Has everybody fallen out of love with Gradius V?

[MrOldSchoolCool]

Only three different games. Three. Have ever won the annual "Top 25 shmups" poll. Gradius V is one of those three. And yet, it wasn't even in the top 25 this year while the other two (Dodonpachi and Battle Garegga) have consistently been at the top.

Now, I know there's a general bias against console exclusive shmups and perhaps deservedly so. But, isn't it odd?

[Squire Grooktook]

It's still one of my top 3 favorite shmups if not my favorite of all time.

I can't really comment on why others might not like it, other then the length (which I personally love), and the difficulty in finding a place for it on their list of 30+ Cave games and vert scrolling bullet hell shooters.

[EmperorIng]

Horizontals face an uphill battle winning the hearts and minds of them xbox 360 kids. Especially if it doesn't say Cave on the box, ha ha.

Only two horis were in this year's top 25.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

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[Skykid]

Gradius V is sexual.

[Edmond Dantes]

I am sad to say i've never played Gradius V.

I've played Gradius I thru V, Gaiden, and the second Gameboy one, but never Gradius V.

My plan right now is to play through the ones I've got and beat them before plucking down money for yet another. Although, something tells me that by the time I manage to beat the previous Gradius games, the fifth will have become a collector's item. Maybe I should go ahead and grab it?

[Squire Grooktook]

It's already pretty expensive IIRC. I would say add it to your collection ASAP. You won't regret it.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Gradius V is the bomb diggity. But I think it's pretty easy until stage 6. Which makes playing it for score annoying. It takes like what, like twenty or thirty minutes to get to stage 6. That's the only reason that I stopped playing it.

[Squire Grooktook]

Gradius V is the bomb diggity. But I think it's pretty easy until stage 6. Which makes playing it for score annoying. It takes like what, like twenty or thirty minutes to get to stage 6. That's the only reason that I stopped playing it.

How do you not find stage 5 difficult? That shit always used to wreck me.

Anyway you should start the game on hard or v.hard then if you find it boring. Fuck scoring if it forces you to play on a difficulty you don't like. Or hey start your own leader board for the better difficulties.

[DEL]

I never loved Gradius V in the first place. Its waaay too long. 80mins'ish per loop. I was never a fan of 4 hour long credits, even back in the old multi-looping game days. After 5 hours I just lose the will to exist.

Squire Grooktook wrote;

Anyway you should start the game on hard or v.hard then if you find it boring. Fuck scoring if it forces you to play on a difficulty you don't like. Or hey start your own leader board for the better difficulties.

Personally I feel that if you have to mess around with any other difficulty setting than default/normal, then there's something wrong with the game. But that's just the arcade player in me. I did play Strike Gunner (SNES) on Otaku skill level for the challenge and ratikal, Aquas & Sapz do amazing things on Eschatos 'Hard'. So I don't really want to sound like a hypocrite, but in general I always stick to the arcade default.

[mrsmiley381]

Gradius V is still my favorite game of all time. Hell, it's the reason I got into game design, pretty much. I just never vote in the Top 25 polls for some reason.

Ashamed to say that Elephant Gear and the second boss rush still kick my ass far too much :/

[Special World]

I've never played Gradius V because it's hard to find. I assumed it was really expensive, but I see that it's only ~$30 used on Amazon. So maybe I'll buy it soon. Got a lot of other stuff to play first, but consider it on my to-do list.

(not that anyone cares about my to-do list)

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

I can't play my PAL copy anymore, since my PAL PS2 was lost during a move. It's emulated okay though.

[BIL]

Personally I feel that if you have to mess around with any other difficulty setting than default/normal, then there's something wrong with the game. But that's just the arcade player in me. I did play Strike Gunner (SNES) on Otaku skill level for the challenge and ratikal, Aquas & Sapz do amazing things on Eschatos 'Hard'. So I don't really want to sound like a hypocrite, but in general I always stick to the arcade default.

I've 1CCd GV's first loop on whatever the max difficulty setting was with default Type 1 and still didn't find it noticeably tougher until very late in the game, around stage 7-2... certainly wasn't as dramatic a jump in difficulty as Gradius Gaiden's hardest setting.

I'm fine with bumping up the difficulty as long as the increase is implemented well. Tougher stage layouts, faster bullets, more aggressive enemies = good. Games that remain the same on higher difficulties but suddenly turn into Euroshmups where everything takes an hour to die = buhh. Gynoug does this... although its second-highest difficulty actually makes the game feel just right since stuff is neither too tough nor too quickly disposed of, meaning the game's best feature (crazy Psikyo-esque boss patterns) gets to shine.

[DazTM]

I still regularly play it and I'm still completely rubbish. I can't get any further than halfway through level four on a single credit

[Frenetic]

Fall in love with Gradius V by watching where we highlight it in a STGWeekly episode!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAL8l_Q5Fjs

[null1024]

Gradius V is the only Gradius game that I actually like, so hey.

[Tokyo-J]

I once was into this game and R Type Leo and got owned the last time I played either.

Would like to pick both up again and give them a try.

[Herr Schatten]

Gradius V is a good game, but it revels too much in its own prettiness and doesn't really excel at anything unless you count sheer length as a quality.

[Jeneki]

It's been a while since I played Gradius V, but I do remember liking it a lot.

It was in the stg weekly webcast a little while ago so I watched through it again recently. Seeing G.rev in the credits definitely made me smile, as back when the game was new I didn't recognize them by name. Is the stage 2 cutscene skippable? I remember being annoyed by that back in the day.

[BIL]

Nope - you're getting that cutscene goodness whether you like it or not motherfucker! Twice!

