Gradius VI Petition?

[stryc9]

G-Rev provided the graphics engine for Gradius V didn't they?

[Ghegs]

@ChainsawGuitarSP: That kind of posting isn't acceptable. Go read the Forum Rules.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Possibly due to Gradius V's glaring flaw, its "epic" running time. It's a big grand shooter epic that could've done with being tightened up to half the hour-plus duration. With skippable cutscenes. The game is pretty damn solid otherwise, it's just bloated.

I'd agree about unskippable cutscenes if I didn't suspect some extensive data loadings occur behind them. If I'm right about that, the alternative would be to just stare at loading screens (bear in mind where both take place).
As for the length, S&P2 helped me understand what Treasure did there. Stage select allows you to work on particular stages one by one. Very unlike coin-op games, but neither is one really.
I suppose people talking shit about Treasure here didn't play S&P2.

[Obscura]

I always wanted to like the Gradius games, but then I die, lose all of my power ups, chain die through the rest of my lives with a ship that can't kill a mosquito, and rage.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Gradius V leaves your options when you die so you can pick them up. There's no checkpointing unless you choose so (but then the game gets REAL hard).

[Arcatech]

And in some Gradius there is the Konami code. It gives you full power ups if you can't handle the downgrade.

I'm all for a new Gradius though. Bring it on! Even if it does play like Otomedius. Well, I might rent it if its like that but still...

[Drum]

I always wanted to like the Gradius games, but then I die, lose all of my power ups, chain die through the rest of my lives with a ship that can't kill a mosquito, and rage.

Have you played Gaiden? It deals with this in a cool way: You can choose the order in which you get upgrades, so you can stack the options closer to the front.

[Obscura]

Gradius V leaves your options when you die so you can pick them up. There's no checkpointing unless you choose so (but then the game gets REAL hard).

Without having played Gradius V (of the ones that use the traditional power up system, I've only played 1 and 2, and never gotten past the second stage of either), wouldn't a lack of checkpointing make it even easier to chain-die?

Sure, you get your options, but you're coming back at a speed that's practically stationary, and if you didn't have a power-up to spend when you died (so you don't get the speed-up), it seems like you'd be about to get slaughtered while being unable to move.

[BIL]

I'd agree about unskippable cutscenes if I didn't suspect some extensive data loadings occur behind them. If I'm right about that, the alternative would be to just stare at loading screens (bear in mind where both take place).

Yeah, I get that impression too. If you use training mode to skip ahead it'll take forever loading compared to the in-game split second of black screen. GV uses some weird unspooling ala Ikaruga (both games' engines assisted by G-Rev, incidentally). Noisiest PS2 shooter ever.

But maybe if the game's early stages weren't so long-winded with their ambling down corridors of drifting popcorn, it wouldn't need to load as much. Maybe the whole first fifteen minutes is a stealth loading screen...

As for the length, S&P2 helped me understand what Treasure did there. Stage select allows you to work on particular stages one by one. Very unlike coin-op games, but neither is one really. I suppose people talking shit about Treasure here didn't play S&P2.

I'm well aware of S&P2's option to play episodically, but that game's levels really do feel like self-contained attractions. STGs and similarly straight-laced arcade games like Metal Slug just feel blatantly truncated when earlier stages of a credit are chopped out, no matter how boring those stages are (ignoring tutorial levels and the like). I wish GV had been a coin-op as initially planned so the slack pace would've been addressed.

Without having played Gradius V (of the ones that use the traditional power up system, I've only played 1 and 2, and never gotten past the second stage of either), wouldn't a lack of checkpointing make it even easier to chain-die?

Gradius V's scrolling speed is generally pretty mild, and the powerful Option controls, better default shot and less glacial initial speed make it easy to get back in the game. It can really suck to die at a boss with no powerup capsules onscreen, but I guess that's the tradeoff.

[dannnnn]

Only if it's by M2.

This. They did a great job with ReBirth and are the best candidate for a new traditional Gradius. I'd love for them to make a more challenging game for arcades.

[Kollision]

Excuse me, I'm confused...
What's "chain-die"? And what does chaining have to do with Gradius?

[BIL]

The infamous Gradius checkpoint respawn syndrome. ^_~ You know, like Ebola but you haemmorage lives instead of vital fluids. Gradius III has a particularly awful strain.

[Obscura]

Semi-related:

What order should I generally be going for power-ups in?

Generally, unless I've got some reason to do something different, my "generic" order is:

speed -> speed -> missile -> option -> option -> option -> option -> (almost certainly dead by now, but on the off chance I'm not) laser

Occasionally, I get a forcefield by mistake when I go "crap, didn't realize I had option, and I just grabbed another powerup... dammit."

