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Gradius Portable [PSP] first impressions

DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
Salvaged from a dead thread...

Gradius Portable (PSP) - VERY short play time.
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Oh christ, hotter than a priest with a church full of 12 year olds and a pair of x-ray specs... on the sun... Load time varies from game, i must admit when i saw the WARM UP COUNT DOWN 99 ... 98... 97 for Gradius 1, i thought "you've got to be kidding me" - but the "press start button" came up.

The biggest problem i was expecting was the fact that gradius games were going to be sprites on black backgrounds, but - whilst there is some bleeding - most noticable so far on Gradius 4 - it's fine. Bullets are more than visible, everything looks lush. One thing that is awesome IMO is the clarity and quality of the sound - it sounds fantastic in gradius 1, the sound track is nice and crisp.

For each game you can chose a few screen types - it varies from game to game, with gradius 1 offering original size, large, and full screen. Others offer "Arcade" and "Wide" with Arcade seems to make the screen go beyond the PSP resolution, wide fits things to the screen.

The hit size is also configurable! which helps some of us who SUCK! Difficulty of course can be ramped up or down.

Slowdown has only shown up a few times, and seems limited to Gaiden where the initial snow fall happens, but it was minor and didn't detract from the game, and the level 3 boss (quite a bit , but again, i can live with it - if anything , slowdown helps)

Been itching for a good solid shooter, and here we have 5 classics on one disk, and for those who missed out on Gaiden, oh boy... are you in for a treat....

There is a music and movie gallery also included, which is a nice bonus, with the movies played in full screen. the music gallery also contains the sound track from the X68000 versions of Gradius 1 and 2

Seems like the continue / credit system is different per game too. Whilst Gradius 1 has no continues (at least it seems that way!) Gradius Gaiden gives you 9. Will have to see how that pads out- to be honest, i always liked the Mars Matrix/Ikaruga idea of getting more credits as you achieved things , but that's just me.

if i had to think of gripes ? well, two player mode in Graidus gaiden over wireless would have rocked, and the continue thing might be a mild annoyance, there are a couple of issue with some dark points (mainly in gaiden) where some enemies are difficult to see - especially in level 2. Again, i've not got through all the games/levels, but so far - so awesome. Couldn't be happier to get my shooting on!

(oh, i tried putting in the Konami code (well, a close approximation) but nothing seemed to happen ... i refuse to believe its not in there)
 
Yeh, I almost imported this sucker until I saw that news blibbet a couple weeks ago. I'm crazy enough to import SFZ3 a few weeks early, but I can hold out a couple months for Gradius ^_^

These impressions make it tough though. Gaiden on PSP sounds shweet.

DCharlie--how's the quick save? and how small can you make the hitboxes? :)
 
I want this badly!

If I could get an R-Type collection on PSP too, I might never need to buy a game again, ever.
 
Which is better, this or Gradius Galaxies on a GBA SP?
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You know, I must have stared at your avatar for a full five minutes before hitting reply.

But to answer your question, I thought Galaxies was pretty dissapointing. Mainly because EVERYTHING IS SO DAMN SMALL.
 
Vennt said:
I want this badly!

If I could get an R-Type collection on PSP too, I might never need to buy a game again, ever.
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Yes, a proper conversion of R-Type III would be most excellent.

Give me some tate Cave lovin', too!

DCharlie, thanks for the impressions! When you wrote "VERY short play time", I thought you were referring to the games themselves or the battery life or something. I was like, "Wait a minute." :lol
 
MoxManiac said:
You know, I must have stared at your avatar for a full five minutes before hitting reply.

But to answer your question, I thought Galaxies was pretty dissapointing. Mainly because EVERYTHING IS SO DAMN SMALL.
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Yeah, I found Galaxies to be *very* difficult to play on the GBA/DS screen. It's a lot easier scaled up on a GB Player.

I thought it was OK, but IIRC (it's been years), the music was pretty bad. All the things people say about Harmony of Dissonance's soundtrack can pretty much be applied to Galaxies' soundtrack.

