Gradius

Description

The people of Gradius are in trouble. The ameoboid Bacterions have launched an all out attack against the planet, and it's up to you to fly into battle and save them. Along the way you'll be able to power up your ship with hyper speed, force fields, lasers, missiles, double beam cannons and more to help you battle.

Based on the arcade game, Gradius is a side-scrolling shooter. Shooting certain enemies will leave a power up pod behind which can be collected to add more power to your ship. Each level features a wide variety of enemies trying to stop you, with a large boss at the end. Gameplay is for one player or two players alternating.

Alternate Titles

• "宇宙巡航机" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
• "Nemesis" -- Game Boy / European Arcade & Computer title
• "グラディウス" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Game Center CX challenge games
• Genre: Scrolling shoot 'em up
• Gradius series
• Video games turned into board / card games

Merchant Title Platform Price   Ultra Nemesis Gameboy (1990) Game Boy $1.98   Gradius     Please select your country: United States Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Canada Chile China Colombia Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Malaysia Malta Mexico The Netherlands New Zealand Norway Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia Saudi Arabia Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Uruguay Vietnam Other Worldwide Not an American user?

User Reviews

a fun action game that got rave reviews at the time

Game Boy

Gothicgene (83)

The Press Says

Computer and Video Games (CVG)	TurboGrafx-16	Feb, 1992	92 out of 100	92
Computer and Video Games (CVG)	Commodore 64	Sep, 1990	89 out of 100	89
1UP!	NES	May 16, 2006	87 out of 100	87
Power Play	NES	Mar, 1989	85 out of 100	85
Pocket Magazine / Pockett Videogames	Game Boy	Dec 01, 1990		80
Digital Press - Classic Video Games	Game Boy	Dec 10, 2003	8 out of 10	80
VideoGame	Game Boy	Jul, 1991		80
Quebec Gamers	NES	Mar 07, 2007	7.9 out of 10	79
Commodore Force	Commodore 64	Aug, 1993	78 out of 100	78
GameCola.net	NES	Dec 13, 2011	7 out of 10	70

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Trivia

Arcade version

The coin-op arcade version of this game was such a success, rumor has it that it caused a coin shortage in Japan.

Konami Code

The NES version was the first game to use the famous Konami Code.

BBC Micro conversion

A & B Computing reported in 1987 about a BBC Micro port that was developed, but never finished. The programmer was later revealed to be Kenton Price.

NES version

In the arcade game, players could carry up to four options. Due to technical limits of the NES, here they can only have two.

X68000 supplement

Gradius was bundled with the X68000 computer in Japan, which enforces its status as a "killer app".

Awards

• Power Play
  • 1987 - #3 Best C64 Game '87
  • Issue 01/1990 - Best Nintendo Game in 1989

Information also contributed by Игги Друге, Dracula Marth and Maw