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Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow


Previously, on the Mr. Godzilla! Show:

You're Going Down. Prepare for Descent.
You're Going Down Again. Let's Play Descent II.


- - -

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Video and update links - this post
Miscellaneous vidoes

- - -

Click the game title to go to that game's post.

Downloaded videos have two audio tracks: one with commentary and one without.























































- - -

May 29, 2015, marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Gradius in Japanese arcades. Since 1985, players have taken the Vic Viper and warded off attacks on the planet Gradius by the Bacterian Empire. Over the years, Gradius has spawned many sequels, conversions from arcade to console, side series, and many Konami games have left references to the groundbreaking shooting game in their other works. Over these last 30 years, Gradius has been a beloved part of the SHMUP (SHoot eM UP) genre. This thread will celebrate the 30 years-worth of games and cover as many Gradius-related games as possible.

In this thread, you can expect to see updates related to Gradius, Salamander, and Parodius. At least 30 games will be covered in this thread. Videos will include the entire game in a single video, since the length of these games typically run from about 20 to 40 minutes. For those familiar with my Descent threads, you can also expect a revolving door of co-hosts, such as UZworm, ElephantGun, and more.

Audience participation is greatly encouraged in this thread! Please submit your own videos and compete amongst each other for the best hi-scores you can get! The player with the highest score for each game that a contest is held for will win a prize!

- - -

The List of Gradius Games

The following is a list of Gradius and related releases that I've compiled. The games I will be playing will be pulled from this list. Not all releases are covered, such as the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum ports of Gradius. Ports that I have included in this list provide some significant changes to the game they are based on or that I just think are noteworthy to cover. I will not be playing every game in this list, which I will answer why later.

    1981.02.00 - Scramble (Arcade)

    1985.05.29 - Gradius (Arcade)

    1986.04.25 - Gradius (Famicom/NES)
    1986.07.04 - Salamander (Arcade)
    1986.07.00 - Life Force (Arcade)
    1986.07.25 - Gradius (MSX)

    1987.08.22 - Gradus 2 (MSX)
    1987.09.25 - Salamander (Famicom/NES)
    1987.12.26 - Salamander (MSX)

    1988.03.24 - Gradius II (Arcade)
    1988.04.28 - Parodius (MSX)
    1988.12.16 - Gradius II (Famicom)

    1989.01.27 - Gofer's Ambition Episode II (MSX)
    1989.12.11 - Gradius III (Arcade)

    1990.02.23 - Nemesis (Gameboy)
    1990.04.25 - Parodius da! (Arcade)
    1990.11.03 - Parodius da! (Famicom)
    1990.12.21 - Gradius III (Super Famicom/Super NES)

    1991.04.05 - Parodius da! (Gameboy)
    1991.08.09 - Nemesis II (Gameboy)
    1991.11.15 - Gradius (PC Engine)

    1992.12.18 - Gradius II (PC Engine)

    1993.11.12 - Nemesis '90 Kai (X68000)

    1994.04.26 - Gokujou Parodius! (Arcade)
    1994.11.25 - Gokujou Parodius! (Super Famicom)

    1995.12.15 - Jikkyou Oshaberu Parodius (Super Famicom)

    1996.01.00 - Salamander 2 (Arcade)
    1996.03.00 - Sexy Parodius (Arcade)
    1996.12.20 - Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius (Playstation/Saturn)

    1997.07.00 - Solar Assault (Arcade)
    1997.08.28 - Gradius Gaiden (Playstation)

    1999.02.04 - Gradius IV (Arcade)

    2002.01.17 - Gradius Generation (Gameboy Advance)

    2004.02.02 - Gradius Neo (i-mode)
    2004.03.01 - Gradius Neo Imperial (i-mode)
    2004.07.22 - Gradius V (Playstation 2)

    2007.10.15 - Otomedius (Arcade)

    2008.09.02 - Gradius ReBirth (WiiWare)
    2008.11.20 - Otomedius G (Xbox 360)

    2011.04.21 - Otomedius X (Xbox 360)

Scramble?
Yes, Scramble, the Konami STG from 1981. Gradius was initially planned to be a sequel to Scramble, and was even titled Scramble 2 during development until the name Gradius was decided on. Scramble was the first scrolling shmup that featured distinct levels, thus setting the standard for all shmups made after that to be designed around unique levels. Scramble also features the ability to fire two different weapons that could be independently fired and hazardous terrain. These gameplay mechanics would be present in Gradius four years later.

What is Salamander?
Salamander is the first side-series to Gradius. It is a direct sequel to Gradius and music, bosses, and other features were incorporated into the fold of future Gradius games.

What is Parodius
Parodius is another side-series that is not part of the Gradius-Salamander series of games, but is very heavily based on them. The Parodius name is a compound word that is a play on the words "parody" and Gradius. The Parodius games parody Gradius and make references to many other Konami games, such as Castlevania. Different power meter selections in Parodius use different characters instead of the Vic Viper (which is also in Parodius). The game's aesthetic is humorous and makes references and jokes that involve Japanese culture and folklore and is often absurdist (for instance, there is a large enemy that is a flying pirate ship with a cat's head and cat paws as oars for the boat that mews when you shoot it, or a giant bald eagle that wears an Uncle Sam hat.

