Gradius V

C

CO_Andy

Member
It's been like forever since i've played a decent shooter (my last one being Ikaruga; i didn't appreciate the absurd difficulty after level 2).

So how's Gradius V? I was a big fan of 3 back in the day, and was wondering if this new one iz worth my time. Don't see Gradius V listed in too many online stores now:/
 
It's phenomenal & it's not that hard compared to Ikaruga...

The credits system is set up so you gain an additional one for every hour played, so that between increasing your skills & increasing your credits, you should make steady progress.

The only downside, if it can be called that, is the lack of a combo system. It's very much old-school Gradius gameplay, for better or worse.
 
it's spectacular. if you're generally unfamiliar with modern 2d shooters, it'll seem like a revelation. though if you found ikaruga "absurdly difficult," you may find gradius v so as well. it isn't nearly as schematic and rigid as ikaruga's color-chaining, but i don't think that's the difficulty you were referring to.

edit: incidentally, i dislike that system of gradually parceling out credits based on flight-time. it's as if you're earning the right to ruin the game by credit feeding. if you really want to play a shooter, strictly limit yourself to one credit. if you desperately want to beat a shooter that you have no prospect of one-credit clearing, use three credits.
 
Ikaruga is difficult because it's more of a puzzler than a shooter. Gradius V has much more room for improvisation on the fly, while still requiring you to do a bit of memorization. Its difficulty comes primarily from narrow, enemy-filled corridors and bosses that throw hundreds of bullets at a time.

I find it to be slightly easier than Ikaruga, and much more enjoyable.
 
drohne said:
if you really want to play a shooter, strictly limit yourself to one credit. if you desperately want to beat a shooter that you have no prospect of one-credit clearing, use three credits.
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I agree with this (which is why I still haven't beaten Gradius V, but at least I have my pride).
 
drohne said:
edit: incidentally, i dislike that system of gradually parceling out credits based on flight-time. it's as if you're earning the right to ruin the game by credit feeding. if you really want to play a shooter, strictly limit yourself to one credit. if you desperately want to beat a shooter that you have no prospect of one-credit clearing, use three credits.
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It takes something like 20 hours of gameplay time to unlock unlimited credits, though... Your Gradius skills after 20 hours should be tight enough that you don't NEED unlimited credits. I think it's a good system, especially for those who would NEVER be able to beat the game w/o a credits increase.
 
I remember when EGM would knock points off a review because a game had unlimited continues. When I bought a new game for the Genesis I'd switch the difficulty to hard and play through on one credit, solved that problem right there.
 
A few weeks ago I had (still do, actually) a huge backlog of unplayed or partially played games sitting around including Halo 2, MGS3, Pikmin 2, Paper Mario and over a dozen more. Once I put Gradius V in the PS2, it did not leave the screen for two weeks straight. Incredibly playable and addicting.
 
It's my favorite Gradius, and probably my favorite 2D-style shmup to date.

I too found Ikaruga's rigid gameplay more frustrating than fun. Gradius V is very tough, but allows you to make decisions and improvisations on the fly, whereas Ikaruga almost always forced you to simply memorize the best path to surviving the stages.
 
karuga is difficult because it's more of a puzzler than a shooter. Gradius V has much more room for improvisation on the fly, while still requiring you to do a bit of memorization. Its difficulty comes primarily from narrow, enemy-filled corridors and bosses that throw hundreds of bullets at a time.

I find it to be slightly easier than Ikaruga, and much more enjoyable.
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Ikaruga is not more of a puzzler. The puzzle aspect only comes into play when you go for chains. And when chaining you realize how deep of a game ikaruga is. Gradius V is a fantastic game at a MSRP of $29.99 there is no excuse not to get it. Also toys r us has r-type final on sale for $14.99 it's a good shooter but not as good as gradius.
 
Gradius V is a really excellent game, even for non hardcore shooter fans, like me. :P It'll take you a long time to finish this thing, even with the increasing number of credits, and EVEN on the lowest difficulty. Speaking of which, it's really good and never feels cheap, unlike Ikaruga, although sometimes you'll go WTF HOW THE SHIT WILL I BE ABLE TO GET PAST THAT. :P
 
I was going to wait until it dropped down to $20 to save ten bucks (yeah, I'm cheap), but I'm glad I bought it. It's a great and very beautiful game. If you like shooters, you can't go wrong.

By the way, does anyone ever choose using 'double' instead of 'lazers'? To me, it just seems like most would easily choose lazers almost everytime. Also, out of curiousity, what 'options' package do most of you choose? I switch between 1 (free movement) and 4 (rotating) with 4 getting the majority of use.
 
If you have a dreamcast, skip Gradius V and get Border Down instead. It is a much better game. One of the sexiest horisontals ever .. IMHFO. No disrespect to Gradius V, which is also great.
 
fatty said:
I was going to wait until it dropped down to $20 to save ten bucks (yeah, I'm cheap), but I'm glad I bought it. It's a great and very beautiful game. If you like shooters, you can't go wrong.

By the way, does anyone ever choose using 'double' instead of 'lazers'? To me, it just seems like most would easily choose lazers almost everytime. Also, out of curiousity, what 'options' package do most of you choose? I switch between 1 (free movement) and 4 (rotating) with 4 getting the majority of use.
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Double is essential through all of stage 3 but the intro. As for options, I started out with Type 2, but after being pounded by stage 2's boss rush enough times I wised up and switched to 3. I still come across spots where type 2 would be more useful, though.
 
