Gaming Gradius V

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Oh man, this is the only game that really makes me want a PS2. I loved the Gradius games back in the days of the NES (most notably, Lifeforce, which is the best game of the genre by far and everyone knows it).

I hear the guy who worked on Ikaruga is doing some of the level design, which is a shame because I feel that Ikaruga was just a Gradius "pretender." Sure, it was still impossible 2-player co-op gaming a la the Gradius tradition, but there was none of the killer Gradius music, none of the sweet Gradius weapon powerups, and... I don't know, it just didn't have "the feel."

Anyway, I hear this Gradius is, unlike Gradius 3, back into the 2-player simultaneous play like in Lifeforce. From screenshots, it looks sweet and the options look killer (OPTIONS; not menu stuff obviously).

Anyway, if any of you are willing to mail me a PS2 temporarily when Gradius V comes out, I'll be very thankful.

[Semjaza]

I don't know if I'd call Ikaruga a Gradius pretender... I mean, there's a lot of shooters leading up to this point and obviously something as primal as Gradius is an influence, but the games are rather different. I can't say I'd make direct comparions considering they're from different companies and not related in any way lol.

Besides, Treasure made Ikaruga and they were originally a part of Konami. Getting a guy from Treasure to work on it shouldn't be too far from where they started, I'd say. If anything, I think it would be a benefit. Konami hasn't exactly been whipping out great shooters any time recently.

In any case, it's a good time for fans of the genre with this and R-Type Final on PS2. Luckily, I have one to use heh.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Oh, certainly, I didn't mean to say that Treasure wanted to make a Gradius game but failed. Not at all. When I said it "didn't have that cool Gradius music" I meant that compared to the old Gradius games, Ikaruga's soundtrack blew goats. As for the weapon powerups, well yeah. It's a different game in the same genre, and I just meant that it didn't come close to Gradius in terms of the overall playing experience for me.

I agree that it's not as proper to call Ikaruga a "pretender" as it would be to call, say, Timesplitters 2 a "Goldeneye pretender" because there the game is nearly the same except for being a billion times worse on all counts.

In closing, I would like to say I WANT GRADIUS V! Oh, and at the very least, I want it to have a killer soundtrack, so I can at least download THAT. Hehe.

[Shinmaru]

I'm [i]this[/i] close to actually going out and buying a PS2 for R-Type Final and Gradius V...I'd need money first, though <_<;

I am glad to see that shooters are still being paid some mind, no matter what system they're released on. Both Gradius V and R-Type Final look like good ones to me, heh. I seriously hope that both games do decently when it comes to sales (I don't know how well R-Type Final is doing at the moment), because I'd really like to see more shooters released. A guy like me just can't get enough, heh.

In closing, I'd like to say that I'll probably beg one of my PS2 using friends to buy one (or possibly both) of these games so that I can play them. I need to develop super powers of persuasion and fast...

[satan665]

My personal favorite was Gradius for super nintendo. I don't have it anymore, but the board with the bubbles was excellent. I used to use the little trick where you have full options you can expand them out to reach farther + the options the revolve around you + the energy beam and was almost untouchable. It was such a great game, I liked how many versions of the option you could pick.

I'm almost definitely going to but Gradius for PS2. I just know its going to be crazy.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

I like the SNES Gradius (Gradius 3), but not nearly as much as its predecessor because you can't play 2-player co-op on it. You have to take turns, like in Super Mario Bros. It's nowhere near as fun. Especially if you're both good. Then one guy plays for about 12 minutes, gets to level 4 or thereabouts, and then dies, and then the other guy is back at world 1. It's a drag. I'm glad they're changing it back to same-screen co-op for Gradius V.

[satan665]

I'm glad its going to be 2p coop too. There aren't too many good games where you can play on the same side with a pal. Konami used to be the king of those games on NES. I just hope its played a little different whether you are playing by yourself or with 2p. I played Lifeforce a few days ago and I got stomped pretty bad. Me and my brother used to get pretty far without the extra lives code.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Actually Lifeforce is about 5 times easier single-player, because it's all about the powerups. Without the second player there to split the limited amount of powerups between, the single player can take them all. That's when the game becomes actually playable. Plus if you have 2 options + level 2 plutonic laser + force + 5 speeds + level 2 missiles you can lag the game pretty bad if you just hold down the fire button, and that slows it down enough to give you plenty of time to react to anything. That's the way to beat that game.