What is Otomedius?
Otomedius is a spiritual sequel to the Parodius games, and the title is a play on the Japanese word for "maiden", otome and Gradius. I will not be playing the Otomedius games. Among reasons why is that I do not have an Xbox 360, let alone the means to record from one. I also think the direction that shmups have gone by using the otome theme is completely tasteless and appeals to a toxic part of Japanese gaming culture. Parodius can get pretty racey, but I think the humor in those games is referential to Japanese culture and has more of a Ren & Stimpy kind of vibe. Playing Parodius also doesn't make me feel like I've been put on an FBI watchlist, either.

What other games will you not be covering?
Other games that I may or may not make videos for are Solar Assault and the i-mode cell phone games. Emulation is possible for all of them, but we'll see how that goes.

How do you pronounce Gradius and what does that name mean?
There are two ways. Based on the reading of the Japanese katakana (グラディウス), Gradius is pronounced /grɑdiʌs/. In English, the stressed vowel is usually the "a", so it usually ends up being pronounced as /grędiʌs/, similar to how you pronounce the word "graduate". The pronunciation /greɪdiʌs/, where the first syllable is said like the word "grey", is incorrect. Gradius is a made-up word and unlike in Japanese, English is much more fluid in what sounds its written consonants and vowels are meant to sound like (largely because English spelling didn't become standardized until after Shakespeare and the language is the result of many cultures beating the ever living poo poo out of each other over the centuries). The word Gradius also has nothing to do with the Roman short sword called a gladius (which in Classical Latin was pronounced /ględiʌs/). The name was inspired by a science-fiction move title and the similarity between Gradius and gladius didn't occur to the game's developers until long after the game had been released. The name Gradius refers to the planet Gradius, and is the homeworld of the Vic Viper. But just remember that in Gradius, you collect power-ups so that you can graduate across the power meter.

Star Man's Gradius Favorites

Favorite game - Gradius IV
Favorite soundtrack - Gradius II arcade
Favorite track - Speed (Gradius Gaiden)

- - -

Thread Rules

Spoilers - There is barely anything resembling a plot in Gradius games. Bacterians invade, the Vic Viper destroys them, the final boss is usually harmless, you beat the game and start over again on a more difficult loop. There's no need to make the thread look like a declassified CIA document with spoiler tags. But don't get too far ahead of where the current update is.

Etiquette - I am not a very serious player of these games and prefer to play for survival rather than for score. I am playing them at their default difficulty and score settings. If you are a better player of Gradius games than I am or everyone else in the world, then good for you and contribute to the score contests. We all enjoy video games for our own reasons and shmup fans approach the genre in their own way. Don't knock me or other contributors down for inefficient or suboptimal play. Criticism is good, but don't be a dick about it.

- - -

LINKS

Gradius Homeworld - one of the few Gradius fan-sites in English that you'll find extensive information on the series. Gradius Homeworld has been around for a long, long time and Gamestone's been maintaining it since 1998. Gradius Homeworld covers information on every single released game and soundtrack. The site's curator also has an impressive collection of Gradius-related merchandise and arcade and other hardware. The website is also home to a small forum with discussion centered around Gradius and fan-games.
Gradius Wiki - A fan-made Wiki that compiles a lot of information about Gradius games, although most of them are poorly written. Useful for learning things like enemy and boss names.

SHMUPS.com - a forum for STG/shmup discussion. Also has some information on a handful of Gradius games and others.
Shmuplations - a website that has translated articles and interviews about Gradius games and other shmups.

More links to come.

Star Man fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Mar 25, 2016

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Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow
HI-SCORE VIDEOS

You know that feeling when you do well enough at an arcade game to rank on the hi-score table? Especially the feeling knowing that the arcade, restaurant, or grocery store you played arcade games in didn't reset the machine every night, so your score would last?

In this thread, audience participation is encouraged! Submit your own videos of Gradius games where you compete among each other for the best score.

How to submit a hi-score video

Video - if you have the capability to, record a video playing the game and upload it to your preferred video hosting site and provide a link. This is the preferred way of submitting your high score.

Input recording - if recording gameplay in a video is not possible on your system, then you may submit an input recording from your emulator of the game. You can get in touch with me by private message or e-mail [spoiler]starmanaevum at gmail dot com[spoiler] to arrange getting me the input recording. I will then record the video and upload it myself.

Screencap - if, for some reason that you are not able to provide a screen capture video or input recording (such as you played the game on a console), then you may submit a screenshot or photograph of the hi-score screen and indicate which entry is your submission.

Gradius 1 Arcade

Jaimers - 753,500 points.

MISCELLANEOUS

Gradius 1 Arcade

Over six hours of Gradius - includes recovery after death.

Gradius 1 Famicom

Averaging Gradius. - at least ten different recordings of the first stage of Gradius are overlapped. Each layer is given its own color to differentiate them from the others.