I still regularly play it and I'm still completely rubbish. I can't get any further than halfway through level four on a single credit

Take advantage of the practice mode, it's excellent and quite generous (you can skip to specific areas of stages, and use the Konami code to power up to simulate real conditions - provided you're not playing on max difficulty). Stage 4 (SPACE POON) is where it finally gets interesting, but you've got to wade through a lot of stuff before that point.

[moonwhistle]

I love Gradius V but agree that the levels are too long for multiple replays. That cutscene in stage 2 is such crap, it was boring even on the first playthrough.

[Kollision]

Gradius V was the game that made me realize I loved shmups more than anything else game-related.
It ignited my game collection and hobby dedication past my 30's.

Instintictely I was already hooked as I played it over and over instead of playing other new games in the house.
Amazing graphics, design, music. Sure it's longer than previous entries, which was in retrospect a valid way to address people's complaints about shmups being too short.

[Darkseed]

Count me in as another who loves Gradius V.

I was so disapointed it wasn't even in the top 25. I mean what the fuck!!??

Instead it's the same old Battle Garregga and Cave offerings hogging the list.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy those games but c'mon now.

At the end of the day I'm part of the problem for not voting this year. Not that it would've mattered since Gradius V wasn't even in the top 25 (scratches head).

At least Soukyugurentai made it tho.

[Squire Grooktook]

I've 1CCd GV's first loop on whatever the max difficulty setting was with default Type 1 and still didn't find it noticeably tougher until very late in the game, around stage 7-2... certainly wasn't as dramatic a jump in difficulty as Gradius Gaiden's hardest setting.

Well your a better player then me, because normal and hard mode kicks my ass utterly and far sooner, let alone v.hard which utterly wrecks me before things even get started.

I don't understand people saying Gradius V "doesn't excel" in any particular way. It has amazingly diverse, beautifully designed levels, each completely different from each-other. The bosses are amazing and epic, and just as beautiful in their design as the stages. The whole design of the game just feels right, and it has all the things that make Gradius great with practically none of the things that make it bad. It's da best.

[BIL]

I can't recommend the practice mode enough, GV's scale is potentially terrifying until you've compartmentalised it sufficiently. After several months of trash talk, having the announcer tell me I was a living legend right after I got insta-killed by the extra core on the 2-1 boss as it teleported in was quite a milestone. GV's a great shooter for novices / returning fans, I think. Just the right balance of imposing difficulty and player concessions.

Although I rag on the lack of immediate, sustained intensity (until the brilliant SPACE POON, COCOA PUFFS NIGHTMARE, GREEN SHIT EVERYWHERE and MECHANICAL BASE 5.0 stages) these days, I still remember it feeling indescribably grand at the time. I almost passed the game up back in 2004 because EGM's (largely positive) review made it sound like a massacre in waiting. Glad I went "FUCK EM" and plunked down the $30 it was already going for after a month or so.

[NzzpNzzp]

I don't understand people saying Gradius V "doesn't excel" in any particular way. It has amazingly diverse, beautifully designed levels, each completely different from each-other.

The levels are a lot less diverse than previous Gradius games. Way too many mechanical base type levels, and most of the rest are rehashes from older games (except now they go on for too long so you get bored, great!). Green goo is new, but that's like it.

[Squire Grooktook]

I don't understand people saying Gradius V "doesn't excel" in any particular way. It has amazingly diverse, beautifully designed levels, each completely different from each-other.

The levels are a lot less diverse than previous Gradius games. Way too many mechanical base type levels, and most of the rest are rehashes from older games (except now they go on for too long so you get bored, great!). Green goo is new, but that's like it.

I really don't see it at all, and believe me I've played a lot of old Gradius.

Stage 1: standard intro, but with mini bosses, giant battle ships, and then goes into a mine field of bouncing beach balls and spiraling enemy spawners before hitting an inventive boss

Stage 2: Maze, swinging pendulum monsters, and a boss rush

Stage 3: Scrolls forward and down, 2.5d enemies who have to be dodged when they spin, has flame throwers, gates and enemies that come from behind. Inventive boss.

Stage 4: Cell stage different from all other cell stages. Shifting walls, tentacle ball enemies that spew suicide bullets and block your path. Giant tape worm obstacles, regenerating walls and volcanos (except now organic!)

Stage 5: HOLY SHIT SO MANY ASTEROIDS, giant structure that closes down on you, rotating indestructable asteroids, best boss ever

Stage 6: Goo, scrolling backwards while enemies close up the way, boss rush.

Stage 7: Mechanical base, speed up section, return of old bosses but better, huge screen scrolling sections, most devious mazes yet

Stage 8: Okay this is recycled.

If your going to say that any of that is a rehash, then you might as well admit that every possible concept under the sun has been done, which makes it all the more wonderous that the game was so damn fun and tight. And like I said, I never got bored with any of them. They're so tricky and tight, I can't really see them as boring unless your credit feeding or so good that nothing is a threat to you even on v.hard.

[NzzpNzzp]

Hey, I'm not saying they're identical or anything, but they are kinda similar. I mean, if I say the cell level you know what I'm talking about. If I say the green goo level you know what I'm talking about. If I say the mechanical base level then I could be talking about like half the game. Then you play II/III/IV/Gaiden, and every level is unique.
The game's also less diverse because the levels are so long. Gradius Gaiden gives you an interesting stage, then you finish it and go to the next interesting stage. Gradius V gives you a stage, and even if it is great it just keeps going and going. Four minutes of cell stage then four minutes of plant stage is a lot better than eight minutes of cell stage.

[Kollision]

Gradius V is supposed to be epic, that's why!