Duration: 17:51

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1

This is officially my first clear of a Gradius game and I really enjoyed it. In my opinion, the "Gradius Syndrome" is not too bad in the first game because a loop is only 15 minutes--so simply resetting immediately on death isn't that painful since you're only 5-10 minutes from being back to where you were. For longer games with Gradius Syndrome where you're 15-25 minutes from getting back to where you were, that really sucks and would definitely require stricter routing and save state practice.

As it stands, I didn't really use much save state practice except for the Moai section which while a bit tricky is extremely manageable with a shield and just sticking to the top left of the screen for most of it. Of course, in all the other Gradius 1 versions the screen scrolls endlessly in a loop at that section so you have to precariously dart from one safe-ish spot to another while under constant fire with a shield that isn't as effective in protecting you.

My total time to get this clear was just under 5 hours which is pretty chill and comfortable IMO. Overall this was a fantastic game that I really enjoyed and it's nice to have finally cleared such an important and influential shooter. 9/10 for me.