Salamander Arcade

Brain Golem dislikes gravity - not actually from Salamander, but you can tell that the boss is inspired.
Superplay by Spy Yamato - this is a rip from a VHS tape of a player playing loop ten of Salamander. Yes, you read that right, this was ripped from a video cassette. The video was recorded in 1988. We have invented nothing. The introduction is dope as gently caress.
14 loops of Salamander

FAN ART

By me. Look what happens when I combine my stupid and expensive space Barbie hobby with Gradius:

Star Man fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Sep 20, 2015

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow








Co-hosts: Elephantgun and Jacobus Spades

Scramble, released in Japanese arcades in February 1981 and in North America the following month, is a horizontal-scrolling shooting game. Scramble is not Konami's first shmup. The first shmup released by Konami was Space King in 1978, a Space Invaders clone.

Scramble is not a Gradius game, though it is given a mention in the opening of Gradius Generation. Scramble is noteworthy for being the genesis of several shmup gameplay mechanics such as being able to fire multiple weapons independently of each other, hazardous terrain, and distinct levels. These features would appear in virtually every horizontal-scrolling shmup later. During the development period for Gradius, it was called Scramble 2 until a name had been decided on for the new game.

Scramble has been released on many different platforms since 1981 and still is today. The game has been ported to systems such as the vector-based Vectrex, home computers and video game consoles. Newer editions of the game feature new graphics, but gameplay remains the same.

The object of Scramble is to progress through all six stages while destroying enemies, avoiding hazardous terrain, and destroying fuel containers. You lose when you collide with an enemy or the terrain or your ship runs out of fuel. You can replenish your fuel by destroying fuel containers on the ground. The game has a progress bar that keeps track of what stage you are in. When you reach the sixth stage, "BASE", you must destroy the enemy base that is at the bottom of the screen to complete the loop. If you don't, you will be given repeat chances to destroy the base until you run out of fuel. Destroying the base rewards you with a point bonus and you will start the game over on a more difficult loop. A little flag on the bottom right corner of the screen indicates which loop you are on.

Star Man fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Jan 31, 2016

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow








Co-hosts: Elephantgun and Jacobus Spades

Gradius is a 1985 shooting game released by Konami in Japanese arcades and as Nemesis internationally.

In Gradius, you play as the Vic Viper from the planet Gradius to fight against the invading Bacterian Empire. Waves of enemies will attack you in formation and from stationary positions. Destroying certain waves or red enemies will yield power-up capsules that you can use to increase the rank on the power meter below to select a new weapon or power-up of your choice after enough capsules have been collected. At the end of each stage is a sub boss that is followed by a single large ship known as a Big Core. Destroy the blue core at the center after penetrating through the barriers on the ship and you will progress to the next stage.

The game is one of the handful of arcade games released on the Bubble System arcade board. Konami's bubble system used bubble memory, a type of data storage that used magnets instead of a mechanical disk. The weakness of this type of hardware was that it was easily interefered with by the powerful magnets used in arcade speakers and other magnetic sources that were common in arcades. Finding a working bubble system arcade board is extremely rare and are worth a lot of money if they still function. The international release of Gradius and later hardware revisions used a standard ROM chipset instead. The bubble system requires that the board be warmed up to a specific temperature before booting up the game. A 99-second countdown accompanied by a song called "Morning Music" would play while the board warmed up to its required temperature.

Vic Viper BP-456X



The Vic Viper is the protagonist ship that you play as in Gradius and in nearly all future games. The Vic Viper is a space fighter capable of using many different weapon load outs and is a very destructive craft once all options are implemented.

The Vic Viper is named so because of its options. The options mimic the movements of the ship during play like a snake's body and tail, thus its name. The ship's design was inspired by the anime adaptation of E. E. Smith's Lensman. The movie's plot and design of the battleship Britannia greatly influence the look and setting of Gradius.



Power-Ups

In Gradius, the hallmark feature of the game is the power meter. In other shmups, you will find power-ups as you destroy enemies and pick them up and use them right away, and sometimes shooting at them would let you change what the item was.

In Gradius, you instead pick up red power-up capsules to advance the meter one grade. This allows you to choose the sequence in which you acquire weapons to your liking. There are six grades on the power meter, and picking up more than six without selecting an option will reset the meter back to the first grade. When you die, you will lose all of your accumulated power-ups and start over again naked. If you had anything selected on the power meter, it will reset back to the first grade, allowing you to get a speed-up.

Picking up a blue capsule will instead activate a Mega Crush, which erases all small enemies from the screen. In most future games, this will also erase any projectiles fired by enemies as well.





A speed-up will increase the speed that the Vic Viper travels as you move the joystick or control pad. You can activate up to six speed-ups, and each additional one will further increase your speed. More speed-ups will also increase the distance that your options are from the Vic Viper and from each other, allowing for an even greater amount of coverage of fire.





The missile is fired by a separate button from your main gun. Missiles fall to the ground and travel along the ground until they collide with an enemy or impassible terrain.





A double shot will add a second bullet that fires upward at a 45-degree angle. Your rate of fire is slowed down because you can only have two bullets on screen at a time for each option and the Vic Viper.





