Gradius IV (AC,PS2,PSP)

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Fri May 26, 2006 9:15 am

EDIT: New thread as this one isn't being updated any longer, please post new scores there: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=67027 Thanks copy-paster!

All of the Gradius games have been accounted for... save one! Well, lets change that, shall we?

GRADIUS IV Fukkatsu

Rules:
Difficulty at 4 (Medium).
Extend at 70 000/every 150 000 pts.
Ships at 3.
All Arcade Original options for PSP version, please.
(And the usual, no Konami code.)

Code: Select all

#  player     / in. / score     / sex / sign        / st. / ty. / "?" / rev.

1  tviks      / TVI / 2 725 500 / M   / Virgo       / 3-6 / GFA / FF  / PS2
2  Aquas      / LWS / 1 039 800 / M   / Capricorn   / 2-6 / G4A / FF  / PS2
3  clp        / CLP /   861 100 / M   / Libra       / 2-5 / G4B / FF  / PS2
4  Wes117     / WES /   842 800 / M   / Virgo       / 2-5 / G4A / ?   / PS2
5  Galaxius   / JMD /   663 500 / M   / Aries       / 2-3 / G4A / ?   / PS2
6  pegboy     / DAN /   591 700 / M   / Aries       / 2-2 / G4B / FF  / PS2
7  Kollision  / EDW /   557 000 / M   / Cancer      / 2-2 / G4B / FF  / PS2
8  Perikles   / JPB /   532 400 / M   / Libra       / 2-2 / G4B / FF  / PS2
9  Desperado  / DES /   527 800 / M   / Aquarius    / 2-2 / G4A / FF  / PS2
10 MSZ        / MSZ /   362 300 / M   / Virgo       / 1-6 / G4A / ?   / PS2
11 saucykobold/ SCY /   259 400 / M   / Aquarius    / 1-5 / G4A / FF  / PS2
12 jpj        / JPJ /   233 300 / M   / Taurus      / 1-5 / G   / FF  / PS2
13 ktg        / KTG /   196 600 / M   / Virgo       / 1-4 / G2C / FF  / PS2 
-- Carmen     / CSK /   191 700 / M   / Aquarius    / 1-5 / G4B / FF  / PS2 (diff. at 5, need to redo)
14 Kenchan    / KEN /   165 400 / M   / Pisces      / 1-5 / G2A / FF  / AC
15 Kagami     / KHI /   161 600 / F   / Gemini      / 1-3 / G2A / FF  / PSP
16 tiktak     / GRT /   157 800 / M   / Taurus      / 1-4 / G2A / FF  / PS2 
17 kozo       / RY  /   156 800 / M   / Cancer      / 1-3 / G4A / FF  / PS2
18 Landshark  / COW /   117 400 / M   / Sagittarius / 1-3 / ?   / ?   / PS2
19 Megaman36  / CAP /   115 000 / M   / Leo         / 1-3 / ?   / ?   / PSP
20 ---        / --- /         0 / n/a / n/a         / n/a / n/a / n/a / n/a

** Type Select information.

Code: Select all

G[1]  SPEEDUP | MISSILE        | DOUBLE  | LASER[GI]      | OPTION
G2A   SPEEDUP | SPREAD BOMB    | TAILGUN | LASER[G2]      | OPTION
G2B   SPEEDUP | PHOTON TORPEDO | DOUBLE  | RIPPLE LASER   | OPTION
G2C   SPEEDUP | 2-WAY MISSILE  | TAILGUN | RIPPLE LASER   | OPTION
G4A   SPEEDUP | VERTICAL MINE  | DOUBLE  | ARMOR PIERCING | OPTION
G4B   SPEEDUP | FLYING TORPEDO | TAILGUN | TWIN LASER     | OPTION

If people are interested, I'll add a table for Boss Rush Mode as well.

Go and join the "Battle for Freedom"!

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Sun May 28, 2006 5:11 am

Landshark / COW / 117 400 / M /Sagitarius / 1-3 / Default / PS2

Bubble stage is evil. Why must there be bubbles? The boss is impossible if you die before it.

