Gradius Collection

"An awesome shmup collection only with a couple of flaws."

WHAT IS GRADIUS?

If you are 20-ish years old you may recognize the name Gradius, Konami's flagship arcade shoot-em-up series. While only a few people actually cared about that series in the west, in Japan those games were extremely popular in arcades. Released in 1985, Gradius was basically at its heart a follow up to an 1981 Konami game called Scramble which is the granddaddy of the modern horizontal shmup. It spawned many sequels and spin-offs like Salamander (know as Life Force in the west) and a satire series called Parodius, which pokes fun not only the Gradius games, but other Konami titles and western and eastern pop culture. The Gradius series are easily one the most influential video games ever. Games like R-Type, Darius, Section Z, Sidearms, Forgotten Worlds, Thunder Force II and its sequels, and UN Squadron would of never came out if it weren't for the success of Gradius.

THE LOWDOWN.

Gradius Collection includes the arcade versions of Gradius, Gradius II, Gradius III, Gradius IV, and the previously Japanese exclusive Playstation game, Gradius Gaiden all in one UMD. It also includes a "Gallery" mode were you listen to the BGMs from the games and watch the intros and unlockable endings from the Gradius 1&2 Deluxe Pack (PS1/Saturn), Gradius 3&4 (PS2), and Gradius Gaiden (PS1).

2D GOODNESS.

If you want 3D, you are looking at the wrong game. Most of the games in this collection is strictly hand drawn 2D, with the exception of Gradius IV which has pseudo-3D graphics in some parts. Despite the age of these titles, they all aged very well especially Gradius Gaiden. Other than the slight blur that seemed to annoy IGN and GameSpy, those games look great on the PSP screen.

SPACE OPERA MUSIC AT ITS FINEST.

If there is one thing many Gradius fans love about the Gradius games, it is their soundtracks. Listening to the legendary first stage theme in the original Gradius would put a smile to any die-hard shmup fan. This UMD features some of the finest old school game music ever created. One word of advice. Get those earphones ready!

TAPE A QUARTER ON THAT D-PAD.

The gameplay in Gradius games is quite simple. You maneuver a lone ship around in a side scrolling stage shooting aliens and avoiding obstacles while collecting red power-ups that highlight a weapon or upgrade on a bar that looks like this:

|SPEEDUP|MISSILE|DOUBLE|LASER|OPTION|?|

Press the powerup button and you'll get what was highlighted. The are also blue power-ups that will instantly wipe out all enemies on the screen. At the end of each level you face a huge boss that usually requires shooting at a weak point to defeat. Then you go to the next level doing the same thing over again. It may sound boring to the common modern gamer who has never even touched a shoot-em-up before but believe me when I say that it is really fun stuff. My biggest complaint with this compilation is the controls. That PSP D-pad is bad for games like this. It is hard to move diagonally with it. I advise people to either tape a quarter on it or if you are the lucky few who already has the Japanese version of Street Fighter Zero 3 Double Upper, use the D-pad attachment that came with it. I heard the Japanese version of Tekken: Dark Resurrection will come with the same thing so fighter fans who are reading this, I advise you get the Japanese versions of either game. The PSP has no region lock by the way.

REAL MEN PLAY ARCADE GRADIUS III.

Yes. The arcade version of Gradius III really is that hard even on the easiest difficultly setting. It actually makes the more known SNES version look like child's play. This along with Gradius 1 has no continues but Gradius 1 is so much easier compared to this. Anyone who can actually beat the arcade version of Gradius III would easily be the most hardcore gamer on the planet. Seriously.

WI-FI CO-OP WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE.

Unfortunately this is only one player which is a shame since Gradius Gaiden for PS1 is two players simultaneously. Maybe Konami has a good reason for putting this for only one player. Gamers who play shoot-em-ups like Gradius are quite rare to find at least in the US. Makes me wish more people would pay more mind to games like Gradius then cookie-cutter first person shooter #1,000.

IF YOU WANT IT, GET IT NOW.

It seems like Konami as of late has a tradition of releasing Gradius games in limited quantities. I would get this quick before you would only ever see this on ebay for an outrageous price. Besides it is only $30. Yes $30.

OVERALL.

This could of easily gotten a 10/10 from me if it weren't for the crappy diagonal controls or the lack of 2-player modes. Besides anyone who is a shmup fan or has an interest for all things old-school should really buy this because I really, really want Konami to make a second PSP collection with the Salamander and Parodius titles and I am sure you do too.

+Five great shmups for $30
+Some of the best game music ever.
+The only game of its type for the PSP in the US.
- Controls like crap without a taped quarter or that Street Fighter Zero 3 Double Upper D-pad.
- Only 1 player.

Final score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/06