The laser is a long blue beam that will penetrate through enemies until it travels off-screen or into something it cannot destroy like a stronger enemy or terrain. Moving up and down will cause the laser beam to also travel in the same direction. Holding down the firing button will let the laser extend to its full length. Tapping the button will fire shorter lasers.





Options (or Multiple in certain releases) follow the Vic Viper around and mimic its movement and weapons. They cannot be destroyed by enemy fire or terrain. You can position your options so that they will travel through terrain or enemies to create attacking formations that will be advantageous to your survival. You can have up to four options at once.





The shield is the "?" selection on the power meter. Activating it will summon two blue gears that fly in from the right side of the screen and attach to the Vic Viper's nose. The shield can absorb fifteen hits by enemies or projectiles. Be careful because it makes you a larger target and skimming across terrain will deplete the shield. Activating it when there are many enemies on screen or in a lot of terrain will also deplete the shield while it flies toward you, but advanced players can use this to their advantage and take out a few enemies before the shield attaches to the Vic Viper.

Bosses



The Big Core is a recurring boss in Gradius and in many future games. After finishing the sub-boss in a stage, a Big Core will rise from the bottom of the screen and begin to attack you. It moves up and down and fires four shots in approximately your location. It cannot be damaged while the core in the middle is revealed. Once the blue core is revealed, you can shoot through the yellow barriers that shield the core to destroy the Big Core. If you do not destroy the core after a short time, the Big Core will self-destruct and deny you of any points.



Nucleus is the boss of the sixth stage. When you encounter it, a blue membrane covers the nucleus of the mechanical globule. Destroy it or let it time out and the tendrils will fire projectiles at you. These projectiles can be destroyed and award points, so this is a great place to milk for points.



The brain is the final boss of the game. It is protected by the Electronic Cage, two mechanical tendrils, and a shutter. Fly through the shutter before it seals and you will encounter Bacterian (also known as Xaerous Brain). Destroy all six bases that the brain is attached to or wait 30 seconds and the brain will be destroyed.

Music



Morning Music - warm up for the Bubble System.
Beginning of the History - Kuchusen. Music that plays at the beginning of each stage.
Challenger 1985 - stage one.
Beat Back - stage two.
Blank Mask - stage three.
Free Flyer - stage four.
Mazed Music - stage five.
Mechanical Globule - stage six.
Final Attack - stage seven.
Aircraft Carrier - boss.
Historic Soldier - ranking.
Game Over



Selections from Suite Gradius Fantasia

Navigation
Gradius Sonata



Selections from Perfect Selection Gradius.

Free Flyer
Challenger 1985



Selections from Gradius in Classic II

Act III 1
Act III 2
Act III 3
Act III 4



Selections from MIDI Power Pro 7 - Gradius

Ranking



Selections from Gradius Arcade Soundtrack

Hope & Joy Peace & Love
Gradius Medley



Selections from Gradius Tribute

Morning Music ~Large Mix~
Gradius MS 20 Mix
Challenger 1985
Final Attack



Selections from Gradius Ultimate Collection

Morning Music/Bubble System - from Keyboardmania
Gradius -FULL SPEED- - from ~beatmania IIDX 10th Style~
Leo! Leo! - from Zone of the Enders: the 2nd Runner



Selections from Otomedius Original Soundtrack

Challenger 1985
Blank Mask
Final Attack

Star Man fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Jan 31, 2016

VictualSquid
Feb 29, 2012

Gently enveloping the target with indiscriminate love.
Scramble was not what I was expecting when you said distinct levels. I looked like the scene changes where mostly independent of the level meter.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow
It just scrolls right through things, but it's a game from 1981 and ancient as hell. Without that bar at the top to tell you that you're in a different level, you'd have no idea. Deaths also put you at the beginning of the level you're in when you start the next life.

And why the game changes colors every 15 seconds is completely beyond me.

Major_JF
Oct 17, 2008
Getting in on the ground floor.

Where do I put the quarters in?

PureRok
Mar 27, 2010

Good as new.
I will continue to pronounce it greydius for the rest of my life and you can't do anything about it!

I've always liked the Gradius (and Gradius-style shmups) games a lot more than the vertical "bullet-hell" style shmups, but I've never liked how touching terrain kills you.

Dabir
Nov 10, 2012

I don't see Falsion on that list :colbert:.

Snorb
Nov 19, 2010
A couple years ago, we got quite a few copies of Otomedius Excellent in at work. Not surprisingly, it was bargain-priced at $20.

My first thought when I saw it was "Yup. That's a blue-haired anime girl riding the Vic Viper. And of course they went for the tits-n-rear end shot on the cover."

My second thought was "'Inspired by the legendary Gradius series?' Why the gently caress didn't Konami just MAKE Gradius VI like everyone wants them to? Who actually asked for this?"

We no longer have any Otomedius Excellent copies; whether it's because they got clearanced out and shipped back to whoever dumped them onto us, or people actually bought this thing, or whether it's because the company I work for no longer sells video games, I'll never know.

