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For the past 2 weeks I’ve been playing Gradius V on the SONY PS-2.
It has been ages since I played such an awesome action intensive shooter, with gorgeous visuals, excellent gameplay, and a cool orchestral sound track to boot (Very important in my book).
Especially the Boss tunes (both remixed and new), which are excellent!)
It also features some of the most sinister and fiercest looking Bosses I’ve encountered in a shooter. I’m glad that Treasure added the huge thermo-nuclear explosions from Ikaruga, seen when the Bosses die. Witnessing them get incinerated and engulfed by those awesome explosions, is a shocking experience indeed! You can even feel the heat wave from the nuclear blast in your face!
But the most impressive part of the game and the fiercest battle, takes place in the level 5 asteroid belt.
At the densest part of the belt, while you’re trying to avoid the rocks, two large asteroid breaker star-ships (Like the north-pole ice-breaker ships), come charging and smashing through the asteroids whilst firing napalm-type cluster bombs meant to destroy you!
As if this wasn’t intensive enough, the large flagship of the breaker fleet appears directly in front of you and large quantities of the asteroids begin to pile up in its path!
Then the flagship begins to fire six immense plasma beams obliterating everything in their path including your ship!
YouTube - Gradius V Boss Rush Part 2
YouTube - Gradius 5 (Freeze Type - Stage 5 Boss Speedkill)
YouTube - Gradius V Stage 5 Loop 10
After experimenting with all four weapon arrays, I’ve concluded that “Type 4” with its rotating multiple formations is by far the best, as it provides excellent defense capabilities (almost 70% protection when rotating around your ship) and great offenses, as all four multiples can easily be concentrated directly in front by quickly & continually tapping the multiple control button 3-4 times. It also offers adequate multi-range fire-power as the curved rotating laser-beams can cover a pretty wide range, far over and bellow your ship (Even through solid structures)
I’m very close in completing it (I’ve reached up to Level 5 using only one credit in normal difficulty) but so far, this has been a very fun experience indeed! A lot more fun than R-Type Final at least.
All I can say is that if Konami & Treasure did such an excellent job bringing the Gradius universe to the PS-2, then I can only dream of how awesome it will be on the PS-3 when it’s released! (Hopefully in disc media form, rather than the cheap-ass download service)
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