MSZ · Post by **MSZ** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:22 am

landshark wrote:The boss is impossible if you die before it.

Bubble Core is much easier if you are naked. To beat that SoB in full rank is almost impossible.

Anyway...my entry:

MSZ / 327,400 / M / Libra / 1-6 / Default / PS2

tviks · Post by **tviks** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:27 pm

tviks / TVI / 1,293,900 / M / Virgo / 3-3 / Default / PS2

I don't quite understand people who keep complaining about the bubble stage. I mean, that should be the least of your troubles. In the later loops that stage actually becomes one of the easier stages since there won't be suicide bullets that much (why are they called suicide bullets anyway? What's "suicide" about them?).

The cell stage is single handedly the hardest stage in any Gradius game, and it coldly becomes impossible around loop 7. The Moai stage is the hardest one out of all Gradius games. There is never any slowdown to use for advantage either (which is a great help in Gradius 3).

In my books, this is the hardest Gradius game ever made.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:04 pm

tviks wrote:tviks / TVI / 1,293,900 / M / Virgo / 3-3 / Default / PS2

I don't quite understand people who keep complaining about the bubble stage. I mean, that should be the least of your troubles. In the later loops that stage actually becomes one of the easier stages since there won't be suicide bullets that much (why are they called suicide bullets anyway? What's "suicide" about them?).

Because the bubbles are retarded. They divide, but while dividing they are invincinble and keep advancing on you.

Bubble Core is much easier if you are naked. To beat that SoB in full rank is almost impossible.

Good lord how? It becomes so chaotic with all the bubbles that I cannot kill. They just keep bouncing. The only time I've beaten this guy is by playing boss mode (in which case he's easy because i have 4 options), or by cranking the difficulty down - in which case I've finished the game but the speed stage gave me hell.

I'll keep trying. There has to be a way through the bubble stage =) Any tips for beating bubble core naked?

MSZ · Post by **MSZ** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:16 pm

landshark wrote:Any tips for beating bubble core naked?

Without any options the bubbles move twice as slow as they do in full rank, all you have to do here is wait for its self-destruction.

Yes, I'm serious.

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Sun May 28, 2006 10:58 pm

*Updated*

Great job everyone. Loop 3... thats... heh, pretty crazy. Do you know if the US version of the game has the 'hit display' mode? I remember reading up on that recently - if you completed "High Score Try" on the Japanese game, it would unlock the option.

Truthfully, I'm beginning to become better at the Bubble stage - it seems to be a matter of time before getting used to it... 15 hours at last count

. But I'll agree, the bubbles shouldn't take SO long to dissolve... and when a bubble (or worse) a piece of ice starts moving at pinball speeds and crashes into you, well, thats not cool. The best advise that has worked for me is spreading out the options as far as possible and trying to just destroy everything (if fully powered-up). If not, then just be brave and try to make as much progress as possible.

Though, I've always thought Bubble Core to be a bit of a pushover, though he's still probably harder then the 4st and 5st bosses. I've found the best way to beat him is to be aggressive as possible... just try to get as many hits in possible, then when you know he's going to shoot, get out of the way, and repeat (listening to the timing of the laser blasts sounds is a great help.) Even better is to just get a single Option (at least) and just blast away at the sucker - keep the option trailing behind you as you 'predict' his flight path and he'll go down quick.

I've heard 6st is insane, as well. Maybe I'll get to it someday... though I won't count on getting to it on Loop 7 anytime soon

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Mon May 29, 2006 1:37 am

MSZ wrote:
landshark wrote:Any tips for beating bubble core naked?
Without any options the bubbles move twice as slow as they do in full rank, all you have to do here is wait for its self-destruction.

Yes, I'm serious.

I beat him with a naked Viper today. I ended up credit feeding my way to stage 6.

I still have trouble with the 4th stage boss's first spray attack. If I can survive that (easiest with no options) then I can usually make the boss timeout.

