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OK, I admit it. Only recently have I been turned onto what has been lovingly referred to as the "shoot-em-up". Back in my youngun days, I'd put something like Life Force in my NES, get the crap blown out of me in a few second, eject the game from the machine and put in Bionic Commando or something.

But last year, I picked up Gradius 3 for my SNES and I got hooked. Every since, I've been playing all sorts of shoot-em-ups, from Thunder Force to Aleste to many others. On a whole though, the state of the shoot-em-up industry is very sad in the United States. While there have been a few (Raystorm, Xevious, the excellent Einhander) there still isn't much out for the Playstation.

Enter Konami. Konami made TONS of shooters back in the old days (including the aforementioned Gradius.) They've also made TONS of shooters for the Playstation. And you know what? They haven't released them here. They aren't going to release them here.

Gradius Gaiden is one of those shooters. Technically the fourth in the Gradius line (the second was never released in the United States, as Life Force/Salamander was a side series), it was released for the Playstation in Japan around August 1997. It was supposed to come to America on the Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus, but that was cancelled... (ed note: this was the event responsible for the creation of the OPCFG)

Anyway, a quick background story is introduced in the game (in Star Wars like credits, in English, with a voice over): some scientific vessels were destroyed when floating next to a nebula known as the Dark Range. Then some bad guys came through and destroyed all of the colony planets of Gradius, plus destroyed most of its army. Four spaceships are the last hope for saving the universe from these evil guys.

Two of the ships will look familiar: the Vic Viper and the Lord British (from Life Force). The other two, the Jade Knight and Falchion Beta, are new. Each ship has their own armnament, ranging from different missiles, guns and lasers. You can also choose the type of shield that you want (there are four.)

If you're not familiar with how the Gradius power-up system works, I'll explain really quickly...certain enemies drop glowing orange orbs. Get one, and your power meter advances by one notch. When the power-up you want is highlighted, press the corresponding button, and you get that power-up. Usually the more valuable the power-up, the more you need to grab before you can get it (although there is a power-bar edit in this game that lets you customize it to your needs...so technically, you can make it so that one orange orb is all you need for a shield).

You are equipped with missiles and a main gun. Each ship has two choices for a main gun and can be upgraded two levels as well. Additionally, you have little glowing thingies called Options that shadow your ship and fire at the same time you do. This little buggers are very efficient, and you can actually grab four of them (unlike the original NES ones, where two was the limit).

There are a total of nine stages (names in English too) and they're all very cool. Starting off with a snow level, there's a junkyard filled with former Gradius bosses, a crystal level (very cool, since lasers will refract through the crystals), another typical Moai board (those Easter Island heads, staple in the Gradius series)... even a level where you're chased by a gravity hole, eating up the landscape behind you. It's all intense and very awesome.

The options given to you are tremendous. In addition to the customized power bar, you can also set your announcer voice to male or female. There are several levels of difficulty, plus you can change how many lives you have as well as how often you get extra ones.

There are a couple of things I miss from the old Gradius 3 though. While there's a host of new weapons (Gravity Bullets, Round Lasers), I miss the charging E. Laser. Plus there's no longer the Shrink capability. And most glaringly, you can't change the way the options behave! You used to be able to make them rotate around your ship, but now they just followed you like they always did before. On a whole though, these are just minor complaints, and you'd only notice them if you've played it a lot. The "Gradius Syndrome" is still present (i.e. you get killed and are sentenced to get through a very tough segment with almost no weapons) but the power-bar edit and the increased amount of power orbs available help alleviate this to an extent.

Quite honestly, I find very little to NOT like about Gradius Gaiden. While it's entirely 2D, the graphics are still very impressive (the rotating Moai head boss is just INCREDIBLE) and there's almost none of the slowdown that so hampered the SNES game. The music's awesome as well, with the navigation tune between levels being my favorite. The enemy taunts are kind of neat (the Moai head boss calls you a loser...heh heh.) And with the two-player simultaneous mode, it can't be beat! Blow up stuff with a friend! YEE HAA!

While it can't match the sheer intensity or jaw-dropping locales of Einhander, the actual gameplay is just a tad bit more fun for this shoot-em-up fan. So all of you import freaks, Gradius Gaiden is absolutely a must, no questions asked. If just Konami would wake up and realize that shooter fans exist somewhere, then maybe it'd have a hit on its hands. But as a result, many Americans will be left out of the experience that is Gradius Gaiden. Pity, it is.

- Kurt

front cover

For more info on Gradius Gaiden, head over to SHMUPS!