![]() ![]() The Gradius games, as side-scrolling shoot-em-ups, are just similar enough, that playing them back to back becomes the video game equivalent of eating pepperoni pizza, from the same pizzeria, for a week straight. With, for example, the SNK and Namco collections, there’s a considerable variety of game types to be found, and even the Mega Man games have enough variety in the level designs to make them feel more conductive for playing back-to-back. Blitzing through Gradius, going on to Gradius 2, and then directly into Gradius 3 is a recipe for burnout. The Gradius games are not what I’d describe as marathon friendly. This leads to the fundamental issue that you have to keep in mind in this collection. Instead, it starts you off back at the beginning of the boss rush. Similarly, Gradius 3 starts with a very claustrophobic level – probably the most claustrophobic first level in the series, which requires some very precise maneuvering, which gets aggravated by some of the slowdown that comes up in that level as well. However, if you’re save-scumming, it can get frustrating, as what you want to do is save after beating each boss so if you have to shut the game down you can pick up right where you left off. The checkpointing in the boss rush for Gradius 2, for example, works perfectly if you’re playing the game arcade style, as it provides a way to get enough power-ups to get back where you need to be for the boss fights. ![]() The Gradius games themselves generally play well, and are well designed, though each of the games have their little quality-of-life issues that cause problems when playing on a portable system. This lets you focus on evading enemy bullets and taking on targets, and also lets you avoid, for example, the Whammy option included on the power-up path for for Gradius 3. In a way, that would be defeating the point of emulating the arcade experience, but if you’re including a Save/Load option, then including that form of checkpointing seems reasonable enough.Įach title also includes the option to have an automatic power-up path you can choose from, which will optimize what power-ups you’re using based on what configuration you’ve selected. On the one hand, the latter case makes for a good quality of life improvement, but I can’t help but feel that it would be nice if there was a way to skip the save and load part of the process – and just let you restart from that checkpoint with your last saved power-up loadout, possibly losing a life in the process. Each game also includes the ability to save your game, with your current selection of power-ups, at almost any point from the pause menu, allowing you to pick up from the last passed checkpoint if you have to take a break, or to stick with your power-up selection if you get taken out. The title collects 5 Gradius arcade titles, generally going with the arcade versions where available (complete with the arcade BIOS check screens). The collection appears to do a pretty good job of emulating the arcade hardware, including having slowdown where it similarly would have appeared – which I’m not sure is a plus or a minus. Thus, a game like Gradius Collection for the PSP is a game that caught my attention. ![]() I’m never going to feel confident enough in my skills to play a bullet hell shooter, but I appreciate the design of those games and the skill that goes into them. Shoot-em-ups are one of those genres that I’m okay at. ![]()
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