Destroy the Core!
A Gradius Review (NES)
Genre: Shoot-Em-Up
Number of Players: 2 (Alternating)
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Release Date: April 25, 1986 (JP), December 1986 (US), November 30, 1988 (EU)
Platform: NES
Also Available On: Arcade, MSX, Famicom, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, PC-8801, X1, Game Boy, ZX Spectrum, PC Engine, X68000
The 1980s were truly a renaissance period for the video game industry. Arcade games like Xevious, Donkey Kong, and OutRun gave us new depths of audio, visual, and strategic intricacies that took us beyond the comparatively simple mechanics of Pong and Space Invaders. It was indeed the golden age of gaming.
One of such revolutionary games was Gradius from Konami. Originally intended to be a sequel to 1981’s Scramble, the concept evolved into a decidedly different game by the time it was released in 1985. A year later, Gradius was ported to a variety of home consoles, including the NES as Konami’s first release on the system.
One look at the cover art and the Star Wars inspiration quickly becomes apparent, evidenced by the large destroyer that looks suspiciously like an Imperial armada ship. When I saw this for the first time, I knew that in my hands was something more than just a run-of-the-mill video game. No, I had grasped a hold of destiny, and according to the banner on the box art, so had over one million happy customers in Japan.
The game is about an Earth-like world called Gradius under attack from invaders known as the Bacterians, an old nemesis of it’s citizens. For reasons never to be explained here, the hostile empire is intent on destroying Gradius. You pilot the advanced inter-dimensional spaceship Vic Viper, your goal being to battle your way to the Bacterian’s super fortress and kill it. Surely this’ll solve the problem for good.
Gradius brought something new, yet practical to the shooter genre—an intuitive power-up system. Capsules collected from red colored enemies would advance the cursor one space across the sectioned meter at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to select the highlighted upgrade. Power-ups include increased speed, missiles, a double shot, lasers, option drones, and a shield barrier. While you can use multiple upgrades at once, you have to select them one at a time, making it a challenge to stay alive long enough to fully arm your ship.
The power-up meter added a layer of strategy that at times required careful planning for the best results. For instance, while the laser upgrade is definitely the most potent weapon, there are quite a few occasions where the double shot may serve you better since it can it can hit enemies both in front and above your position as well. So you might find yourself juggling between both weapons, necessitating that you keep on the lookout for power-up capsules.
The shield is also an invaluable asset because it does a pretty good job at protecting you from everything but a full-on collision and can take a fair number of hits before giving out. As you progress further into the game, you’ll be constantly under heavy fire. I found it prudent to have that section of the weapon gauge at the ready so I could replenish my shield in the very likely event it depletes. That need for vigilance made the game all the more fun to play.
One of the more unique upgrades for its time was the option drones. They are best described as miniature satellite “wingmen” that mimic your maneuvers and are outfitted with the same weapon configuration as the Vic-Viper. Best of all, they’re indestructible, allowing you to strategically place them in harm’s way without fear of a stray bullet or hazard destroying them. At full capacity, the options triple your effectiveness in combat. It was this gameplay element in particular that solidified my enjoyment of Gradius because it gives you a fighting chance against the onslaught.
However, there is one glaring downside to being fully armed with all these goodies—losing a life. If you end up clipping a bullet without a shield or crash into something, you'll be stuck with a slow ship and the basic pea shooter upon re-spawning at the checkpoint. Sometimes you'll resume at a particularly tough section of a level, and if you can't move around quickly, then it’s fairly unlikely you’ll make it far enough to outfit your ship again properly. However, with a bit of practice and patience, I found myself in those circumstances on fewer occasions, and it didn’t ruin the overall enjoyment of the game.
Each stage has its own unique environment, ranging from volcanic and stone ruins to organic alien constructs filled with tentacled creatures and amoeba-like organisms. It was as if you had warped into a different universe each time you progressed to the next area. The behavior of the enemy characters added to the polished presentation of the game. Besides the obligatory flying enemies, the game also featured walking gun turrets with cannons that adjusted their trajectory according to your position.
Ground enemies bounce along the ground and ceiling, spewing a volley of bullets in their wake. Hatches of miniature bases opened to release swarms of smaller attack ships. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention those ring-spitting Moai heads (aka Easter Island heads) in the third stage. Such enemy designs may have seemed a bit out of place at the time, but they worked well and contributed to the notion that nothing like this had been done before, though Xevious is the closest parallel.
Gradius is an excellent example of an arcade port on less powerful hardware done right. While nothing is really missing or changed in terms of overall content, some aspects from the original were scaled back to accommodate the limitations of the NES. Obviously, the graphics were simplified compared to the arcade version.
You can have only two option drones instead of four, and your laser fires in segmented bursts instead of a longer streak per shot. The number of enemies and other objects was reduced (and in some cases completely removed) to minimize slowdown and flickering (though the latter is still quite noticeable throughout the game).
Despite the limitations of the home port, the audio presentation is still as faithful as reasonably possible to the arcade version. The Gradius series has always been known for its distinctive musical score, and it all started here with this one.
The upbeat sounds of songs like Challenger 1985 (stage 1), Free Flyer (stage 4), and Mechanical Globule (stage 6) really convey that feeling of exploration and wonder as you blast your way through hordes of enemies. Admittedly, the reduced capabilities of the NES mean that the music doesn’t have the same impact as the original on which it is based. But a Gradius soundtrack in any format is a winner.
Gradius is a solid game that makes relatively few mistakes in its execution. It’s a deceptively simple shooter that introduced layers of strategy that pushed the genre beyond previously conceived notions. While losing a life leaves you severely underpowered for the next section of the stage, it isn’t enough to detract from the overall satisfaction of playing through the game. Its unique approach to the shoot-em-up genre makes this worth playing if you’re into 2D scrolling shooters, as well as a personal favorite of mine.
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