2-D Shooters

You know that old saying, “you’ve played one, you’ve played them all,”? Well, I never really knew what that meant until I played Gradius Collections for the Sony PSP. After 20 years, this anthology of space shoot-em-ups comes complete with five Gradius titles dating back to the original 1985 version: Gradius, Gradius II, Gradius III, Gradius IV, and the previously unreleased in America, Gradius Gaiden. But, is it worth playing every incarnation of the game over the last 20 years, especially when each title is practically identical to each other.

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For the most part, Gradius is your typical 2D space shooter. Despite some changes throughout the series, a few characteristics are constant: You pilot a starfighter as it unyieldingly travels across space and through worlds blasting any oddly shaped ship and Easter Island head that get in its way. Each stage presents a different challenge to the player, such as maneuvering through narrow corridors or blasting through blocks of ice.

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Certain enemies drop power-ups that can be used to activate new abilities such as lasers, bombs and boosted speed. The unique thing about Gradius is that it allows you to store power-ups to purchase the specific abilities you desire, allowing you a customized progression to your ultimate form. The key to dealing with each stage is to equip your ship with the right abilities to take it on.

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Another staple of the series is its incredible difficulty. Even on the easiest levels, death is constantly on your tail and a single slip of the D-pad can lead to disaster. Once you have the maximum number of power-ups, you can blast your way through pretty much anything in short order. However, dying even once can really set you back. Not that you have to redo much of the stage after you die. In fact, you pick up almost exactly where you left off, but doing so while completely stripped of your powers can grind your progress to a halt.  Suddenly, even minor obstacles are insurmountable to your gimped ship and bosses are even more frustrating. This even forced me to restart the game several times.

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New features include the ability to save your game at any time. This comes in handy by allowing you to always return to a point when you were fully armed. Though it left me feeling guilty for using so many times, it was the only way I could get through most of these games.

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Another useful feature is auto powering-up which lets the computers decide when to purchase abilities so you can concentrate on blowing things up. You can also set an auto-fire button that releases a flurry of bullets. This can even make your basic cannon more powerful than a high powered laser. And if that wasn’t enough to help you through the game, you can also set several difficulty options from your ship's hit area to the number of lives you start with.

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Looking at each game individually, they get progressively better, but only slightly. Personally, I didn’t find much pleasure in playing them all in a row. Playing later games merely made me more cynical of the earlier ones and I complained of missing features (like more than one type of boss). If you want to enjoy these games to their fullest, you should probably play them chronologically.

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Starting from Gradius II, you can select from multiple weapon arrays to take into battle. Gaiden even offers different ships to choose from altogether. Of course, if you’re a hardcore fan of the first game, the original weapons and ship are always available. I was surprised by how much the experience of the game changed based on the weapon array I picked. It even made some of these frustration fests worth playing over a few times.

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The first four titles all share the same sprites and music quality which are above average for their time and retain their charm today. Gradius Gaiden, however, suffers from what I like to call an “overactive visuals complex.” A straightforward, 2-D shooter like Gradius doesn’t need super glossy sprites and morphing 3-D globs to impress me. In fact, I thought they were just cheesy. Equally cheesy were the sound bites before bosses such as, “You think you can beat me? Looser!” Touché, Mr. Giant Rock Monster, I did in fact think I could beat you. But you’re quip has since dashed such foolhardiness…

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Like any anthology these days, there are a number of unlockable bonus features, but there isn’t much of interest here. You would think there would be something to show us behind the scenes, or perhaps an interview with one of the creators. Alas, we will have to make do with some intro animations and still pictures.

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Gradius is one of those titles that (for better or worse) has just as much appeal today as it did when it first came out. In fact, it’s even harder to find this kind of action today when 2D games are considered inferior. But this series proves there are some things that are done best scrolling along the side. My biggest reservation about the game is that I feel it is simply five old games without much difference between them, all thrown onto the PSP (reminds me of Mega Man Anniversary Collection). Still, Gradius Collections is a game that, if you can handle the challenge, will provide you with countless hours of intense fun. Fans of the series will fall in love all over again, while those without godlike reflexes and patience should probably pass on this one.