Gradius VI hopes / fears speculation thread

[TLB]

Gradius VI should be mechs.

Oh wait, that's Gunvalkyrie 2. Gunmechylrie.

[Gespenst]

Put Flint-Rock, Blue Thunder M-45, Axelay, etc there.

It needs to be developed by Treasure and G.Rev with Hiroshi Iuchi at the helm.

Day one purchase if those requirements are met.

And Cave with IKD and Yagawa.

[sunburstbasser]

A sprite-based Gradius.

With all sprites/backgrounds courtesy of SNK.

[Gungriffon Geona]

A sprite-based Gradius.

With all sprites/backgrounds courtesy of SNK.

lol they'd just fill it with lolis I mean they're turning into the next touhou thanks to that retarded new game of there's.

[sunburstbasser]

Well, maybe not SNK supplies the art, but just the sprites. Konami says "Make these sketches on napkins into sprites" and SNK does their thing.

I've been playing tons of Neo Geo fighters lately and really love SNK's sprite work; maybe saying SNK-quality sprites would be better than actual SNK sprites.

[Shatterhand]

a shorter Gradius V with the Moai back.

That's all they need to make Gradius VI awesome.



A Salamander 3 would be kick-ass though.

[sunburstbasser]

Or Thunder Cross 3.

[lgb]

Scrap the entire project and make Salamander 3/Xexex 2.

someone (bVork?) said in the IRC a while back that Gradius V is kinda like Salamander, I think I'll agree with that for now, needs more crazy ass later loops though

lol they'd just fill it with lolis I mean they're turning into the next touhou thanks to that retarded new game of there's.

why do people say such silly things like this

[indutrial]

Or Thunder Cross 3.

Thunder Cross is awesome, but Konami should make the gaming world shit itself (by which I mean continue to ignore shmups) by living up to its Axelay 2 promise. At this point, an appearance of any new Xexex-related thing would probably make me have to rethink the nature of existence.

They should follow Capcom's lead and develop some new titles with the graphics/sound styles they perfected in the 1990s (Salamander 2, Xexex, Gradius III). I'm getting tired of not giving a shit about the Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid series.

[MADEIRA STEVE88]

So Gradius VI is a 360 timed exculsive? what?

[Cuilan]

Gradius VI already exists. It's called Otomedius.

But seriously though, a new Otomedius is more likely than a true Gradius sequel.

So Gradius VI is a 360 timed exculsive? what?

It was a joke.

[EricDaNerd]

Give me moai! and more hidden bonuses/stages in next game please! Also make it a little shorter overall. That would be swell.
MOAI!!!!!

[Voxbox]

First person immersive space flying adventure.
1,000,000 loops.
You will be sucked!

[Jockel]

[Rob]

Still hoping for a Move launch title.

[BulletMagnet]

Still hoping for a PRO REVIEW.

Fixed.

[indutrial]

Still hoping for a Move launch title.

Only if they call it Solar Assault II.

This coming winter would be a good time for Konami's Wiiware team to make good on that Salamander Rebirth trademark.

[malcolm]

@ DJ.

Just Stop, I just peed my pants

[dieKatze88]

On topic though, I would prefer that Gradius VI actually follow in the footsteps of Gradius V...

... but not to the exact point.

Gradius V was a great game, but due to the way a lot of the things in the game behave, after playing Gradius IV almost every day until my PCB Died, and Otomedius every day for the past 2 months, I can honestly say that it was Gradius by the technical requirements that it had Vic Viper and the powerup system and the familiar enemies and bosses and some pretty epic battles near the end, but there were parts of it that simply didn't behave like Gradius at all. Suicide bullets are the huge thing for me. Destroying things didn't have the same effect in Gradius V that it did in Gradius... well any other number here. I feel that Gradius VI should head right back to where Gradius IV left off (which may be the most under appreciated shmup of all time) and go back to doing things the classic way.

Thats not to say some of the things in Gradius V aren't bad, they just don't fit entirely. It brings a lot of great stuff to the table and we should bring that stuff in too - but leave the bullet hell out. This is Gradius, do it its justice and don't try to compete with other Shmups directly by putting shit that DOESN'T belong in there in there. Gradius is different and has been different for quite some time. People STILL love it, don't break it from what it should be to make people that don't already appreciate what you're doing pretend to like it for a while.

Bring back from Gradius V:
2nd Boss Rush - Dear god yes.
Option Control - Otomedius arguably did this better though. It doesn't need to be a separate button.
Excellent design of new bosses (Covered Core 2 is godly in terms of something new, I saw that thing and went OMFG THIS IS GREAT)

Don't bring back from Gradius V:
The lack of a Moai stage - it just feels wrong without it.
Suicide bullet behavior.
Heavy trance techno soundtrack - I fell asleep playing this game twice.

Bring back from earlier:
Actually being in arcades! give it a shot, shmups are making a resurgence.
More Loadouts.
Loadout configuration.
Weapon leveling - Although not the Otomedius method, as it depends on the high number of powerups you can generate with D-Bursts and well, the stage design of Otomedius. Use the Gradius Gaiden method, but forgo Level 3 weapons.