The Moia level definitely is the hardest of the Gradius games, brutal amounts of cheerios everywhere. Even when you have no options they still keep on spitting. I can't imagine it at full rank.

And then the cell stage. WHAT were they thinking? I couldn't even credit feed my way through. I couldn't even konami-code my way through it.

I naked-flew through the first part of the stage. Cells. So. Many. Cells. I had to have a good 50-80 of them trailing me.

Then I had to konami-code my way thorugh the next part (super-long-vines-of-death). There's a dead end at the top. Unless you have a shield, you cannot get past the top vine on the top route.

And then some more konami coding through the part the 3 and 4 armed cells. Tviks - is that area possible without options? They keep bitchslapping my ship.

I made it to the wall 5 or 6 times and never made it through it. It doesn't destroy like any of the other gradius walls. Sorta fucked up actually (like bad coding). I had all 4 lasers in 1 spot and the wall wouldn't destroy until I moved.

MSZ · Post by **MSZ** » Mon May 29, 2006 2:09 am

No kidding, stage 6 is nothing but troubles.

And not to mention, the boss rush(stage 8)is the hardest BR in the series too.

tviks · Post by **tviks** » Mon May 29, 2006 2:22 am

Here are some tips:

The lasers in this game suck. Who would've thought that the normal shot would be the most effective against most bosses. At least the normal and armor piercing lasers take forever to "destroy the core". Most of the time I never select the laser, as it may also help keeping the rank down.

The first spray attack of the level 4 boss can be easily avoided by going below him at that point.

The last part of the cell stage is fucked up. If you have full rank, try to destroy as many of those big cell thingies as you can and when there is too much of them, try not to shoot at all. If you have no weapons, this part is actually easier (on the 1st loop anyway). Don't even bother shooting until you get to the regenerating wall.

The hit display option is only available in the japanese version (along with the high score try -mode which is equivalent to GV's score attack mode)

tonyjh · Post by **tonyjh** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:28 pm

Tviks, I'd really like to see a Gradius IV video, or maybe a Mame replay file in the future.

It's not playable (at Arcade speed) on Mame yet, is it?

Edit: Looks like it works in Mame but runs too slowly, even on a fast PC. I have the ps2 version anyway, but still wish there was the possibility of seeing a tviks replay using Mame. Maybe in the future.

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Wed May 31, 2006 6:39 am

I second that, I'd love to see how this game gets on loop 3

Had a bad run today, kept losing at the B.core. It seems it may be a while before I get back on track...

tviks · Post by **tviks** » Wed May 31, 2006 7:09 pm

Yeah, this game won't be running decently on Mame in a long time. I still don't have any video capturing equipment either. So sorry.

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 6:11 am

I guess I'll have to get to loop 3 by myself then

I really like the second part of stage 4 - I find myself wanting to play it again and again. The stage seems like it would almost be home in Gradius Gaiden rather then IV, truthfully.

Megaman36 · Post by **Megaman36** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:40 am

Megaman36/CAP/115,000/M/Leo/1-3/4/PSP

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:49 am

You get bonus points for using a PSP

How is the Compilation pack by the way?

MSZ · Post by **MSZ** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 6:20 pm

New score:

MSZ / 362,300 / M / Libra / 1-6 / Default / PS2

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 11:53 pm

Got it, good job... stage 7 is just in sight

tviks · Post by **tviks** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:18 pm

Here's my newest:

tviks / TVI / 2,725,500 / M / Virgo / 3-6 / Default / PS2

This beats the number 1 score in the official japanese ranking board at http://www.konami.jp/am/cgi-bin/gra4/gra4_rank100up.cgi

By the way I read from a japanese site that all those bullshit 16 loops or so highscores are done with abusing some sort of invincibility glitch, and normally playing it's practically impossible to get past loop 7 (one can reach such loop most likely by using stage select, credit feeding, using konami code and playing on easiest, not on the regular game).

