(CC) Gradius IV (PS2) - 1-ALL Hardest Clear (697,800 to 2-2)

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SuperViperT302

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Published on May 12, 2023 5:57:01 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNyJC249qx4

Game:

Gradius IV (1999)

Duration: 39:15

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(Subtitles/CC available for gameplay tips and additional notes)
Gradius IV: Fukkatsu
グラディウスＩＶ ~ 復活 ~
Gradius IV ~ Revival ~
© 1999, 2000 Konami, KCET

Returning after an absence in the arcades for 10 years, Gradius makes its comeback with the 4th numbered installment. And what an effect those 10 years had on programming capability: polygons instead of sprites, a huge upgrade in sound quality, and overall a more modernized feel that paved the way for Gradius V, 5 years later.

A lot of people look at Gradius IV as a ripoff of previous Gradius games, namely Gradius II. And when you play it for the first time, it definitely seems that way. The stages follow almost the exact same style (and order!) as in Gradius II, and stage 1 is basically a ripoff of II's 1st stage but with liquid metal instead of fire. My headcanon is that because Gofer was revived for this game (which might be part of what went into the "Revival" subtitle), that he recreated most of his former empire in the same image as before. Of course, who cares about Gradius lore in any game besides the MSX ones?

That being said, Gradius IV does what I like about most installments: taking already established traditions and expanding upon them in fresh ways, while still feeling like a Gradius game. There are a LOT more interactive stage elements than before, the bosses are quite involved in their design, and while it does take a few things from Gradius II, it's not enough to make the entire game feel like a waste. There's a few new weapon upgrades as well to spice things up.

So, those are all the positives for this game. Now for the negatives: it's really, really hard. Not poorly-designed-and-unfinished hard like Salamander or Gradius III, and not hour-long-stress-test like Nemesis 2 MSX, just genuinely difficult (more along the lines of, say, Salamander 2, except this game is longer and doesn't have the grace of instant respawns). It follows a similar rank system to the Parodius games, where rank increase is dynamic as you go through the game, and rank decreases after every death. It doesn't turn into a bullet hell like Parodius Da! or Sexy Parodius, but it DOES affect many stage hazards in very unfavoring ways. Extends are sparse, too, so if you die in the wrong place, Gradius syndrome will take over and ruin your credit, which almost happened in this run. And on Hardest? You're just asking for it at that point. Even on Normal difficulty, there are many places where surviving mostly comes down to dumb luck and flukes.

The weapon types aren't all that balanced either. Originally, I played this game with Type E, but the Vertical Mines are very hard to use effectively, and because the Armor Piercing is useless, you need to play with your default shot, which makes stages like the bubble stage way harder. I used Type D for a while because 2-Way and Tail Gun breaks the final stage, but the Ripple Laser isn't the greatest in certain situations. In the end, it was Type F that prevailed for me. It has a very good forwards firing rate (very useful for the bubble stage and against bosses), at the cost of Flying Torpedoes being a bit tricky to work with.

I can only describe this run as being clutch. It should've been over when I died in the blood vessel network in stage 6, one of the hardest checkpoints to recover from in the game, but I miraculously made it through on my last life. Not only that, I survived through the rest of the stage and the rest of the game, including pulling off the entire final stage without dying once (which killed 3 of my attempts). While it didn't go the way I had hoped, I had lost so many runs to the bubble stage that I was happy to take any attempt I got past it, and since this run ended up finishing, I'll gladly accept it, especially considering that up until just recently, I would've never dared to attempt clearing this game on Hardest. One thing's for sure, though: I am never, EVER attempting this again.

In the end, Gradius IV is a great technological masterpiece of a game, and is very innovative, but Konami maybe went a step too far in the difficulty department. This is probably the hardest--and definitely the least consistent--Gradius game to 1CC for me, though that could be because I'm just bad. If you're gonna dive into this one, maybe try it on Easiest first for a better experience.

Played on my PlayStation 2 using Gradius III & IV.

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