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Gradius - The Interstellar Assault

Game Mechanics

Gradius is one shoot 'em up horizontal scrolling. At the command of the Vic-Viper ship, the player must cross seven different levels of play, sanctioned by a boss.

Gradius was influenced by some games: Scramble (1981), edited by Konami, sometimes considered asEpisode 0 of the series, Vanguard de SNK, and Super Cobra, also of Konami, where we find the concept of moving an aircraft into caves.

The arcade terminal stands out by offering two shooting buttons (one for the main frontal shoot, another for air-to-surface missiles) and another for the validation of the power-up. Repris to Scramble, this two-button system is not practical and will be abandoned in the following episodes.

The concept of evolutionary weaponry, already appeared in fragment in some other games, especially 1942 (Capcom, 1984), is taken up and developed in Gradius. So it's about picking up the famous capsules of power-up left by the destroyed enemies, for the purpose ofupgrade the ship's capabilities. Six types power-up can be attributed to the Vic-Viper.

Two attributes:

• the speed-up, which allows to increase the speed of movement of the ship.
• the shield, which brings a temporary invincibility.

Four complementary weapons:

• the missilemissiles flying over the ground.
• the double, which adds to the default frontal shot additional shots directed upwards.
• the lasera powerful horizontal radius. It cannot be accumulated with double.
• theoption, an indestructible sphere that behaves like a clone of the ship following its trajectory and reproducing its shots. It cuts the power of fire but also serves as a shield against enemies and their shots. Up to four options can be attributed to the ship. This is an important innovation that will be resumed in many other games of the genre.

The other great originality of Gradius comes from its system of attribution of power-up with, at the bottom of the screen, the appearance of a six-tier "meter". Each bearing corresponds to a type of power up; they are classified in order of increasing importance : speed-up, missile, double, laser, option and shield. Instead of recovering some power-up Predetermined, developers have opted for empty capsules that activate one after another the attributes of the counter: the choice is left to the player to select the available attribute or wait to pick up another capsule to pass to the next. Obviously it is impossible to return to a previous level and validate a power-up involves returning to the first level, etc. This ingenious system therefore includes a strategic dimension and the player is often drawn between different interests.