Classic Gradius gameplay packed into a fully featured handheld shmupping experience. Complete with modern enhancements such as dynamic rank display, high visibility bullets, a practice mode with upgrade selection, and much much more.
Best of all, it is FREE. If you have an original GBA and cartridge of the Japanese release "Gradius Generation" that is.
The goals of this release were to give the GBA (and small emulation handhelds) one great shmup; one that's worth sinking your teeth into, practicing, going for runs, big scores, etc -- and one that can be experienced in it's totality on the go on original hardware, without resorting to save states or other malarky. Gradius Generation (or Gradius Galaxies in the west) was as close to this as we got for the GBA, being one of basically two shmups worth your time on the handheld. It had great art, tight level design, and ostensibly most of what you want in a Gradius release, with a few omissions really holding it from securing it's place in the Gradius pantheon. A lack of dynamic rank and score based extends was particularly lamentable, and this project was originally conceived to solve those two issues.
This project became a total re-haul of the original title; upgrades ranging from the cosmetic, to mechanical, to extra content, you can hardly find a corner of the game code that was untouched. New custom illustrated ship sprites, new weapons, a brand new enemy (the Option Hunter! An absolutely necessary addition), enhanced bosses, bugfixes, significantly improved performance, and most importantly dynamic rank and an engaging scoring system that encourages you to play at high rank and truly master the game. The list goes on and on--and there is a manual outlining how the mechanics work and all changes--but don't worry about that, just download the game and play it! (the patch! you have to own the game!)
I truly believe this game has now secured its spot as a Gradius classic that that can stand shoulder to shoulder with other entries in the series. I would be really happy to see fans of the series experiencing and appreciating another great Gradius game. I also truly believe that I achieved my goal; the gba now has a shmup that will reward investment with great gaming experiences, and a game that you can sink your teeth into. Now that development is finished I will be focusing on getting a 2-All clear on original hardware, and then there are higher loops, scoring runs, different loadouts... The GBA is so back!
DOWNLOAD:
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/9694/
Link to original reddit post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/shmups/comment ... /onxdwrn/?
Short Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah9jmRMLL2c
Some Quick Gifs:
Patch your rom with "flips" or other similar patching utility.
Oh, by the way, the real game is Loop 2. Loop 1 is just there for the purists that want to earn it.