Stage 1 of Gradius 2, I go for laser before option (I use the Gradius 1 ship, so the laser lets me cut through those damn dragons quickly), and don't bother with missile until stage 2.

[Obiwanshinobi]

In Gradius V there are various funky options' behaviour patterns. (Then you unlock more of those.) Just experiment in that game.

[Obscura]

I don't have a way of playing Gradius V, since I don't own a PS2.

[Erppo]

Excuse me, I'm confused...
What's "chain-die"? And what does chaining have to do with Gradius?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxbRxLupFL4#t=4m30s

[MathU]

I suppose people talking shit about Treasure here didn't play S&P2.

Sin and Punishment 2 to me feels like a pretty textbook example of an arcade-like game that is far too long for its own good. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but as some point they forgot that they were making a game that people might want to play all the way through for score and got carried away with cramming content into it. I've thought about trying to beat Sin and Punishment 2 for a good score before, but by the time I get to stage 5 in a single practice session (a run with deaths that is), I've been on-edge for literally hours and it just starts feeling like work to keep hammering through it. It's a shame too because I quite enjoy its scoring system.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Sin and Punishment 2 to me feels like a pretty textbook example of an arcade-like game that is far too long for its own good. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but as some point they forgot that they were making a game that people might want to play all the way through for score and got carried away with cramming content into it. I've thought about trying to beat Sin and Punishment 2 for a good score before, but by the time I get to stage 5 in a single practice session (a run with deaths that is), I've been on-edge for literally hours and it just starts feeling like work to keep hammering through it. It's a shame too because I quite enjoy its scoring system.

There's ABSOLUTELY no point in practicing this way. Stage select allows you to practice each and every stage, as well as play it for the score. I mean, really.

[Strider77]

Sin and Punishment 2 to me feels like a pretty textbook example of an arcade-like game that is far too long for its own good.

[EmperorIng]

While I do get fatigue (lol) from SnP2 now and then, length is by no means a detriment, because everything in the game is so good I'm glad there is as much of it as possible.

[Kollision]

Excuse me, I'm confused...
What's "chain-die"? And what does chaining have to do with Gradius?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxbRxLupFL4#t=4m30s

hmmm, now I see
thanks

[BulletMagnet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxbRxLupFL4#t=4m30s

That was downright painful to watch.

[Obscura]

Excuse me, I'm confused...
What's "chain-die"? And what does chaining have to do with Gradius?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxbRxLupFL4#t=4m30s

The only Gradius III I had ever seen before was the cube rush.

Holy crap, that game looks like total bullshit.

[MathU]

Stage select [in Sin and Punishment 2] allows you to practice each and every stage, as well as play it for the score.

Except play for a full-clear score, which is what I'd like to focus on, but it's so tough to stay focused for the duration because the game is so long.

And in case it's not clear, I think Sin and Punishment 2 is a great game. It's just so damn long.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Plays effectively the same either way. It's not like you need Konami Code to power up in Stage Select. Maybe calling it Practice Mode would have helped Treasure to get the point across.

[Seahawk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxbRxLupFL4#t=4m30s

I was cringing so hard while viewing .

[Herr Schatten]

I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but as some point they forgot that they were making a game that people might want to play all the way through for score and got carried away with cramming content into it.

This pretty much describes every Treasure game ever.

I can see why some people like that approach (as there's usually a lot to like in the games), but it's definitely not for everyone. Including me.

[Obiwanshinobi]

This pretty much describes every Treasure game ever.

Even Rakugaki Showtime?
I don't think Radiant Silvergun and Alien Soldier are the same kind of games as S&P2 and Gradius V.
How come Shinobi (2002) and Ninja Five-O are more obviously not games of single runs than S&P2? I'd understand if somebody who have 1cc-ed every stage in S&P2 on Hard complained about it not being as much fun to 1cc the whole game on Normal, but I'm pretty sure your average malcontent didn't deign to work on particular stages separately before the main course that is bitching on the internet.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Sure, you get your options, but you're coming back at a speed that's practically stationary, and if you didn't have a power-up to spend when you died (so you don't get the speed-up), it seems like you'd be about to get slaughtered while being unable to move.

If you have a powerup waiting on the bar you can give yourself a Speedup instantly, not to mention powerups are super plentiful. Most of the game can be dealt with quite readily with only two Speedups, and even the default speed/1 Speedup feels much more manageable than other Gradius games due to the vastly reduced hitbox. Also note that your ship & each option can have 4 bullets onscreen at a time instead of the usual 2, meaning popcorn's not all that tough to hit and you're actually fairly powerful with all your options, even without Laser.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I play Gradius V with just two speed-ups if possible, but then again, I usualy use slower ships in shmups when there's a choice.