Gradius V (Playstation 2)

Here's the low-down. That biological menace that assailed your people once upon a moon (in previous Gradius entries) is back again. It apparently respawned in space, grew itself an appendage army, and is coming to blow your planet a goodnight kiss. Armed with your Vic Viper, you aren't going to take it lying down. Nope, its war, baby, and you're packing heat.

If you're tuning in for a fifth installation to the series, you have probably gotten the gist of the game by now and have the combat controls down. If you haven't, the concept is really simple. (1) You side-scroll (although it's a shame to call such tasty graphics side-scrolling) and attack enemies, to the point where the sky seems to sometimes erupt into bullets. So, you have to perfect your flying abilities and you have to be calm when playing. This, after all, isn't a game you walk through without testing the proverbial waters. It's a game you have to play. While many newer-series games aren't as technical about how close you can get to something, Gradius is very unforgiving when it comes to close-quarters killing and how good you have to be. You have a lot of boards that make you assail enemies in a variety of positions, and sometimes the ground doesn't sit still and take it. In this assault you have two basic types of projectiles (a) biological and (b) projectile. Biological(s) aren't bad but they can get heavy, but you can take them out with special weapons like multiples (to be discussed) easily. A projectile can either be stopped by a shield you've acquired or left to run its own course. (2) The game is all about timing. A lot of enemies that you run into have gimmicks, and you simply have to figure them out. It's an old concept that is beautiful, and it can be hard if you expect instant gratification. Some boards are like flying into a tempest and some bosses are like facing planets with a gnat, but remember that you aren't doing it for you. You're doing it to save your people! (3) You don't go it without weapons. In this installation you have four types of combinations, and they're quite good. I'm a Type 4, with rotating multiples, because they work like a secondary shield against biological weapons. You can get alot of stuff like that, four multiples, lasers, missiles, shields, so you pack heat. And so does the enemy.

This game touts some improvements that I liked alot. First, you have multiples that respond to movement really well. Like I said, I like Type 4 because they rotate and rotate well, working with the R1 button depressed and actually aligning if you tap the R1 button. So, you can not only gain and extra shield but also focus the firepower of five lasers rather easily. And you can use the multiples as weapons themselves because they do not die. Second, death is not "disarming." The options wait around for you and let you grab them again and that's a good thing. Five weapons on higher boards is sometimes the only way to weave through the maze of bullets and horror. Third, the enemies were fun. Some were complex and some were a pain, and they don't always attack the same way. So, that factor is lovely. I personally love the feeling of kneecapping a juggernaut that looks like it can't be taken on, slowly picking it apart while it futilely fires enough weaponry to level galaxies at me. Fourth, a person wanting to simply continue can do so, earning continues until the game will allow you to see it all. That's good for novice players that don't want to hone the energy required to beat the game in one set of lives. Fifth, and something I don't use, it is two-player simultaneous.