Problem with it is that there wasn't a whole lot that was memorable about it, whereas you can point to most Gradius titles and immediately identify key points in each game that are considered Instant Classic Gradius Moments.
 
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My God, those are absolutely hypnotic. Those should be on PSP.
 
Eh? Galaxies was way too easy.
But this compilation has Gaiden on it. There should be no question about its quality. Gaiden is the second best Gradius of all time (behind V).
 
I wonder if they'll keep the uber-awesome levels that were exclusives in the PC Engine versions of Gradius I and II.

Well, I know they probably won't but a guy can dream, can't he?
 
When this releases in the Spring I'll rebuy a PSP. I sold mine a while back and managed to get a few bucks more than I paid.

For me, Gradius Portable is the first must-own title to release since Lumines (which I kept).
 
Jonnyram said:
Eh? Galaxies was way too easy.
But this compilation has Gaiden on it. There should be no question about its quality. Gaiden is the second best Gradius of all time (behind V).
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I don't know if this is in response to my post, but I was referring to it being hard to play on the small screen, not about the game difficulty (which I agree, was on the easy side). It's tough for me to get precision movement on a 3" screen. :)
 
note there are points in the game where it's harder to see what is going on - there is bleeding on some ships and viper (varies from game to game - Gaiden and 4 are the worst offenders) , but it's a minor issue so far - again, not played any of the games to completion yet - will update when i do.
 
Jeff-DSA said:
When this releases in the Spring I'll rebuy a PSP. I sold mine a while back and managed to get a few bucks more than I paid.

For me, Gradius Portable is the first must-own title to release since Lumines (which I kept).
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yeah, i recently re-bought another ds, so my psp hasn't been getting any attention from me at all. that new mega man game is tempting me (but i heard it's short) and street fighter's tempting me (but there's no online play), but gradius is a definite get (and i'm not even a shooter fan).
 
DCharlie said:
note there are points in the game where it's harder to see what is going on - there is bleeding on some ships and viper (varies from game to game - Gaiden and 4 are the worst offenders) , but it's a minor issue so far - again, not played any of the games to completion yet - will update when i do.
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Slightly OT, but is there any noticeable difference between the screens used in the J-PSPs and the ones in the US? I've heard the J-ones are better (Sharp vs. Samsung or something along those lines), but wasn't sure if that were true, or whether it had to do with brightness, refresh, or something else. Thanks.
 
ghibli99 said:
Slightly OT, but is there any noticeable difference between the screens used in the J-PSPs and the ones in the US? I've heard the J-ones are better (Sharp vs. Samsung or something along those lines), but wasn't sure if that were true, or whether it had to do with brightness, refresh, or something else. Thanks.
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NO.

I own a launch US PSP and a JP white PSP. Comparing them side by side, the sceens are EXACTLY the same. There is absolutely NO difference between them (both free of dead/stuck pixels too).

If there was a difference to begin with, it's gone now.
 
Oh christ, hotter than a priest with a church full of 12 year olds and a pair of x-ray specs... on the sun... Load time varies from game, i must admit when i saw the WARM UP COUNT DOWN 99 ... 98... 97 for Gradius 1, i thought "you've got to be kidding me" - but the "press start button" came up.
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:lol

I can't wait for this. I have Gradius III for SNES and V for PS2, both are amazing.
 
I think it's worth adding that the soundtrack gallery is fucking awesome. What a great addition. I'm sitting here listening to the Gaiden soundtrack as I type at work. Itching to play the game now.
 
sorry for the stupid question but this is coming here right? if not I have no... I need to import this.
 
Lik Sang had that written up on their site:

Instead of being thrust back to the beginning when you die, now for the first time you can save and load at any point in each game through the pause screen.
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If this is true and you can save at any time I'd assume you could just reload from a point shortly before you fucked up and crashed into something...

Wouldn't that make the continue feature (I.E. earning more as you play) kinda moot?

