Popular games for collection Gradius
The Director General of Space Science Agency Dr. Venom was exiled to Planet Sard for a failed coup d'état. In the year 6665, he escapes and invades Planet Nemesis and the seven planets it controls with the help of Bacterion. The Nemesis High Council sends James Burton, ex-pilot of the Vic Viper, to pilot Metalion and attack Dr. Venom and the Bacterion invaders.
In Konami's fifth entry in the Gradius series, Gradius V adds changes to gameplay while keeping to original form. Of the most significant changes is the ability to direct the yellow pods (ambiguously but classically titled "option") direction of fire, using the PlayStation 2's analog joystick. While doing this, however, your ship cannot move. This adds a greater challenge for the game, and allows the designers to be more evil in their placement of enemy ships. Outside of that, the rest is standard fare for a Gradius game: don't you dare touch the walls or any enemy projectiles, but pick up upgrade pods to increase your arsenal
One of the defining characteristics of the Gradius series is the use of a "power meter." The power meter is powered by a power-up item, whose purpose, when collected, is to move a highlight to the next power-up on the power meter. When a power-up that the player wants becomes highlighted, he or she may activate it, also causing the highlight to reset.
The player returns as the role of the pilot of the Vic Viper spaceship to battle the second onslaughts of the Bacterion Empire, under the new leadership of Gofer, the giant head. Gradius II has kept the gameplay from the original game, but infused it with enhancements brought from the spin-off, Salamander (Life Force). This is primarily evident in two of the weapons configurations that are selectable. Another first in the series was the inclusion of the "boss rush" (also known as "boss parade" or "boss alley"), a level designed entirely with only boss confrontations. Gradius II retains the selection bar from Gradius, but now the player can choose between four different weapon configurations and progressions. All schemes have speed-up and multiples (Options), but have differing 'Missile', 'Double' (laser), and 'Laser' weapons. The player can have at most four multiples. Additionally, there are also two types of shielding to choose from: shield and forcefield. The shield option adds more durability, but only for the front of the Vic Viper, while the forcefield adds protection for the entire spacecraft, albeit only against three hits. In the Famicom version, choosing another multiple after four will make the four multiples to move around the spacecraft for 16 seconds; force field is the only shielding available for protection of the entire spacecraft, withstanding three hits and it is included in four different weapon configurations and progressions; and 'Double' and 'Laser' have to be activated twice to achieve full performance.
In the darkest reaches of infinite space, pure evil lies in wait ... The Dark Forces led by the god of destruction, Bacterian, prepare to launch a massive onslaught against the planet Gradius. Possessing unstoppable power, the Dark Forces threaten to plunge the Universe into total war and complete annihilation. Their invasion force smashes the Gradius defenses, and the surrounding planets soon fall like dominoes. Now Bacterian's evil grasp reaches for the heart of the resistance...planet Gradius itself... To counter the oncoming threat the United Gradius World Forces gather all their fighter craft. Half of them form a defensive net - the other half a strike team. But they are badly outnumbered and The Dark Forces easily tear through their thin frontline. No fighters survive the slaughter.... In a last gasp move, the United Gradius World Forces send out two fighters, previously considered too dangerous for combat missions: The InterDimensional VIC VIPER fighters. The Fighters take off for the heart of darkness to join the fray that will decide the fate of the Universe...
Gradius: The Interstellar Assault retains the traditional horizontal scrolling gameplay from the Gradius series. Once again the player takes control of the Vic Viper and flies through five different stages destroying Bacterion's army. The game retains the traditional power-up bar from the original Gradius. The player can speed-up multiple times, use missiles, shoot double firepower or lasers, use several options at a time and use the classic shield (although it is referred to as a forcefield). However, before each game is started or continued, the player is given a "Weapon Select" screen. Here the player can choose between one of three settings for the missiles, double firepower, and lasers.
Nemesis is an Action game, developed by Konami and published by Ultra, which was released in Japan in 1990.
