Duration: 42:15

50 views

4

I'mma be real--my hands were a little shaky and sweaty when I finished this clear a few minutes ago before writing this review. This clear--almost deathless except for the very end--took me just over 41 hours to do. I'm not the most hardcore player out there and have other projects and whatnot in my life so to me a 40-50 hour effort to snag a 1cc is as about intense as I personally like to go.

I've seen mixed thoughts on this game online with some people saying it's definitely an easier Gradius entry and others saying that even with that being said, you still have to deal with some painful Gradius Syndrome. That's definitely true for me since I've been doing full clear attempts for a week and failed multiple time in the last quarter of the game about 30-35 minutes in. Ouch.

Starting at stage 6 there are some pretty intense difficulty spikes. So while the first half of the game definitely seems slower and easier than other Gradius games, it's the 40ish minute run time and difficulty at the end where things get a bit spicy.

I will say overall I really, really enjoyed the gameplay and loved the 16 bit presentation. This is a beautiful GBA game which is my favorite handheld system--it's honestly comparable to the excellence of the SNES in terms of polished games, great library, and timelessness.

As far as the actual gameplay goes, there were a couple of hiccups I had along the way where I really had to crack down and do some save state practice to get through consistently. Early on in stage 6 when you pass through these three tonsil alien things...I keep my options low on the first one and kind of hold it towards me by keeping rapid fire on until I can kill the first of 3 drone things. Then you go through the next two you need to be very slow and don't hold down the trigger more than necessary.

Stage 7 is very tough when you have to dodge all the ice meteor things. The only real decent strategy I found was to use the double shot here and have it full powered so that it shoots up. This way, you can focus less on shooting the little ships that try to ambush you by passing you and then coming from behind. It honestly just gets really tight and you just have to anticipate where open space will be. It's all about staying calm and routing your way to the middle of the screen about 1/3rd from the edge of the screen.

Stage 8 where things speed up is all memorization. Just save state it for practice. You CAN actually float on the top of the screen for the first half of it and be outside the tunnels, but I'd often randomly die trying to do that so I just did it legit. And also be sure to drag your options so they're low when you hug the back of the screen to pass the multiple slow gates...or else a random bullet will hit you even with perfect centered positioning for the gates. Very cheap way to die, but figuring out how to survive is just part of the puzzle/strategy element.

Lastly what definitely makes this an easier Gradius game I think is how you can cheese the bosses. This works very well with the green type C ship. Just line up in front of the eye/core, wiggle left and right to line your options on the same axis as you and go to town.

My last criticism is the music. Huge missed opportunity there. It's just not that good compared to the awesome sprite work unfortunately. And yes, you only get three lives and no continues but like...to me, I don't even bother practicing recovery in a memo shooter like this....like, the masochism is kind of the point and you just have to learn the steps of the Gradius dance.

What kept me going mentally is learning to combine practice and fun. Save stating and conquering each individual level is itself a small victory and you have to learn to smile at death and learn from it and just be patient. Every difficult section is in itself a mini game. The 1cc at that point is just a performance showing you did your homework.

8/10 game. Someone please romhack this to add good music and it'll be a 9.