Thanks for the impressions...
 
in my ignorance, i didn't see the save/load function - will try it later.

Jonnyram has problems seeing the bullets in Gaiden, i personally didn't have an issue, but i might just be shooting things too fast! :)
 
From-what-I'm-guessing-is-Famitsu said:
Gradius Portable (PSP, Konami): 8, 9, 9, 7 - (33/40)
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Very nice scores! Not that I needed any more reason to buy this, but it's nice to see this retro pack get such high marks.
 
There is no wifi co-op in Gaiden? Damn, that's like half of what made that game so bloody great. :(
 
Brandon F said:
There is no wifi co-op in Gaiden? Damn, that's like half of what made that game so bloody great. :(
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As an aside, I've never been a big fan of co-op mode in shooters... mainly because 9 times out of 10, the person playing with you (whether they're a friend or not :)) hog power-ups, and if the game has super bombs, they use them profusely, pretty much destroying any strategy you might be aiming for.

I may be more of the exception to the rule, since I'm a perfectionist when it comes to scoring in shooters (one of the last remaining genres to really focus on this aspect of gameplay), so I tend to get annoyed if someone's playing co-op with me and they, well, fuck up my shit, not to put too fine a point on it. :lol

Then again, I've played with people who know their stuff, and when you're "in-tune" with the other player, it can be a very rewarding experience. Too bad I can count on one hand the number of people I know personally who even know what a shooter is anymore without saying, "Oh, you mean like Quake?"
 
thanks for the impressions. I probably won't import since the US release sounds like its not too far off but, just in case, is this import friendly for non-Japanese readers?
 
kaching : yeah, no Japanese text at all. Voices remain English (and male female choice remains in Gaiden)

Oh, and i think only 2.5 is required (Jonny might be one to confirm that)

I'm just wondering if the x68000 versions are hidden in there somewhere, what with them being part of the soundtest?

SOMETHING will be hidden in here, i'm pretty sure ! :)

Actually, after seeing Gradius 4 running, i don't see why we couldn't possibly have Gradius 5 at some point (crosses fingers) - as a new release, not as a hidden bonus in this game!
 
DCharlie said:
Actually, after seeing Gradius 4 running, i don't see why we couldn't possibly have Gradius 5 at some point (crosses fingers) - as a new release, not as a hidden bonus in this game!
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I'd much rather see an original Gradius game on the PSP. I don't mind collections like these, but straight-up ports (and of *recent* games) bug me. If Konami announced a Gradius VI for the PSP, developed by Treasure, hello! Sign me up. :)

...and make Gradius V an unlockable in *that* game. :D
 
Gradius V is way too technologically demanding to make it onto PSP without some serious graphical concessions, methinks.
 
Ooohh, including Gradius 2 soundtrack, the best game soundtrack of all time.
Uh, PS2 version please?? In Europe? (Don't laugh)
 
Picked this up with Monster Kingdom and errr...I'm not exactly sold on the game yet.

I think the image quality sucks. Not only do you have small tiny bullets (which aren't a problem to see because they are red/orange), but then you have BLACK SPACE BACKGROUND which on an LCD screen (aka, "hi my black level sucks") just looks horrid and pitch black. You can barely make out any details and the games all just seem too dark. Also the rate of fire seems slow, I'd only played Gradius V but I'm getting screwed a lot in these 5 games by quickly moving in front of an enemy (that only takes 1 hit to die) and thinking I can shoot it but it kills me before my next shot comes out.

Non-stretched mode at least looks sharp so I'm using that, but the black level still sucks. Gradius + LCD screen just doesn't mesh IMO.

Also THESE GAMES ARE HARD. I couldn't even get the first boss on 2 -> Gaiden. Gradius 1 was the only game I actually got a few levels in. Jesus. I can't remember a shmup that I've been unable to even make it through level 1 and now I have FOUR OF THEM. I attribute this partly to the rate of fire which is much slower than I'm used to and the controls which just don't feel responsive using the d-pad (normal is too slow and with 1 speed up the ship moves to far each tap). I dunno, it's cool having some shooters to play on the go, but I'm not sold on this game at all yet with it's full $50 price tag. If this was a budget release I'd be more forgiving but I'm not exactly in love yet.
 
