GD: Gradius Rebirth

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Zach Keene
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GD: Gradius Rebirth

Post by Zach Keene »

I guess I'll open this thread with the handful of secrets I've found so far. Anyone have any others?

5000 Point Hotspots:
1) Stage 1-1: fly through the broken volcano.
2) Stage 1-3: Kind of hard to describe - near the end of the regular Moai section there's an island with two moai facing opposite directions on top, and two blue turrets and a moai on the bottom. The hotspot is on top, right behind the second Moai.
3) Stage 2-4: Two black alien horizontal platforms in the middle of the stage right next to each other vertically. Fly between them.

Bonus Levels (note - the Silver Ha... er, Type E's vector laser has no effect against the green orbs that make up these levels.)
1) Stage 1-2: Fly into the ceiling between the first two columns after the last bit of regenerating goop in the stage.
2) Stage 1-4: A little bit into section 3 there's a disembodied skull on the bottom of the screen facing to the right. Fly into its mouth.
3) Stage 2-2: Just before the blob assault section there's an alcove cut out of the wall that wasn't there in the first loop.
Last edited by Zach Keene on Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:51 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Zach Keene
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Post by Zach Keene »

Here's a YouTube video of the bonus level locations (including one I missed in 1-2... strange, since I've flown up there several times looking for secret stuff.)
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MathU
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Post by MathU »

The bonus stages don't really seem worth it to me. I can usually get many more points by playing through to the end of the normal stages. It seems to me that you could only get more points in the bonus stages through extremely diligent effort. You need to know the stages like the back of your hand and go into them fully powered-up. One mistake, either dying or losing a point icon chain, and they're just not worth it. Are they just there for the easy extra lives?
Of course, that's just an opinion.
Always seeking netplay fans to play emulated arcade games with.
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Post by DJ Incompetent »

Hotspot:
3) Stage 4-2: Two black alien horizontal platforms in the middle of the stage right next to each other vertically. Fly between them.
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Post by DJ Incompetent »

http://www.robotpanic.com/?p=4872
Podcast. Fast forward 2/3rds through. Verbal walkthrough of the entire Loop 2.
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Zach Keene
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Post by Zach Keene »

Fun fact: looping the power meter is worth 1000 points.
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DJ Incompetent
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Re: GD: Gradius Rebirth

Post by DJ Incompetent »

Zach Keene wrote:5000 Point Hotspots:
1) Stage 1-1: fly through the broken volcano.
This is also in loop 3- stage 1. The volcano is on the ceiling.

There is a second one loop 3 stage 1. In this version they bring back the giant rock from old Gradius 1 near the end of the stage. Remember in NES version if you touched the back tip of the rock you got a 1up? They kept that trick. 5000 points in the same spot.
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Post by lgb »

Zach Keene wrote:Fun fact: looping the power meter is worth 1000 points.
Well, that's as close to a bonus as I can think of. Is it even remotely useful?
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CSBrokaw
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Post by CSBrokaw »

Looping the power meter does have a practical application. On Stage 2, before the boss and with all of the flying pink cell things that erupt with Power-Ups, if you are fast and can destory a lot of them (especially if you get a blue one) you can collect a lot of those and raise your score. You could loop quite a lot doing this.



On Stage 1, destroy the two stations near the beginning of the level that look like they are hovering confetti (difficult to describe), then hug to the left side of the screen as much as possible. After the screen is done flashing, the entire stage should turn into a snowscape and stop the Volcanos from erupting. This sacrifices scoring for ease of completion.
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CSBrokaw
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Post by CSBrokaw »

Actually, on the above, you can turn Stage 1 into a snowscape, but I actually do not know what triggers it. I tried several times with that method on other runs and it did not work. Hmm.
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MathU
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Post by MathU »

Really? Destroying those two generators always seems to do it for me. I usually just destroy the bottom one though, because you can get far more points by milking the volcano rocks.
Of course, that's just an opinion.
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Zach Keene
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Post by Zach Keene »

It depends on which one you destroy first: top for snow, bottom for volcanoes. (I forget what happens if you leave both alone.)
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DJ Incompetent
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Post by DJ Incompetent »

It's just climate control.
The last one left alive is what the rest of the stage will be. White one last is snow, red one last is volcanos. If you destroy neither, you get stage 1 Gradius 1. Nothing changes.

