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Konami in 1996. The game is a direct sequel to 1986's Salamander and is part of the long-running Gradius series. The game is notable as it is the first in the Gradius series to incorporate three-dimensional graphic elements into its base of 2D graphics...
, Missile, Double and Laser weapons can be additionally powered up one level. These power-ups are permanent until the player is destroyed, even if he switches between the Double and Laser powerups. There are two new types of shield. One is called 'Guard', which attaches to the top and bottom of the craft and renders the player immune to physical obstacle collisions. The other is called 'Limit' and gives complete invulnerability and lasts for three seconds.
The difficulty level can also be adjusted from 'easiest' up to 'hardest', for a total of Nine difficulty levels including the boss rush. On the easier difficulties, the more troublesome boss attacks are removed and the number of enemies on-screen is reduced.
At the near end of the eighth stage starting from the second loop of the game play, a Core Warship is added.
A player can rearrange the items in the power meter. This feature is only available in this edition in its series.
Story
The setting is between Gradius IIIGradius III
Gradius III, known in Japan as , is a side-scrolling shooting game originally released for the arcades in Japan and Asia in . It is the second sequel to the original Gradius for the arcades following Gradius II, and was followed by Gradius IV. Gradius III was rereleased for the Super Nintendo...
and Gradius IV, during the 3rd Bacterian War, the planet Gradius defeated the Bacterians by destroying the center of their power. The threat of invasion was gone and peace had returned to Gradius.
200 years passed....the civilization of Gradius prospered and looked as if the peace would last forever...
But that was before the nightmare returned.
It began with the disappearance of the science vessel which went to the dark nebula known as The Evil Range,
which had never been investigated before due to its notoriety as the Dangerous Nebula, and entering it was prohibited by the government. Soon after the disappearance of the science vessel, the colony planets of Gradius were attacked and ruined by some unknown force. The Gradius Army fought gallantly, but the invaders over-powered and destroyed most of the Gradius Army.
At this point, Gradius Army HQ decided to launch a desperation attack on the center of the dark nebula, which seemed to be the source of the invaders. Receiving the order, four hyperspace fighters launch from the mother ship to the dark nebula carrying the last hope to save Gradius on their wings.
New ships
Jade Knight: Eponymously, every weapon this ship has is tinted green, including the options. Its missile, the spread bomb, is a carry-over from Gradius IIGradius II
is a horizontally-scrolling shooter originally released for the arcades in Japan in . It is the sequel to original Gradius and was succeeded by Gradius III. Ports of Gradius II were released for the Family Computer, PC-Engine Super CD-ROM², and X68000 in Japan...
. This ship has two different kinds of lasers available: round and pulse. The round laser, the most unusual weapon presented in this game, fires concentric rings of laser origination. The pulse laser is a two or three pronged burst laser, similar to the twin laser in previous titles.
Falchion β: This ship's weapons are variations on well known themes. The Falchion has a two way missile called a rolling missile, which tumbles to the ground where it splits and shoots both left and right. It also has a three-way limited range shot called Auto-Aiming, that fires a second shot within the angles of 0 to 180. Its laser weapon is the gravity bullet, which is a newcomer to the Gradius series but is present in several earlier Parodius
Parodius
, or just Parodius, is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami for the MSX computer and was released in Japan. The game is notable for being the first title in the Parodius series, although it is often confused with its sequel Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ in that respect, which...
titles. It is based on the Spread Gun that is yielded by Pentarou in Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ and every title afterward.
Also, it has been speculated that the ship is not new at all, but an upgrade of the Falchion from the 1987 Konami game of the same name. http://www.gamestone.co.uk/gradiusold/cameo_airforce_delta.shtml
Ports
Gradius Gaiden never initially saw availability outside of JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
until the release of the PlayStation Portable compilation, Gradius Collection, in 2006 for North America and PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
s.