This is an almost arcade perfect port of the arcade version of Gradius II, which was also known as Vulcan Adventure. Konami made no compromises in choosing the PC Engine’s Super CD format to release this game on, the music sounds better than ever as a result. Sadly this never made it to the west as a TurboGrafx-CD game, so this is an ideal candidate for a Virtual Console release.
Vic Viper returns to battle the second onslaughts of the Bacterion Empire, under the new leadership of Gofer, the giant head. In what was a first for the Gradius series, players can now select their power-up configuration. Most of the weapons seen in Gradius and Life Force are present, as well as new additions such as Spread Bomb, Photon Torpedo, and Tailgun.
Any seasoned shmup fan will have no doubt had their reactions tested to the extreme by at least one game in the Gradius series. If this is the case you will know exactly what to expect here. In fact this is probably one of the hardest in the series, everything but the kitchen sink is thrown at you from the moment the game begins!
There is a tremendous amount of variety in the levels and lots of surprises along the way. The end of level bosses are impressive and are definitely the highlight of the game.
There are some nice improvements to the PC Engine port of Gradius II. There is a lovely animated Vic Viper intro which shows off the ship's skills to some funky Konami rock music. In addition to this there is an additional level which sees you navigating your way through crumbling ruins in a desert.
The Gradius series is famed for its difficulty and Gradius II is no exception. If you die you lose all your power-ups and have to start back at your last check point. This uncompromising system may be off-putting to some but perseverance will reward you. We heartily recommend this to shmup fans, but be warned it is not for the faint hearted!
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1. Tony
04 Apr 2008, 12:31 GMT
This looks awesome. I thought Life Force was Gradius 2. Anyway this looks a good game to pick up.
VC is really pushing the imports now
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2. deggs
04 Apr 2008, 14:01 GMT
damn, i've been waiting for this one forever... i'm such a huge gradius fan (to me one of the best game series evaaaaaaaaaaaar) and to have this finally playable in my region would be amazing... i sooooooooo can't wait for this and as soon as vc was announced i was begging for it
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3. deggs
04 Apr 2008, 14:02 GMT
looks so amazing... tons of gradius fun for all... i sooooooooooooo need this
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4. morphballer
04 Apr 2008, 15:32 GMT
DESTROY THE CORE!
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5. Clinker
04 Apr 2008, 21:21 GMT
Best Gradius ever! In my opinion.
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6. Link79
04 Apr 2008, 22:37 GMT
This one looks great but where's my Life force?
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7. Sharecrow
06 Apr 2008, 18:33 GMT
This level looks tough but maybe I am just a light-weight. Looks cool too.
I really liked Life Force though I could hardly get anywhere in it. I know I would download that one pretty quickly after it became available if it ever does.
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8. That Guy from Faxanadu
07 Apr 2008, 15:26 GMT
PC-engine or Famicom Gradius II? Since the Famicom version is very nice I´d be happy for either release. I suppose the CD version is more luxerous, so maybe it would be the best choice for VC.
And yes Scarecrow, the levels are ridicolously hard, much tougher than Life Force (I haven´t beaten the Lv2 boss on Life Force though...) Still a fun game.
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9. michinmuri
28 Apr 2008, 06:48 GMT
As much as I love Life Force, I will definitely pony up the cash forthis one. AWESOME!!!
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10. Adamant
02 May 2008, 03:45 GMT
Only 4 stars? Blasphemy. This game is amazing.
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11. CopyofCopyX
02 May 2008, 08:59 GMT
This game is only for real shmup fans.
For everyone else it will be WAY to difficult.
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12. Kelvin
02 May 2008, 09:20 GMT
Tony, Life Force was a spin-off which was released as Gradius II in the US and Salamander elsewhere (including an excellent Commodore 64 port). The spin-off series was designed for those who found the Gradius series too difficult.
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13. djshep1973
02 May 2008, 09:53 GMT
Oh yes! I love Gradius games, and having had a butcher's at the video clip on this page, it looks like I won't be disappointed with this installment...
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14. slangman
02 May 2008, 10:51 GMT
Gradius games doesn't usally intreast me since they sound far too different to the arcade versions. But this version sounds really good if its near arcade perfect.
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15. SepticLemon
02 May 2008, 15:29 GMT
I own Gradius II on the PSP "Gradius Collection" compilation. Is there any advantidge on the PCE-CD version over the Emulated Arcade version on the PSP?
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16. SepticLemon
02 May 2008, 17:28 GMT
Nevermind, I got tempted, downloaded it, and it's damn awesome. It's so much better playing it on a large screen! Shame there's no wide screen/large screen support like the PSP game did. but hey the Music is rocking!
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17. Fireballmario
04 May 2008, 01:04 GMT
So totally gonna get it if it comes to America. So this is the game I've seen on Youtube Videos. It is worth getting.
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18. DEMON212
05 May 2008, 07:54 GMT
IMO the PSP version was awful, I really hated it. But after the positivity that this version was getting, I decided to get it. And it's SOOOOOOOO! Much better
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19. Dazza
05 May 2008, 08:22 GMT
I got the Gradius collection on the PSP and was disappointed too. I don't think these games translate too well on a small screen. The D-pad on the PSP made them even more difficult also. Glad to hear you have been won over by the Gradius goodness demon!!
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20. teamdoa
05 May 2008, 14:35 GMT
I cant understand why Europe get this before the US. Oh, and the PSP Gradius was fine, plays great on the slim.
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21. SepticLemon
06 May 2008, 02:17 GMT
To Dazza: Yeah I had to play Gradius Collection with the Analogue Nub, which gets annoying after a while, Luckly I got it on the cheap when I was in the States. It makes me wish that I waited for the smaller PSP. But then again my PSP as it is collects dust and I rarely use it. If they have a good way to port Gradius onto the DS, that would be awesome!
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22. FirebrandMustDie
06 May 2008, 10:10 GMT
Blimey, I haven't played a Gradius game for years and years. Then again I did only own Nemesis on the Gameboy and Gradius 3 on the SNES.
Just downloaded this and had a quick play, this is going to take some beating but first impressions are a fantastic game.
"Go for the eye!"
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23. D00M
08 May 2008, 11:47 GMT
D/L this last night, I wasn't going to till I found it was the same version I played in the ye olde arcades.
Man, it's tough...till I found the option screen o_O
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24. Matmax14
13 May 2008, 20:05 GMT
this game is really cool,i think better than gradius 3...but at the end its really hard...i think its 900 wii points worth^^
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25. djshep1973
14 May 2008, 04:16 GMT
Does anyone else remember Gradius under the name of Nemesis?? I used to have Nemesis 2 on the MSX and that was brilliant...
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26. TaxiTitan
17 May 2008, 05:05 GMT
gofer no yabo episode ii is was avalable only for msx. (gradius 2.5)
hehe a challange.
check it out. but it seems to suck.
try complete level 8 on this game on normal
love this game.
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