Gradius Collection

PlayStation exclusiveBundle / compilation

Gradius Collection is a compilation of five beloved games in the Gradius series available for the first time on the PSP system. Spanning more than 20 years, the five games--Gradius, Gradius II, Gradius III, Gradius IV, and the long-awaited Gradius Gaiden--deliver hours of classic 2-D shooting action on the go.

Released: 9 February 2006
Platforms: PlayStation Vita PlayStation Portable
Genres: Shooter
Developers: Konami
Publishers: Konami
Modes: Co-op Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Science fiction
Age ratings: ESRB E PEGI 3

About

Gradius (グラディウス, Guradiusu; GRAD-ee-əss or GRAY-dee-əss) is a series of shooter (shoot'em up) video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper.

Keywords

shoot 'em up
shmup
compilation
high score
boss fight
explosion
upgradeable weapons
collectibles
ice stage
checkpoints
auto-saving

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

The Gradius series was created when Hiroyasu Machiguchi, the series creator was given a team to work with and asked everyone what kind of game they wanted to develop, to which they responded being a shoot 'em up, with the intent of surpassing Namco's Xevious. They decided to make it a horizontal shooting game because they wanted to reuse material from Scramble as much as possible, and Gradius was originally named Scramble 2. The development lasted for a year after refining and experimenting with the gameplay. The team originally tried twenty different movement patterns for the Options and used a process of elimination when something did not work.

For the story, Hiroyasu's team was inspired by science fiction movies, with the popular sci-fi films at the time being Star Wars and the anime adaptations of Lensman. The team saw Lensman together and it influenced the game's story. Its plasma laser also left a big impression on them and was why Gradius featured a Laser weapon. The Moai were included because they wanted to add a mysterious element to the game like Xevious and its Nazca Lines.

Reception

Hideki Kamiya stated in an interview that Gradius is one of the top three key inspirational games from his past.

Several of Gradius' starfighters, Core bosses, and various game elements have been adapted into trading cards as part of Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game.