Actual Gradius-related question: What's the timeline for the series? Galaxies implied it goes Scramble > Gradius > Salamander > II > III > Gaiden > IV > Galaxies, and I'm guessing V and Rebirth happened after those.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

Dabir posted:

I don't see Falsion on that list :colbert:.

I suppose I should play all the Ultima games because the ship called Lord British may or may not have been inspired by that game's creator.

Actually, I forgot that the Falchion Beta is something lifted from another Konami shmup. But then again there are also things lifted from Thunder Cross in Gradius III and Trigon in Gradius Gaiden, but then this would just turn into the Konami shmups megathread.

Snorb posted:

A couple years ago, we got quite a few copies of Otomedius Excellent in at work. Not surprisingly, it was bargain-priced at $20.

My first thought when I saw it was "Yup. That's a blue-haired anime girl riding the Vic Viper. And of course they went for the tits-n-rear end shot on the cover."

My second thought was "'Inspired by the legendary Gradius series?' Why the gently caress didn't Konami just MAKE Gradius VI like everyone wants them to? Who actually asked for this?"

We no longer have any Otomedius Excellent copies; whether it's because they got clearanced out and shipped back to whoever dumped them onto us, or people actually bought this thing, or whether it's because the company I work for no longer sells video games, I'll never know.

Actual Gradius-related question: What's the timeline for the series? Galaxies implied it goes Scramble > Gradius > Salamander > II > III > Gaiden > IV > Galaxies, and I'm guessing V and Rebirth happened after those.

Otomedius Excellent's collector's edition comes with a pillow case with the main girl on one side and the cast on the other. It's not body pillow-sized, but that doesn't make it much better in my eyes. It's also poo poo like this that makes me want to stay clear the gently caress away from it.

I view the Gradius Generation/Galaxies intro as an homage to the same intros that were in Gradius II and III and don't mean much. It's the only instance where Scramble has ever been considered a part of the Gradius series and Konami seems to no longer consider Scramble as a Gradius game and instead its own thing. I do find it weird that Gradius Gaiden is a part of that intro but not Salamander 2. If there is a timeline, it seems that the Gradius and Salamander arcade games, Generation, Gradius V, are certainly one continuity. The MSX games would be their own timeline and Gradius ReBirth is probably a part of that since it makes so many callbacks to those games. I don't know where the two Gameboy games would stand in all that, though. Unlike something like Mega Man or Zelda, I don't believe that there's really any kind of debate over what the timeline even is. There might be some information regarding one in a sourcebook or liner notes of a soundtrack somewhere. Perhaps I should scan the liner notes of my copy of the Gradius Arcade Soundtrack and find someone that can translate it.

Also, just a reminder for those that may have glazed over the post: I'm encouraging anyone to make hi-score videos and share them here. The person with the best score will win some kind of a prize!

Dabir
Nov 10, 2012

The few dabblings with plot that the games have are few and far between, essentially there's a threadbare plot arc spanning Gradius 1 -> Gradius ReBirth -> Nemesis 2 (MSX) -> Salamander (MSX) -> Nemesis 3 (MSX) -> Gradius V. There's no cutscenes or anything in Gradius 1, but later games refer back to it. The rest could just be fuckin' anywhere, I dunno. The wiki also says that Salamander 2 comes after IV and before Gaiden.

Alternative answer: Who cares? Shoot bad guys.

Babylon Astronaut
Apr 19, 2012
Ok so what is the deal with all the versions of Gradius 2? Besides Gofer's Ambition I know I've played at least two different games called Gradius 2, and one was on the MSX antiques collection. Basically, which are ports and which are new games?

Dabir
Nov 10, 2012

Gradius 1 in the arcades was called Nemesis internationally. Gradius 2 was called Vulcan Venture in international arcades, and none of the ports made it out of Japan at the time. While Gradius 1 on the MSX is a straight arcade port, Gradius 2 MSX, also known as Nemesis 2, is a completely different game from the arcade/Famicom/PC engine (that's Turbografx to you) Gradius 2. Gradius 2 MSX was given an enhanced port on the Sharp X68000 as Nemesis '90 Kai. It's also not the same game as Nemesis 2 on the Game Boy, which is a sequel to Nemesis on the Game Boy, which was called Nemesis in Japan cause they decided they liked the name, and other than kind of the first stage, is not a port of Gradius 1. Nemesis and Nemesis 2 GB were ported to the Konami GB Collection in Volumes 3 and 4 respectively, where they were renamed Gradius and Gradius 2 (with subtitle "The Return of the Hero" in Europe). See, it's nice and simple after all.

PaletteSwappedNinja
Jun 3, 2008

One Nation, Under God.

Snorb posted:

A couple years ago, we got quite a few copies of Otomedius Excellent in at work. Not surprisingly, it was bargain-priced at $20.

My first thought when I saw it was "Yup. That's a blue-haired anime girl riding the Vic Viper. And of course they went for the tits-n-rear end shot on the cover."

My second thought was "'Inspired by the legendary Gradius series?' Why the gently caress didn't Konami just MAKE Gradius VI like everyone wants them to? Who actually asked for this?"