Idea:
Loadout cost - allow certain weapons to go together, but attach a cost to it so you can't have people doing really obnoxious things that break the game. Make players rely on skill on the harder loops.
Configurable Boss Rush - Dear god please.
An optional powerup head start if you use stage select. If you're on loop 1 and going into stage 3 of any Gradius game, you've probably got an Option or two, expand stage select to allow for practice without having to play previous stages over and over all the time. Let players go into these stages easily with a pile of powerups, or just a few and let them figure out what they have to do to win there.

[Rob]

This is Gradius, do it its justice and don't try to compete with other Shmups directly by putting shit that DOESN'T belong in there in there.

What is the point of a sequel that delivers more of the exact same thing? It still felt like a Gradius - a new and interesting one. Then there's a game like Gradius Rebirth, which exists solely for nostalgia.

[dieKatze88]

This is Gradius, do it its justice and don't try to compete with other Shmups directly by putting shit that DOESN'T belong in there in there.

What is the point of a sequel that delivers more of the exact same thing? It still felt like a Gradius - a new and interesting one. Then there's a game like Gradius Rebirth, which exists solely for nostalgia.

With Gradius V I felt they put too many of the modern shmup elements of typical bullet hell into the game, and that they just didn't feel right there. I would prefer that the game not feel like its trying to be something its not. Not saying they shouldn't add to it, in fact I said that in that post.

[Kollision]

I hate moai.
Konami please keep moai out of Gradius VI, just like it was wonderfully done in V.

[Strider77]

I want it to play like gradius V. Only things from the past to return for me would be the classic stage themes or enemies here and there; would be nice but not a deal breaker... gameplay wise I have no issues.

Gaiden and V are my favorites... b/c they are similar but different in really good ways.

[indutrial]

I want it to play like gradius V. Only things from the past to return for me would be the classic stage themes or enemies here and there; would be nice but not a deal breaker... gameplay wise I have no issues.

Gaiden and V are my favorites... b/c they are similar but different in really good ways.

Gaiden managed to carry the feel of the older games without making IV's mistake of rehashing and updating things from II and III (excepting the Moai stage). Things like the junkyard and the laser-refracting crystal stage were refreshing and interesting. If they go back to that sort of freewheeling approach in the next game, I'll consider it a plus.

I agree about getting rid of the small hitbox/bullet hell aspects. Older Gradius titles dating back to the original and the MSX sequels managed to verge on bullet-hell without showing the player's ship any mercy. A good Gradius is about surviving the claustrophobic hell of the enemies, walls, floor, ceiling, and bullets. That and awesome bosses.

[FRO]

I WANT RANK! ...oh, wait... then gimme medal-chaining!

LOL - I think the spirit of the series would be lost on score-whore's at that point!

[dieKatze88]

I want it to play like gradius V. Only things from the past to return for me would be the classic stage themes or enemies here and there; would be nice but not a deal breaker... gameplay wise I have no issues.

Gaiden and V are my favorites... b/c they are similar but different in really good ways.

Gaiden managed to carry the feel of the older games without making IV's mistake of rehashing and updating things from II and III (excepting the Moai stage). Things like the junkyard and the laser-refracting crystal stage were refreshing and interesting. If they go back to that sort of freewheeling approach in the next game, I'll consider it a plus.

I agree about getting rid of the small hitbox/bullet hell aspects. Older Gradius titles dating back to the original and the MSX sequels managed to verge on bullet-hell without showing the player's ship any mercy. A good Gradius is about surviving the claustrophobic hell of the enemies, walls, floor, ceiling, and bullets. That and awesome bosses.

Exactly. Gradius is about surviving as long as you can. Score and stage count are simply a function of how long you can survive. Look, Otomedius even gets it with Verse Level, simply an integer count of the number of stages you've managed to survive.

[lizardlick]

I agree about getting rid of the small hitbox/bullet hell aspects

no... don't want that to go. I like skimming through lasers and asteroids.

[dieKatze88]

I agree about getting rid of the small hitbox/bullet hell aspects

no... don't want that to go. I like skimming through lasers and asteroids.

You can still do that in Gradius, except instead of a 15 pixel clearance between bigcore's lasers you have a two pixel clearance between bigcore's lasers.

The penalty for failure goes up.

Also, on the assumption that you are actually Lizardlick amusements - My Otomedius G Hyper Stick Pro thanks you, for now it has a working Blue Button.

[doctorx0079]

I like how Gradius Galaxies has a Hint mode that shows you how to solve every checkpoint with no powerups. Gradius VI should have that. Checkpoints force you to figure things out. Hint mode proves that it can be done and they weren't just being sadistic bastards.

[gameoverDude]

Checkpoints should be done just like Gradius V, requiring the Revival Start option to be turned on.
Combining 2P simultaneous play with checkpoints could work if it were done like Rolling Thunder 2- if one player dies, he doesn't respawn until the survivor reaches the next CP. If the survivor also dies, then both players respawn at the last checkpoint reached.

I was sure Gradius V already had rank- IINM, there's some player who refuses to get Missiles because that would raise it.