I only use lasers / Type 1 and do fine until Stage 5, where I don't do fine with anything. I haven't played since it came out, though. (It's not the game. I just need a more friendly gaming setup.)

Re: Border Down
Yeah, it's nice, but you won't find it for less than 90 bucks these days. Gradius V is 30. Do the math. ^_^;
 
Gradius V is my favorite shmup to date, though I certainly need to play more Gradius Gaiden to form an opinion.

Type 2 for me. I probably chose it because of the whole 'newb' appeal (not to say it isn't useful), so I should give the others a shot.
 
Gradius V is an awesome shmup. It's way better than R-Type Final (which I hate). It can be a bit dull at times, but other than that, a great game.

But (imho) it doesnt come close to Thunder Force IV on the Mega Drive. (best horizontal shmup ever imo)

Radiant Silvergun rocks them all tho...
 
With a moderately skilled friend, Gradius V is an absolutely cracking game. There is a lot of pattern regonition involved in the game, we got to level 4 just on the back of what we remembered from the enemy attack patterns. I tend to use the directional options (can't remember if it's Type 2 or 3, the one where you control the direction of the shot). I used to use the rotating option but the inability to shot backwards was a big problem. Gradius V is a really hard game, in 2P mode we only got 2 continues for the entire game.
 
My favourite shooter ever.
Beat the game (on normal) before free play opened, but I'm no one credit guru or anything like that - the penultimate stage is way too hard for me to contemplate ever single-crediting the game.

My option of choice is #1 - the fixed one. When you get used to it, you can take bosses out really quickly because you can concentrate your fire power on one spot. Alternate between double and laser at various points of various stages, whenever they are most suited.
 
Gradius V is by far the better of the 2 recent horizontal shooter updates. R-Type Final ultimately skulks in the shadows of R-Type Delta, but Gradius V is a potent update that not only does the series proud but stands on its own as one of the best side-scrollers yet.

And yes, Border Down is a must-own for shooter fans as well.
 
Good shmup but after the sprawling first level I was a bit disappointed with the design of the next levels where it's basically manouvring through one tight corridor after the other.
Wouldn't have mind some more variation here.
 
Heh, I'm hard-pressed to think of a shooter with more variety in the level design. Every level (alright, maybe not 3) has a new, cool idea.
 
Gradius V is definetly a great shump.

When I play, I either use Type #1 or #4..
Type 1 is great if you want to concentrate on your fire power, but Type 4 allows you to play more defensively.

I must say that it is awesome that the shots must hit you directly in the cockpit to take you out. You can graze shots which allows you to play a little more risky. The collision detection is off now and again, but still an excellent title.
 
Ironclad_Ninja said:
I must say that it is awesome that the shots must hit you directly in the cockpit to take you out. You can grace shots which allows you to play a little more risky.
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Yes, this is a genius game design move.
 
gradius V is the best shooter I've ever played. i have yet to find something wrong with the game. not much else i could say really.
 
Ironclad_Ninja said:
I want to see it utilized more in shumps. It gives you much more flexibility and it decreases the number of cheap kills.
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Try almost any vertical shooter released since 1994. It's very common. :) Also, in Sengoku Blade (horiz shooter), your character is only vulnerable from the waist up.
 
jiji said:
Try almost any vertical shooter released since 1994. It's very common. :) Also, in Sengoku Blade (horiz shooter), your character is only vulnerable from the waist up.
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Hmm, that's very interesting, but I would imagine that it works better in a horizontal shump than a vertical shump, but that is just speculation.
 
Ironclad_Ninja said:
Hmm, that's very interesting, but I would imagine that it works better in a horizontal shump than a vertical shmup, but that is just speculation.
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With the bullet patterns found in most modern vertical shooters, a small hit center is essential for navigating the small gaps. Sengoku Blade has similar patterns, and while Gra5 doesn't have the same style of patterns, it has some that are almost as intense (not to mention laser shots with the tiniest of gaps in between), so it's just as useful.
 
jiji said:
With the bullet patterns found in most modern vertical shooters, a small hit center is essential for navigating the small gaps. Sengoku Blade has similar patterns, and while Gra5 doesn't have the same style of patterns, it has some that are almost as intense (not to mention laser shots with the tiniest of gaps in between), so it's just as useful.
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Ah yes. I'm starting to see what you mean. Even with Ikaruga's bullet eater, there are still some parts that get really tight. Did Radiant Silvergun have a hit area similar to Gradius V?
 
Ironclad_Ninja said:
Ah yes. I'm starting to see what you mean. Even with Ikaruga's bullet eater, there are still some parts that get really tight. Did Radiant Silvergun have a hit area similar to Gradius V?
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Yeah, only the center of the ship is vulnerable. RSG even gives you points for grazing bullets, a feature that didn't become popular until later, with Shikigami no Shiro and Psyvariar.
 
jiji said:
Yeah, only the center of the ship is vulnerable. RSG even gives you points for grazing bullets, a feature that didn't become popular until later, with Shikigami no Shiro and Psyvariar.
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I have been meaning to look into Psyvariar.

Interesting to hear that RSG gives you points for grazing bullets. I would have loved to have seen something like that in Gradius V. Glad to see that what I loved so much from Gradius V has been done better in the past. I need to track down some older shumps. Aside from the ones you already mentioned, would you care to list a few more and their respective systems?
 
CO_Andy said:
Um, did anybody actually buy Mobile Lightforce 7?
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Indeed I did. Looked past the disgusting box art. I should fish out my PS2 and PS1 copies but it's getting late over here. That will be a task for tomorrow while I am not studying for finals. :lol
 
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