They were chasing the Touhou audience, basically. Shooting games are very niche, even in Japan, and going hard on the "character goods" aspect was seen as a way to attract new fans outside of the STG crowd. Even beyond all the fanservice, the game simply isn't much fun, but it has a ton of DLC so I'm sure it was profitable.

Otomedius Excellent is one of the games Koji Igarashi was punted onto after being removed from Castlevania, incidentally.

Jaimers
Jul 30, 2014
Gradius is a fun series. Definitely the best part of them is messing around with the options and making all sorts of formations with them.
Although I've never really liked how old shmups basically force you to 1-life the whole thing since recovering is such a giant pain. Unless you know exactly how to recover at every checkpoint you might as well just restart. This is mostly an issue for everything past the 1st loop.

Gradius 1 has some silly things and quirks to it but for an ancient shmup I must say that it aged pretty well. It's still plenty playable and enjoyable today with decent mechanics and stages. Unlike games like Salamander 1 which have aged really poorly in comparison.

When is the deadline for the Gradius 1 highscore contest by the way?

Star Man posted:

Otomedius Excellent's collector's edition comes with a pillow case with the main girl on one side and the cast on the other. It's not body pillow-sized, but that doesn't make it much better in my eyes. It's also poo poo like this that makes me want to stay clear the gently caress away from it

A friend of mine once played Otomedius Excellent at a shmupmeet and he could get to loop 10 of that game before it actually became difficult.
Needless to say that game isn't very hard either.
Otomedius always reminded me of that one parody shmup in No More Heroes 2 except it isn't a joke in this case.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow
Salamander is a loud and annoying game that just moves at a million miles per hour. The Famicom/NES (which is Life Force, for those that don't know) port is so much better, but that opinion is probably shaped by growing up with it and playing it so much that I can play it while asleep. Salamander on MSX is fuckin hard, though.

I also didn't think through a deadline for hi-score runs. Let's just go with one month(ish) for videos to be posted.

Gradius 1 Arcade hi-score videos are due by June 30.

Ofecks
May 4, 2009

A portly feline wizard waddles forth, muttering something about conjured food.

Jaimers posted:

Gradius 1 has some silly things and quirks to it but for an ancient shmup I must say that it aged pretty well. It's still plenty playable and enjoyable today with decent mechanics and stages. Unlike games like Salamander 1 which have aged really poorly in comparison.

Hm, I feel the opposite. Gradius 1 is utterly dull to me, but Salamander has some great stages, bosses, and music. Like Star Man said, it moves faster, which to me is a good thing. I once had the Saturn port, and with the slowdown removed, the game was a thing of beauty. Life Force arcade was great too - DESTORY VIOLENT ANTI BIOTICS. I also thought the PCE port was really well-done - they fixed the squishyness of the bosses and, in my opinion, had better-sounding music.


Star Man posted:

The Famicom/NES (which is Life Force, for those that don't know) port is so much better, but that opinion is probably shaped by growing up with it and playing it so much that I can play it while asleep.

Agreed with this. Konami was really good at not just porting their arcade games to NES, but completely re-working them to better suit the platform. Other examples - Contra, Jackal. Stage 4 of Life Force was completely new and rad as hell. So was stage 5 I think (the one with the King Tut boss)?

Jaimers
Jul 30, 2014

Ofecks posted:

Hm, I feel the opposite. Gradius 1 is utterly dull to me, but Salamander has some great stages, bosses, and music. Like Star Man said, it moves faster, which to me is a good thing. I once had the Saturn port, and with the slowdown removed, the game was a thing of beauty. Life Force arcade was great too - DESTORY VIOLENT ANTI BIOTICS. I also thought the PCE port was really well-done - they fixed the squishyness of the bosses and, in my opinion, had better-sounding music.

I've only played the Arcade Salamander game but that game really wasn't designed very well. The amount of dead air in that game is ridiculous and most of the time there is barely anything happening or you are just standing still.
The fire walls stage in particular was just terrible because you can stand still for like 80% of the stage.

At least the stage design in Gradius 1 was designed in a more engaging manner. There is a much bigger focus on using your options in clever ways to deal with enemies and bullets coming from all directions which force you to keep moving and be alert. Besides that there is also the weapon and powerup management where you strategically want to have the cursor on a certain section of the powerup meter to time weapons and shields.
Salamander 1 really has none of that and is just incredibly empty and boring as a result. You can fast-forward through almost the entirety of stage 1 and 3 and you can use it a lot in the other stages as well. That is not to say that Gradius 1 doesn't have dead air as well but it's not nearly as bad.

Life Force Arcade looks pretty silly. I guess the aesthetic of stage 1 was popular so they just remade the entire game to look like stage 1.

Byde
Apr 15, 2013

by Lowtax

Jaimers posted:

I've only played the Arcade Salamander game but that game really wasn't designed very well. The amount of dead air in that game is ridiculous and most of the time there is barely anything happening or you are just standing still.
The fire walls stage in particular was just terrible because you can stand still for like 80% of the stage.