Bebpo said:
Also THESE GAMES ARE HARD. I couldn't even get the first boss on 2 -> Gaiden. Gradius 1 was the only game I actually got a few levels in. Jesus. I can't remember a shmup that I've been unable to even make it through level 1 and now I have FOUR OF THEM. I attribute this partly to the rate of fire which is much slower than I'm used to and the controls which just don't feel responsive using the d-pad (normal is too slow and with 1 speed up the ship moves to far each tap). I dunno, it's cool having some shooters to play on the go, but I'm not sold on this game at all yet with it's full $50 price tag. If this was a budget release I'd be more forgiving but I'm not exactly in love yet.
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Funny coincidence. I played the NES version of Gradius 1 last night, and the first wave of enemies (before you even see the ground/trees) killed me. :lol That was pretty embarrassing. It feels a little *too* oldskool for my tastes.

I thought Gradius Gaiden felt really balanced the whole way through, though. It's my favorite Gradius game (I haven't finished G5 yet, so that opinion will come later), followed by 3 on the SNES.

I barely survived the first level of G3 in the G3+G4 PS2 collection, and the bubble level absolutely destroyed me. Was not fun at all.

Anyway, thanks for the impressions!
 
I gotta add that the d-pad and analog nub on the PSP makes these games even harder than they should be. My down-left presses on my PSP d-pad don't always register correctly! Grrr! Btw, the music on all these games are great. I was wondering if that tune that plays during the warm-up screen in Gradius is a J.S. Bach tune?
 
zmet said:
I gotta add that the d-pad and analog nub on the PSP makes these games even harder than they should be. My down-left presses on my PSP d-pad don't always register correctly! Grrr!
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Yeah, I have the same problem pressing up/left or up/right in DJMP. Breaks my combos all the time. :( I'm guessing it's better with the Capcom pad.

zmet said:
Btw, the music on all these games are great. I was wondering if that tune that plays during the warm-up screen in Gradius is a J.S. Bach tune?
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I don't know, but it's called Morning Music, and was one of my favorite songs to play in KeyboardMania.
 
sounds kewl but gradius is kinda meh in my opinion
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Gradius is the series that got me into shmups and i love it dearly.. but I'd take an R-Type collection over this anyday, R-Type just is the better series overall. That said, im buying Gradius Collection day one when its out in europe.

I really wish Taito would release a similar collection of Darius games too.
 
ghibli99 said:
Yeah, I have the same problem pressing up/left or up/right in DJMP. Breaks my combos all the time. :( I'm guessing it's better with the Capcom pad.
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Why would you be pressing diagonals in DJMP? ^^;
 
Bebpo said:
Why would you be pressing diagonals in DJMP? ^^;
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Sometimes you get left and up (or up and right) at the same time, and having only one left thumb you don't have many options. It's possibly my only gripe with the game (that and I just am not good enough to consistantly beat some of the songs, and it makes me sad =\ ), thankfully its only in a few songs.
 
fronn said:
Sometimes you get left and up (or up and right) at the same time, and having only one left thumb you don't have many options. It's possibly my only gripe with the game (that and I just am not good enough to consistantly beat some of the songs, and it makes me sad =\ ), thankfully its only in a few songs.
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Wow, I never even knew up-left worked for those. I just figured you were supposed to using the L trigger + Left and if you don't have blue notes set to L/R you were just screwed.
 
Bebpo said:
Wow, I never even knew up-left worked for those. I just figured you were supposed to using the L trigger + Left and if you don't have blue notes set to L/R you were just screwed.
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That's one way of doing it, but it's hard (for me at least) to remember to use the L/R in those special cases (I suppose one could learn to use L/R exclusive on 4/6b modes, but then 8b mode is very >_< to get used to again).
 
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