Game Review - Gradius (NES)

I’m a huge NES fan, especially platformers and shoot ‘em ups!  If you’ve ever played a Gradius game, you already know that the series is one of the best shoot ‘em up (shmup) series out there!  It also has the distinction of being one of the most difficult too.

Gradius was one of the first shmups to appear on the NES.  As such Gradius has inspired many sidescrolling space shooters to come after it.  Even though it was one of the first it still has a lot of unique features that make it fun to play today!  Gradius was one of the first Konami arcade shooters that were ported to the NES and Famicom in 1986.  

Obviously the home console version was more basic than the arcade, but it still was a very well done port unlike a game like Dragon's Lair!  It is also the first game to implement the legendary Konami code!

GRAPHICS: 8/10

Considering Gradius came out in 1986, it has nice looking graphics.  Since the game takes place in space the backgrounds are largely just black, but this works really well with all the brightly coloured enemies, and the level bosses.  If an enemy shoots at you it is easy to see the bullet which is nice especially compared to a games like Transformers No Convoy on the Famicom where the background has white mountains and white bullets, good luck avoiding anything!  Even with the background being black you still get to see Easter Island like Moai heads, trees, volcanoes and fortresses too, so there is definitely a huge variety in levels.  Plus with bosses that take up half the screen it looks pretty impressive for its time.

SOUND: 7.5/10

The music in Gradius is really catchy, plus there is a huge variety.  It's not the same song throughout the whole level.  Like take level 1 for example you start with one song that changes as soon as you hit the part with the volcanoes then changes again when you are fighting the boss.  That's a pretty good variety for a classic NES game!  In Japan the music is so popular it’s even played by orchestras there too!  

Sound effects wise every weapon sounds different.  The regular shots sound different than the lasers do, which is nice it’s not just "pew pew" for everything.  The explosions aren't exactly huge surround sound type sound effects but it's definitely not bad considering the NES uses just the RF switch or just the one audio out.

CONTROLS: 8/10

The basic controls of left, right, up, down, and shoot work very well and are really responsive.  But make sure you keep in mind that the ship will seem really slow and almost unresponsive at first until you get the upgrades and improve your speed.  Once you get 2 or 3 the ship will go along at a really good speed but make sure you don't power it up too much or you will go way to fast, and with no way to slow down you will crash :p  

You start the game off having to select what weapons you want to choose from.  Once the level starts, you may find Vic Viper's ship is pretty clunky, you have just the basic weapon. If you look at the bottom of the screen there is a kind of weapons bar (for lack of a better term) with the weapons you chose in the beginning.  As you collect the red power ups, a weapon name will be highlighted. Once the weapon you want is highlighted just hit the B button and you will get that power up.  The more items you collect the better the power up you can redeem them for.  Keep in mind you can't take the double shot and the laser at the same time, it's one or the other.  It might take a little bit of experimentation to figure out what weapons work best for you but it's fun going through all the different choices.

Though remember if you die you continue with zero powerups so you will have to collect everything again.  So even if you think to use the Konami code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start) you will only have the items until you die and you can only use it once per game so use it wisely.  Also make sure when you get all the power ups like the shield etc you don't get cocky and act like you are invincible cause you will die. Trust me, I did this a lot!  

It really sucks when you die after the middle of the stage since you will come back pretty weak and the enemies there aren't as plentiful as in the beginning of the levels so you will have to be extra careful to make it through.

One of the bad things is there is a lot of slowdown once the screen becomes cluttered with enemies.  There are moments too here the hit detection is just a little bit off.  You can get close to the one mountain to get your one up but that's the only time I found where you can get away with this and not crash into the object and die.  Once you play a little while you will get used to the controls and what you can and can't do, then you will be good to go.

CHALLENGE 9/10

Gradius definitely offers a challenge.  I haven't been able to beat it yet but I'm sure after playing it for a while you would be able to get really good at it and master it.  Especially if you can get your ship totally decked out with power ups and you are very careful you could almost be invincible.  Keep in mind though even with a shield you can still be killed when you are hit from behind! There are times where you get really frustrated, but if you keep trying and memorizing the level you are sure to beat it eventually.  For me it's a game I can see myself constantly going back to just to challenge myself to see if I can beat it without using the Konami code and see if I can improve my completion time.

BOTTOM LINE 8/10

Gradius is totally worth playing, even if it's just to see the beginnings of the schmup genre on the NES and Famicom.  I never had this game as a kid so I don't have any nostaligic feelings about it, but I'm a huge fan of the genre and I really enjoy it.  Even though this game is frustrating, it's also amazingly addictive too, once you learn the controls :)

I like how you get to customize the types of power ups available to you, then once you are in the game you can choose which weapon you want to "spend" your collected power ups on.  This option was used in all of the sequels that were released including games on the Famicom and a 3rd that is on the Super Famicom.  If you happen to run out of Gradius games to play, you can also check out Parodius series, which is a parody of Gradius and has a range of characters to choose from like a penguin and octopus.   

So do yourself a favor and check out the Grandfather to all shmups, or if you have played it before, go back and challenge it again and try to beat it without the Konami code J