The only change to the snow is the pre-boss.
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CSBrokaw
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Post by CSBrokaw »

Hey, that works! Sweet.

Is it just me or is it difficult to get the 5000 point hotspot on Stage 1 if you leave them as erupting Volcanos?
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MathU
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Post by MathU »

What I do is set it up to make a screen-clearing power-up appear within easy reach, then I grab the 5000 point bonus and hit the power-up to give myself some breathing room.
Last edited by MathU on Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Of course, that's just an opinion.
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Herr Schatten
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Re: GD: Gradius Rebirth

Post by Herr Schatten »

Pardon my ignorance: What is the difference between the normal game and score attack?

It seems to me like score attack lacks the story sequences (a good thing, that) and doesn't save your checkpoints reached. Also it seems like score attack is the only way to save scores and replays. Are there differences gameplay-wise? Because if not, it seems incredibly stupid to me to put these features into two seperate game modes. They could have easily put them into the options, where you could toggle them on and off.

On a sidenote: I normally play score attack, because I want to save my scores, so I was quite surprised when I gave normal mode another spin and suddenly unlocked two new fighters. Are there more secrets to unlock in normal mode?
Also: Is it considered cheating to play with Type E? It seems like a vastly overpowered version of Type B.
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gs68
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Re: GD: Gradius Rebirth

Post by gs68 »

Herr Schatten wrote:Also: Is it considered cheating to play with Type E? It seems like a vastly overpowered version of Type B.
No. Vector laser does crap damage and can't shoot through walls that can be destroyed, so you're dead if you enter a bonus stage or get stuck behind one of stage x-2's regenerating walls. And WHO THE HELL INVENTED V. SHOT I WILL FIND HIM AND uh force him to play micro mike on action 52
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Herr Schatten
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Re: GD: Gradius Rebirth

Post by Herr Schatten »

gs68 wrote:Vector laser does crap damage and can't shoot through walls that can be destroyed, so you're dead if you enter a bonus stage or get stuck behind one of stage x-2's regenerating walls.
I didn't know about the walls thing, but playing the bonus stages seems pretty pointless to me anyway.

Type E's vector laser might not do as much damage as other shots, but it has an incredibly high firing rate, which more than makes up for it. I can take down stage 2's boss before the third arm attack with Type E. I never could repeat that with any of the other types. Type E also has awesome missiles. 2 of them.
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DJ Incompetent
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Re: GD: Gradius Rebirth

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shake_zula
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Re: GD: Gradius Rebirth

Post by shake_zula »

DJ Incompetent wrote:http://super-play.co.uk/index.php?superplay=2805
Here's how to use Type E :mrgreen:
At 14 minutes, with the blue tadpole shooting dinosaur skeletons sub boss, how come you don't activate your shield until you get to the boss? As far as I can tell the amount of tadpoles isn't variable with rank, so are you just showboating or is there a mechanic I'm not aware of? The only other thing I can think of is that maybe the shield doesn't block them so you're leaving it off for visual clarity? I usually die during that level so I rarely have a shield at that point anyway :<

sick video btw :]
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DJ Incompetent
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Re: GD: Gradius Rebirth

Post by DJ Incompetent »

I'm just under control during that part. Shield just raises my hitbox to waste it before a time I really needed it.

Thanks for the good words.


Here's alamone's loop 35 play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZekgpRkiGo It kicks the shit out of mine.
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shake_zula
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Re: GD: Gradius Rebirth

Post by shake_zula »

Oh I see, I never thought of that. Cheers

Jesus that guy makes it look so easy :lol:
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