subcons
I take no official position on the issue.,
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2002
- Posts
- 3,519
The Gradius series, you either love it or hate it. In all honesty, I've never been much of a Gradius fan. I remember trying to play it on the older systems when I was younger and even more recently in the past five years of so and it was just too slow paced and unforgiving. Now though... I'm kind of hooked.
The thing to change all this? Gradius V. When this game dropped, I bought it simply due to the fact that Treasure worked on it and it looked absolutely beautiful. To my surprise, I loved actually playing it as well. I put so many hours into it. More than any other shooter in recent time. I haven't played it in a while due to it being stolen from my previous residence, but I did recently pick up Gradius Galaxies to pass the time at work and it's pretty much been in my SP for three days straight.
Now, as much as I'm enjoying the game, it's reminding me why I was never a fan of the series and why I actually liked playing Gradius V so much. First of all, there's the speed issue. First thing you have to do in this is to get your speed up, and that's fine. The problem I have with this particular Gradius is that using one speed up feels too slugish, yet just right on how accurately it controls--pixel perfect. It just feels precise. Use another speed up and it becomes fast enough in that I can move around the screen efficiently enough to kill enemies and collect power ups, yet I'm taking a hit in control accuracy. This wasn't a problem for me in GV, as control was spot on at a comfortable speed. But with Galaxies I find myself hitting walls and loosing my force field, or even worse, a life...
Which leads me to my one major gripe with this game: losing a life. I just want to quite once this happens, save for a few points in the game where I'm able to survive long enough to power my ship up moderately. Starting over at a checkpoint with absolutely nothing just sucks. Treasure did it right in GV in letting you just continue on and giving you the opportunity to pick your options back up. Then you have a fighting chance.
So my aim with Galaxies is pretty much to one life the game. It feels more than attainable as the difficulty isn't too bad thus far... although I'm only seeing middle of stage five out of eight on my first life. What's to expect out of those last three stages? Really tough? Oh, and how many loops are there, anyone know? At any rate, even with those two major quibbles, this is the best portable shooter I've yet to play (haven't given Iridion II much time yet, but I don't think it'll top this one). Really fun and the graphics are great. I'm enjoying it thoroughly. Can't wait to see those last three bosses.
And to the Gradius followers out there, what's another in the series that I might enjoy? I saw a short clip of Gradius Gaiden before and that looked pretty damn nice. Then there's Lifeforce, which I think I played briefly a long while back but I really wasn't into the genre then. What's the downside on those two? Same as Galaxies? Any input would be appreciated.
The thing to change all this? Gradius V. When this game dropped, I bought it simply due to the fact that Treasure worked on it and it looked absolutely beautiful. To my surprise, I loved actually playing it as well. I put so many hours into it. More than any other shooter in recent time. I haven't played it in a while due to it being stolen from my previous residence, but I did recently pick up Gradius Galaxies to pass the time at work and it's pretty much been in my SP for three days straight.
Now, as much as I'm enjoying the game, it's reminding me why I was never a fan of the series and why I actually liked playing Gradius V so much. First of all, there's the speed issue. First thing you have to do in this is to get your speed up, and that's fine. The problem I have with this particular Gradius is that using one speed up feels too slugish, yet just right on how accurately it controls--pixel perfect. It just feels precise. Use another speed up and it becomes fast enough in that I can move around the screen efficiently enough to kill enemies and collect power ups, yet I'm taking a hit in control accuracy. This wasn't a problem for me in GV, as control was spot on at a comfortable speed. But with Galaxies I find myself hitting walls and loosing my force field, or even worse, a life...
Which leads me to my one major gripe with this game: losing a life. I just want to quite once this happens, save for a few points in the game where I'm able to survive long enough to power my ship up moderately. Starting over at a checkpoint with absolutely nothing just sucks. Treasure did it right in GV in letting you just continue on and giving you the opportunity to pick your options back up. Then you have a fighting chance.
So my aim with Galaxies is pretty much to one life the game. It feels more than attainable as the difficulty isn't too bad thus far... although I'm only seeing middle of stage five out of eight on my first life. What's to expect out of those last three stages? Really tough? Oh, and how many loops are there, anyone know? At any rate, even with those two major quibbles, this is the best portable shooter I've yet to play (haven't given Iridion II much time yet, but I don't think it'll top this one). Really fun and the graphics are great. I'm enjoying it thoroughly. Can't wait to see those last three bosses.
And to the Gradius followers out there, what's another in the series that I might enjoy? I saw a short clip of Gradius Gaiden before and that looked pretty damn nice. Then there's Lifeforce, which I think I played briefly a long while back but I really wasn't into the genre then. What's the downside on those two? Same as Galaxies? Any input would be appreciated.