Gradius II

Port

The Famicom port of Gradius II.

Released: 26 December 1988
Platforms: NES Nintendo Switch PlayStation Store TurboGrafx-16 TurboGrafx-16 Wii
Genres: Shooter
Developers: Konami
Publishers: Konami
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Science fiction
Languages: English

About

Gradius II, retitled Vulcan Venture in North American arcades, is a 1988 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami. It is the sequel to Gradius and was succeeded by Gradius III. Initially released in arcades, ports of Gradius II were released for the Family Computer (under the shortened title of Gradius II), PC Engine Super CD-ROM², and the X68000 in Japan. The original arcade version is also included in the Gradius Deluxe Pack compilation for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn and in Gradius Collection for the PlayStation Portable.

Keywords

wii virtual console
nes game pak - vrc4

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player returns as the role of the pilot of the Vic Viper spaceship to battle the second onslaughts of the Bacterion Empire, under the new leadership of Gofer, the giant head. Gradius II has kept the gameplay from the original game, but infused it with enhancements brought from the spin-off, Salamander (Life Force). This is primarily evident in two of the weapons configurations that are selectable. Another first in the series was the inclusion of the "boss rush" (also known as "boss parade" or "boss alley"), a level designed entirely with only boss confrontations.

Gradius II retains the selection bar from Gradius, but now the player can choose between four different weapon configurations and progressions. All schemes have speed-up and multiples (Options), but have differing 'Missile', 'Double' (laser), and 'Laser' weapons. The player can have at most four multiples. Additionally, there are also two types of shielding to choose from: shield and forcefield.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Gradius II on their May 1, 1988 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month. It went on to become Japan's third highest-grossing arcade game of 1988.

Review aggregator GameRankings scored Gradius II at 80%