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:48 pm

!!!!!! Damn Tviks. I really hope you get a video converter one of these days to stick these up on youtube.

tviks · Post by **tviks** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:12 pm

Have you checked my youtube videos so far?

I'm getting a new high-end PC soon, so I hope it will be enough to emulate this game in Mame, at least at some point, so don't worry.

By the way if you wonder how I improved about 1,5 million and only got 3 stages further, that's because I milked everything and most of all the Moai boss at 3rd loop (sacrificed all ships).

Also it was done with type 5 and force field, but why the board doesn't have those attributes?

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:05 am

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:20 pm

Congrats on the much higher, higher score. This table wasn't lopsided enough before

I've added the Power Metre data, you're right, its a good idea. I'll use the Gradius Army designations, so:

Code: Select all

G[1]  SPEEDUP | MISSILE        | DOUBLE  | LASER[GI]      | OPTION
G2A   SPEEDUP | SPREAD BOMB    | TAILGUN | LASER[G2]      | OPTION
G2B   SPEEDUP | PHOTON TORPEDO | DOUBLE  | RIPPLE LASER   | OPTION
G2C   SPEEDUP | 2-WAY MISSILE  | TAILGUN | RIPPLE LASER   | OPTION
G4A   SPEEDUP | VERTICAL MINE  | DOUBLE  | ARMOR PIERCING | OPTION
G4B   SPEEDUP | FLYING TORPEDO | TAILGUN | TWIN LASER     | OPTION

*Lasers pointed out because they both act differently...

For those players who want to clarify which type they used or any new players that join!

Also if there's any interest in a Boss Rush table... I'm not sure what the format should be (its timed based isn't it?), then I'll add that.

tviks · Post by **tviks** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:37 am

Improvement:

tviks / TVI / 4,569,200 / M / Virgo / 3-9 / G4A / FF / 8 / PS2

Played on the hardest difficulty this time since it is allowed in the rules and you can score more. Still didn't beat the damn 3rd loop though.

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:20 am

Insane

I didn't realise that there were more enemies on higher difficulties, I thought the difference was just in the speed of the bullets (like in Taito shmups - G Darius or Raycrisis, for example.) I guess if you can score more then there should be a table for the same difficulty or something, if anybody cares. After all this isn't exactly the most popular table (I blame Gradius V) and if you're playing on a higher difficulty you probably deserve what ever extra points you can earn. Up to you people to decide though, I'll go either way.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:39 am

Nobody is going to beat Tviks so it's irrelevant, but it should be denoted in the table (difficulty=hardest) or something like that.

tiktak · Post by **tiktak** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:13 pm

tiktak / GRT / 149 300 / M / Taurus / 1-4 / G2A / FF / 4 default / PS2

I've been waiting until I'll be satisfied with my score but hey, there's always possibility posting new score later;) Hope more ppl gonna play Gradius IV because it's a great game.

Carmen · Post by **Carmen** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:12 pm

Ok, I've added a note about the higher difficulties. My bad again, I did assume that it was just bullet speed and other non point stuff, but then again, if you're playing with more risk, you deserve more reward. Or something like that.

Don't give up Landshark! If we ADD our scores... well. No. but if we MULTIPLY them...

Nice score Tiktak, I remember wanting to use G2A style. Unfortunetly, I sold the game a few months ago, I really should pick it up again. I'd like to see if I'm any better at the bloody thing.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:32 pm

You might want to consider leaving off the PSP version since stages are much easier and bosses seem to be tougher. The much-hated bubble stage is a pushover since they apparently changed the way bubbles divide and are destroyed. Seriously, a PSP score will likely be double that of a score on the PS2.

tiktak · Post by **tiktak** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 8:51 pm

tiktak / GRT / 157 800 / M / Taurus / 1-4 / G2A / FF / 4 default / PS2

Sorry for posting again with such a small improvement but I gave another 10h to this game and I'am off with it for some time. Bubbles are beatable ofcourse but my consistency of getting throught them, is baaad. There is a great gap in difficulty between bosses and levels. I don't know if it was purposely but it suck;/
Cheers