Gradius Galaxies
Encyclopedia
Gradius Generation also known as Gradius Galaxies (North America
) and Gradius Advance (Europe
), is a horizontally-scrolling shooter handheld video game published by Konami
in 2001. The game, released for the Game Boy Advance
, is the only Gradius
title to be available for the system. Story-wise; the game is set between Gradius III
and Gradius Gaiden
. Bacterion was developing a powerful weapon to use against planet Gradius; but the evil entity was destroyed before finishing it. A few years later it crashes on a planet and it gradually starts changing it; apparently into a mechanical fortress. Before it can become a full threat; planet Gradius sends the Vic Viper to eradicate it; which in the game's ending destroys the entire deformed planet. (Taken from the game's manual.)
, an undefended final boss, and the power meter. The weapons system remains mostly unchanged as the configurations available are identical to Gradius III, with the exception that the edit mode is missing. There are four different types of weapons configurations: balanced (traditional Gradius), wide area (Salamander), power, and air-to-ground. Each configuration has the Vic Viper in a different color. Unlike Gradius III, there are only two shield options: shield and force field. In addition, the S.Option ("snake option") is also not present in this version. The player can however choose to have the computer assign weapon powerups automatically or leave it manual.
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
) and Gradius Advance (Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
), is a horizontally-scrolling shooter handheld video game published by Konami
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...
in 2001. The game, released for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, is the only Gradius
Gradius (series)
The Gradius games, first introduced in 1985, make up a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper...
title to be available for the system. Story-wise; the game is set between Gradius III
Gradius 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 Gaiden
Gradius Gaiden
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.-Gameplay:...
. Bacterion was developing a powerful weapon to use against planet Gradius; but the evil entity was destroyed before finishing it. A few years later it crashes on a planet and it gradually starts changing it; apparently into a mechanical fortress. Before it can become a full threat; planet Gradius sends the Vic Viper to eradicate it; which in the game's ending destroys the entire deformed planet. (Taken from the game's manual.)
Gameplay
Gradius Galaxies plays almost identically to other titles in the series. The player takes control of the Vic Viper spacecraft attacking onslaughts of enemies. All the traditions of Gradius are present: moaiMoai
Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...
, an undefended final boss, and the power meter. The weapons system remains mostly unchanged as the configurations available are identical to Gradius III, with the exception that the edit mode is missing. There are four different types of weapons configurations: balanced (traditional Gradius), wide area (Salamander), power, and air-to-ground. Each configuration has the Vic Viper in a different color. Unlike Gradius III, there are only two shield options: shield and force field. In addition, the S.Option ("snake option") is also not present in this version. The player can however choose to have the computer assign weapon powerups automatically or leave it manual.