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GAME
OF THE MONTH COLLECTION!!
Gradius
III & IV
(Konami, November, 2000)
I'm naming my first PS2 game Gradius III and IV the Game of the Month, simply
because the classic shooter will never die. At long last! we get another Gradius
game (actually two Gradius games in one) after all these years. I was worried
this PS2game wouldn't make it over here from Japan but Konami proved us wrong.
"Now before you dive in, I should warn you" both these old school
shooters are tough as nails with loads of enemies on screen at one time, so
the challenge level is high no matter what difficulty you're set at.
CAN YOU SURVIVE A SCREEN FULL OF BULLETS??
Gradius III has all of the 10 arcade levels and no longer has the annoying slowdown
found in the Super Nintendo
version (however, it does include this slowdown feature in the Option mode if
you like) but it's also missing some the weapons in the Edit mode like the Mega
Crush, R. Options, and the usefull Twin Back missiles. A minor problem but it
would have been nice to have everything packed in. Not as fun as the Super Nintendo
game overall because of the outrageous high difficulty but it's still recommend
to Gradius fans.
Here is a drawing I did of Gradius III
Gradius IV doesn't even have an edit mode like part III does. Just select from
one of six different set ups and your ready to go, which is somewhat of a disappointment
in the gameplay department epecially compared to Gradius III. The graphics in
IV actually use the PS2 real capibilities like morphmation and smooth detail,
definitily not as impressive as the other PS2 titles on the market but this
is a true 2D shooter so it doesn't have to be. The bosses in this game especially
look great, and are a real pain in the neck by the way. Not as difficult as
Gradius III but it's no cakewalk either with 9 vicious levels ranging from an
active organic pit to an fast paced technology zone. Although the gameplay is
fairly simple like the original Gradius II it's still very playable and this
game is the better of the two games on the disc.
It's only 2D! But it's still impressive looking on some levels.
The real joy in both these games is passing that really difficult level that
just seems impossible to your friends or seeing your ship fully powered up with
all four options. It would have been nice to have Gradius 1 and 2 on the disc
too but at least we get the most recent ones. Gradius III & IV is recommend
to all old school shoot em up fans who are begging for a real challenge from
their PS2. Gradius has returned!
Final Score: 76/100
For 1 or 2 players (alternate)
5: Graphics
7: Sound
8: Gameplay
See other games of the month