Vic Viper

Games

Scramble (1981)

An early horizontal-scrolling shooter from which gameplay elements of the Gradius series were inspired. Although there is no canonical relationship between Scramble and the Gradius series, Scramble is implied to be a spiritual predecessor to the series, evident by its appearance in flashbacks during Gradius introduction sequences (Gradius Advance). Scramble has been ported to other platforms, including MSX and Commodore 64. In 2002, Scramble appeared on GBA as one of the titles featured in Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced as well as later Konami game compilations for PlayStation and Nintendo DS.

Gradius (1985)

The first true Gradius game to introduce the concept of the 'weapon bar'. During the game, many enemy craft leave behind items or 'pick-ups' when destroyed that can be used to power up or modify the player's vessel. Collecting one of these will shift the selection cursor along the weapon bar at the bottom of the screen. The player can then select the weapon highlighted if they want it. The cursor then resets. In general, the more useful 'power-ups' are towards the right-hand side of the bar, so the player may decide to stock up on pick-ups until the better item is available. This innovation allowed for deeper tactics on the part of the player and for greater freedom of weapon choice rather than relying on the pre-determined power-ups common in other games in the genre. Originally released as an arcade game, its popularity resulted in ports to the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, NES/Famicom, MSX, Master System, X68000, Amstrad CPC and PC Engine. More recently, ports to the Saturn, PlayStation, and certain mobile phones were created. (Saturn, PlayStation and computer versions are all packaged with Gradius II as Gradius Deluxe Pack). In addition, the NES version was re-released for Virtual Console, NES Classic Edition, and the PC Engine version on the PlayStation Network. In territories outside Japan, the arcade and MSX versions of Gradius were released under the title Nemesis.

Salamander/Life Force (1986)

Set in the same continuity as Gradius. The game is noteworthy for a number of reasons. Most prominently, the game switches between horizontal and vertical stages, one of the first games of its kind to do so, and it was also one of the first shoot 'em ups to include cooperative gameplay.

Spin-offs

Parodius series (1988–2010)

The Parodius series, started in 1988, is similar to Gradius, but with more cartoony settings. The name is a portmanteau of "parody" and "Gradius". The Parodius series parodies many of the common elements of the Gradius series, including neon-colored core warships, effeminate moai, and large dancing women as bosses. Early games focused mainly on parodying Gradius games, but more recent games have poked fun at other Konami franchises, including Castlevania and Ganbare Goemon. The games offer a large number of different characters to use, each with different weapons. The characters consist of ones created for the series, such as Takosuke, and popular Konami characters like Pentarou and Upa (from Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa). Vic Viper also appears in all titles. The Parodius games also distinguish themselves from the Gradius series with their music. Unlike the Gradius games, whose soundtracks are either unique to each game or refer to earlier games in the series, the music in the Parodius games parodies a diverse pool of public domain sources, including a large contingent of classical music.

Moai-kun (1990)

A platform game released on the Famicom starring an anthropomorphic moai statue.

Cosmic Wars (1989)

A spin-off tactical turn-based strategy game taking place in the Gradius series. Was released only on the Famicom in Japan. The game received a sequel in 1997, with Paro Wars, which is the Parodius equivalent of this game.

Otomedius (2007)

A newer take from Konami on the Gradius spoof, this game features anime girl representations, designed by Mine Yoshizaki, of Vic Viper and Lord British, in a mecha musume-style approach. The name is a portmanteau of "otome" (乙女, a Japanese word meaning "maiden") and "Gradius."

Cancelled games

Vic Viper

Vic Viper is an unreleased coin-op racing video game from Konami. It was to star the Vic Viper, and various other vehicles, in a game resembling the F-Zero or Wipeout series. It was first shown at the 1995 JAMMA show.

In September 2011, the game's completed soundtrack was released on disc 10 of Konami Shooting Collection, an album featuring soundtracks from Salamander, TwinBee, and many other Konami shoot 'em ups, as well as other related games.

Gradius 64

Gradius VI was originally announced in the 2005 Tokyo Game Show. This was one of the developing titles for the PlayStation 3, scheduled for the 2006 release. However, for unknown reasons, the development was delayed and, eventually, completely scrapped.

Common elements

There are several gameplay elements that are common to almost all of the Gradius games. These include the power meter, one of the Gradius series' defining characteristics, which is enabled by power-up items. The items upgrade the selected ability in the power meter. The meter resets when the player chooses to activate the selected ability. Weapon edit lets players create their own power meter sequence.

The concept of the "Core" is a central part of Gradius. Cores are usually blue, glowing masses of energy hidden within large warships and protected by a series of barriers. All cores must be targeted in order to defeat a warship, which normally comprises several phases and often uses the terrain to its advantage. In some cases, a core is closed or not vulnerable at the beginning of a battle, only opening or becoming susceptible to attack some moments later by turning blue. Additionally, the announcer will normally urge the player to "Destroy the core!" or "Shoot the core!" prior to an encounter. For other types of bosses, like large beasts, the announcer may command the player to "Destroy the eye!" or "Destroy the mouth!", depending on the boss.

The moai statues of Easter Island (Chile) appear as enemies in several Gradius games. They are mounted on either side of flat, free-floating platforms and fire a series of colorful rings at the Vic Viper. Upon completing the game, the player restarts on the first level while retaining their upgrades from the previous games. Each cycle through the game grows progressively more difficult.

Konami Code

The Nintendo Entertainment System port of Gradius represents the first ever use of the Konami Code in a video game. If the player pauses the game and enters the Konami Code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A), they will be given extra lives and various power-ups.

Development

The Gradius series was created when Hiroyasu Machiguchi, the series creator was given a team to work with and asked everyone what kind of game they wanted to develop, to which they responded being a shoot 'em up, with the intent of surpassing Namco's Xevious. They decided to make it a horizontal shooting game because they wanted to reuse material from Scramble as much as possible, and Gradius was originally named Scramble 2. The development lasted for a year after refining and experimenting with the gameplay. The team originally tried twenty different movement patterns for the Options and used a process of elimination when something did not work. For the story, Hiroyasu's team was inspired by science fiction movies, with the popular sci-fi films at the time being Star Wars and the anime adaptations of Lensman. The team saw Lensman together and it influenced the game's story. Its plasma laser also left a big impression on them and was why Gradius featured a Laser weapon. The Moai were included because they wanted to add a mysterious element to the game like Xevious and its Nazca Lines.

Reception and legacy

Hideki Kamiya stated in an interview that Gradius is one of the top three key inspirational games from his past.

Several of Gradius' starfighters, Core bosses, and various game elements have been adapted into trading cards as part of Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game.

In other media

Manga

Gradius: Michi Tono Tatakai

Gradius, was one of the videogames providing the basis for manga titled Famicom Ryu (1985-1987) and Nekketsu! Famicom Shounendan (1986-1987), published by Comic Coro Coro.

Nemesis is one of the video games featured in the manga titled Rock'n Game Boy, by Shigeto Ikehara and published by Comic BomBom from October 1989 to December 1991.

Gradius III is one of the video games featured in the manga titled Cyber Boy, by Nagai Noriaki and published by Comic BomBom from April 1991 to February 1993.

TCG

Several cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game are based on the Gradius series.