Gradius IV is the fourth arcade installment in a series of scrolling shooter video games developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. It was preceded by Gradius III, released in 1989, although spinoffs had been released prior to it such as Gradius Gaiden. This title brings a considerable graphical upgrade, particularly with the use of colored lighting. In addition, there have been several additions and removals to the vaulted weapons system; specifically, the edit mode has been removed and an online ranking system was added.
Like the original Salamander, and as opposed to the Life Force releases, Salamander 2 abandons the selection-bar based power-up system, in favor for a simplified system that focuses on powering weapons up based on specific icons. For example, the player cannot increase his ship speed until a speed icon is picked up; additional speed icons further increase the ship velocity. Several weapons, when additionally upgraded, turn into a 'super' weapon for approximately ten seconds. If the player has the ripple laser, and then gets another icon for it, the player will receive the high-powered Buster ripple for a short period of time. Options have been slightly changed with the arrival of 'option seeds', which are small options that orbit the ship firing only the basic initial shot. Two option seeds can combine into one full option. Moreover, options can also be sacrificed to utilize a short-term homing beam weapon. Several enemy bosses typical to Gradius games return, including the Brain Golem (the first level boss) and the Tetran (the second level boss). There are a total of six levels. Since the game is similar to its prequel, Salamander 2 does not use the Revival Start feature from Gradius (which pushes the player back to a pre-determined checkpoint if a life is lost), many people consider this title to be easier than other titles in the Gradius series due to this. Once the game has been completed, it starts its second-loop at a much higher difficulty. The music is also changed to remixed versions of Salamander's music in some stages. The first player's ship is called Vic Viper while the second player's ship is Super Cobra.
Otomedius Excellent is an Xbox 360 game and the sequel to the 2007 arcade game Otomedius by Konami, which is a spin-off of the side-shooting game Gradius series. It was released in March 2011 in Japan and early November of 2011. Otomedius Excellent features a single player campaign with a new story, and a Multiplay mode in which 2 other players can play in. Players with an Xbox Live subscription can play online with other players in Score Attack mode and check their scores against other players on the Leaderboard. Alternate costumes and new stages were made available after release.
The setting is between Gradius III and Gradius IV. During the " Third Bacterian War ", the planet Gradius defeated the Bacterians, and peace returned to Gradius. After two hundred years passed, Gradius prospered, but when the disappearance of a science vessel which went to a nebula known as "The Evil Range", the colony planets of Gradius were attacked by some unknown force that destroyed 99% of the Gradius Army. The Gradius Army Headquarters decided to launch a desperation attack on the "Dark Nebula", which was the source of the invaders. Four Hyper Space Fighters launched from the mothership with orders to stop them.
Cosmic Wars (コズミックウォーズ Kozumikku Wōzu?) is a turn-based strategy video game produced by Konami in 1989 which is based upon the characters and conflicts of the popular Gradius series. It was released only in Japan. The game received a sequel in 1997, with Paro Wars, which is the Parodius equivalent of this game. The object of Cosmic Wars is to utilize an army composed of Gradius characters (Vic Vipers, and Big Cores) and battle enemies in various star systems. The player can be either the Bacterion Empire or the forces of Gradius. There are many different unit types, ranging from small fighters to large capital ships.
Gradius Galaxies is a horizontally-scrolling shooter handheld video game released for the Game Boy Advance. This is the only Gradius title available for the system.
Otomedius Gorgeous is the Xbox 360 port of Otomedius Arcade, a side scrolling shooter by Konami which featured personification of space fighters from various Konami games like Gradius, Xexex, Salamander and Parodius. The name is a pun, being a portmanteau of the terms "otome" (meaning "maiden" in Japanese) and "Gradius". It was released for the Japanese Xbox 360 in November 20, 2008.
The Bacterians' Commandant Gopher plans to assassinate little Lars XVIII and change the course of history...... Block Gopher's ambition!
Blast your way through levels filled with alien spaceships and otherworldly creatures in this retro side-scrolling shooter. Pick your weapons carefully and upgrade them to create a devastating arsenal of space-aged weapons that will aid you in your challenging mission. Players can post their high scores to worldwide leader boards via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and see where they rank against all the other Gradius ReBirth players. Test your skills with Gradius ReBirth and see if you have what it takes to beat this action-packed arcade shooter.