At least the stage design in Gradius 1 was designed in a more engaging manner. There is a much bigger focus on using your options in clever ways to deal with enemies and bullets coming from all directions which force you to keep moving and be alert. Besides that there is also the weapon and powerup management where you strategically want to have the cursor on a certain section of the powerup meter to time weapons and shields.
Salamander 1 really has none of that and is just incredibly empty and boring as a result. You can fast-forward through almost the entirety of stage 1 and 3 and you can use it a lot in the other stages as well. That is not to say that Gradius 1 doesn't have dead air as well but it's not nearly as bad.

Life Force Arcade looks pretty silly. I guess the aesthetic of stage 1 was popular so they just remade the entire game to look like stage 1.

And then there's the 4th boss of Arcade Salamander and you get murdered because it throws a dozen fast invincible orbs every which way and you'll lose all your lives before it even becomes vulnerable.

Jaimers
Jul 30, 2014

Byde posted:

And then there's the 4th boss of Arcade Salamander and you get murdered because it throws a dozen fast invincible orbs every which way and you'll lose all your lives before it even becomes vulnerable.

Actually if you sit in the bottom-right corner of the screen during that boss, nothing will ever hit you and you can just fast-forward until the boss times out.

So there's that too!

That boss is a good example of classic old shmup boss design. Either there is a safespot you can sit in or you can just speedkill it before it even has a chance to shoot anything.
Sometimes you can do both!

Jaimers fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Jun 4, 2015

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
I have literally zero skill at shmups whatsoever. However, I thinky they're fun to watch when someone knows what they're doing. Also I'm totally a sucker for these history/anthology LPs. Totally gonna watch this close.

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Choco1980 posted:

I have literally zero skill at shmups whatsoever. However, I thinky they're fun to watch when someone knows what they're doing. Also I'm totally a sucker for these history/anthology LPs. Totally gonna watch this close.

Same here. I'm really bad at these things but they're always fun to watch, and it's always great to see and learn the history of an important game franchise.

ModeWondershot
Dec 30, 2014

Portu-geezer
My core-shooting shenanigans only really took off with the likes of R-Type, but I would never have really gotten into it were it not for Gradius. I also adore how Konami tries to cram some sort of reference to the series/the Vic Viper into all their other games.

Elephantgun
Feb 13, 2010

I'm obligated to post here.

I've never played a Gradius game. With my intense knowledge, that's why I was chosen to guest on the first episode.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

Elephantgun posted:

I'm obligated to post here.

I've never played a Gradius game. With my intense knowledge, that's why I was chosen to guest on the first episode.

But I can tap you for Gradius references that made it into Castlevania.

EDIT: How the gently caress are there 38 tracks to a soundtrack for a loving pachinko machine?

Star Man fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Jun 5, 2015

Arcade Rabbit
Nov 11, 2013

Star Man posted:

But I can tap you for Gradius references that made it into Castlevania.

There's actually a ton of Gradius references in Yugioh of all things as well. Both are owned by Konami. Go figure!

Serperoth
Feb 21, 2013



Arcade Rabbit posted:

There's actually a ton of Gradius references in Yugioh of all things as well. Both are owned by Konami. Go figure!

Isn't there a card that's the Vic Viper?

Dabir
Nov 10, 2012

Serperoth posted:

Isn't there a card that's the Vic Viper?

Two. And one for each playable ship from Gaiden, a couple from Xexex, one from Thunder Cross and a bunch of enemies from various games.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
I think my favorite gradius reference konami's made is the secret ending to the silent hill arcade game, where the dog from part 2's secret ending is sitting at a tv playing gradius while the credits roll. I want to say they go all the way through level 1.

toddy.
Jun 15, 2010

~she is my wife~
Best Gradius reference used in other Konami games is there is a bossfight against the Vic Viper in Zone of the Enders 2. Not close.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

toddy. posted:

Best Gradius reference used in other Konami games is there is a bossfight against the Vic Viper in Zone of the Enders 2. Not close.

And then you get to play as the Vic Viper in a bonus minigame called Zoradius. There are even Moai.

EightFlyingCars
Jun 30, 2008


PureRok posted:

I will continue to pronounce it greydius for the rest of my life and you can't do anything about it!

I've always liked the Gradius (and Gradius-style shmups) games a lot more than the vertical "bullet-hell" style shmups, but I've never liked how touching terrain kills you.

If you have a Playstation thingie you can buy R-Type Delta for like six bucks. You can grind on terrain all you want and not get a scratch!

You'll still die a lot though.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

EightFlyingCars posted:

If you have a Playstation thingie you can buy R-Type Delta for like six bucks. You can grind on terrain all you want and not get a scratch!

You'll still die a lot though.

Irem pulled all of their games from PSN and the Wii store in 2011.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow
New update coming soon for Gradius 1 Famicom/NES.

Also got the thread tag changed with help from JordanKai and I'm going to fix some of the animated gifs and other little things later.

EightFlyingCars
Jun 30, 2008


Star Man posted:

Irem pulled all of their games from PSN and the Wii store in 2011.

Did they? Weird. I remember downloading it to my PSP just a couple of years ago, but I'd already bought it by then. That's a silly thing of them to do.

Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow








Co-hosts - UZworm and Kingeffingfrost

The first home version port of Gradius was released on the Nintendo Famicom on 25 April 1986 in Japan and on the North American NES the following December and in Europe in November, 1988. Despite the name change to Nemesis for the overseas edition of the arcade game, the Famicom/NES port is known as Gradius worldwide. The Vic Viper in the international release is known as the Warp Rattler instead. The Famicom/NES version of Gradius has been ported to the Nintendo Vs. series of arcade games and has been re-released on the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U Virtual Console.

The Famicom's hardware was nowhere near as capable of producing the same graphics or effects as the arcade original and was altered to better fit the format of the console. The port is as faithful as it can be to the original release of Gradius by only altering the function of some power-ups, sprite changes, removal of vertical scrolling, and a few additions.

The Famicom/NES port of Gradius is most famous for implementing the Konami code. The code was inserted by Kazuhisa Hashimoto, one of the game's programmers, that was not very good at the game during bug testing. He implemented a code that he could remember and would input it when the game was paused. By pressing up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, the Vic Viper would be granted two options, missiles, and a shield. The code was left in, but the cheat code didn't become well known until the NES port of Contra implemented it on its title screen to award the player with 30 lives at the start of the game.

Changes from the Arcade Game
    The laser is no longer a long beam. It has been modified to be a short burst of blue energy that can penetrate weak enemies. Capable of rapid fire.
    You can only have a maximum of two options instead of four.
    Vertical scrolling in stages two and three have been removed.
    The Iron Maiden and Electronic Cage sub-bosses have been removed. The tentacles at the end of stage seven have also been removed.
    Hidden 5,000 point and 1up bonuses have been added.
    Meeting certain conditions will allow the player to skip a stage after destroying the current stage's Big Core.
    The first implementation of the Konami code.

Power-Ups





Increases the Vic Viper's speed. Up to five speed-ups can be activated. In this port of Gradius, speed-up is still available even when the player has maxed out their speed. Activating it again will only reset the power meter. With frame perfect play (though this might only be possible in a tool-assisted run), it is possible to fly through enemies and projectiles at maximum speed.





The missile is unchanged from the arcade edition of Gradius.





The double shot is also unchanged from the arcade edition of Gradius.





The laser in the Famicom/NES port of Gradius now fires in a burst instead of one long beam. The laser still penetrates weak enemies and can be fired rapidly.





The Vic Viper is limited to two options in this version of Gradius.





The shield now appears instantly upon activation. It seems to be able to protect the Vic Viper from all directions instead of only from the front. Able to withstand fifteen attacks before depleting.

Bosses



Big Core - the Big Core has been shrunk to compensate for the Famicom's hardware. It now appears after the sub-boss is cleared and a screen away from where that fight occurred. It is now possible to fly behind the Big Core, but it will try to collide with you if you do.



Nucleus - The nucleus at the end of stage six no longer has its protective membrane. Otherwise, this fight is unchanged.



Bacterian - the big brain is the final boss once again. Its supports cannot be destroyed and shooting at the brain will not deal damage. Just simply wait for the game to time out the boss and play the ending sequence and be awarded a 10,000 point bonus for completing the loop.

Cheat Codes

Konami code - While the game is paused, enter up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A to give the Vic Viper a missile, two options, and a shield.

Continue - during the game over screen, enter down, up, B, A, B, A, B, A and you will continue the beginning of the stage.

Reset screen message - hold down B and A while you press the reset button or soft reset your emulator. You will get a hidden message.



Warps

Stage 1 - to skip to stage three, you must destroy all four enemy generators in one life while the thousands digit of your score is an even number.

Stage 2 - to skip to stage four, you must destroy the Big Core within two seconds of its core turning blue in one life.

Stage 3 - to skip to stage five, you must destroy at least ten Moai in one life.



Music



Beginning of the History
Challenger 1985
Beat Back
Blank Mask
Free Flyer
Mazed Music
Mechanical Globule
Final Attack
Aircraft Carrier
All Pattern Clear
Game Over

Star Man fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Jun 14, 2015

JamieTheD
Nov 4, 2011

LPer, Reviewer, Mad Welshman

(Yes, that's a self portrait)
Ehehehe, the Konami code saved so many folks. Looking forward to the evil that is Life Force, as that's the Gradius I've played (along with some of the many, many spinoffs)

Shaezerus
Mar 24, 2008

God? Or perhaps a devil?
Show me which you'll choose!
I'm not sure how I feel about the NES Gradius Laser. On one hand, rapid-fire is so nice to have considering the cooldown on the arcade version, but sweeping a gigantic beam of death a third of the way across the screen is pretty much the coolest thing ever.

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Star Man
Jun 1, 2008

There's a star maaaaaan
Over the rainbow

Shaezerus posted:

I'm not sure how I feel about the NES Gradius Laser. On one hand, rapid-fire is so nice to have considering the cooldown on the arcade version, but sweeping a gigantic beam of death a third of the way across the screen is pretty much the coolest thing ever.

The best feature of the original laser is that once the beam leaves the Vic Viper, you can still move up or down and the beam will move accordingly.

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