RQ: Best way to handle Gradius II AC Boss Rush?

[KNekoSpy]

It's always the beginning part that screws me over when trying to recover. I have problems recovering in general (don't even ASK how I made it that far with deaths) but I get mobbed and swarmed by the abruptly spawning enemies when trying to power up, and I often end up with a mediocre powerup set or just get killed by some enemy that spawns on top of my ship or off screen before I see it.

Then there's the matter of fighting all the bosses. I keep getting killed by that thing with the four wavy arms because it randomly shoots aimed bullets into me. I made it to Intruder twice ever, and I know there's still that Covered Core boss.

Honestly, I know Gradius III is infamously hard, but I don't know how they expected people to finish any of these games after a death. Especially in the Japanese version, where you get ONE CREDIT PERIOD. If I were playing this on a cab I would have spent probably 20 dollars in quarters by now. And I've 1-alled Dodonpachi before.

[Mortificator]

This is one of the reasons Gradius II is among my least liked in the series. Any given part of the game is almost boringly easy if taken in isolation and with a good set of power-ups. Make a mistake, though, and the difficulty spike as your pathetic stock Vic Viper tries to waddle away from enemies is sure to end your credit. It's one of the falsest ways of generating challenge in a video game.

I don't know if I can give you any advice for Gradius II except save-state practicing until you can 1-life it, but you might want to put your effort into Gradius IV instead. It's designed to be a more skill-based take on the Gradius II structure. IV's stages and enemies are tougher, it just doesn't make you start over when you accidentally bump the ground after doing 90% of the game perfectly.

[KNekoSpy]

So it's basically a requirement then to one life the game. I don't suppose there's any home ports apart from the NES that are easier/more balanced?

[Mortificator]

Well, the PCE-CD port of Gradius II sends you back to the start of the stage when you continue, probably with the idea that the sky battle segment will let the player power up a bit before the meat of the stage. That doesn't help with the boss rush, though, since its stage opens with zub spawning all over the place.

That version has some other balance changes, but I didn't feel they impacted the playability to a large degree.

[Squire Grooktook]

Hey OP, I'm sure this is probably too late, but I'm currently playing through the game blind right now on V.Hard, and I think I figured out how to consistently come back from a death on this section.

During the Zub rush, my strategy is to grab a single speed up, then immediately power up a force field. The Zub rush is the hardest, fastest, and most unpredictable part of the boss rush. You can use some strategy in avoiding being cornered, and keeping as many Zubs in front of your guns trajectory as you can, but really it mostly comes down to reflexes and focus. That's why you definitely want the force field first.

It’s not too difficult to get the initial speed and force field boost. Just mash fire button as fast as you can, and kill as many clusters of Zubs as you can. You’ll usually get enough red crystals to power up your speed and defense, and the odds are in your favor you’ll get a blue crystal before or after you do so.

After that, I usually get a single option, and then if you’re good you might be able to save up just barely for a laser. Missiles or doubles are a waste against most of the bosses imo.

If you lose the force field during the red part of the Zub rush, I’d say screw the laser/option and get another force field, because the Zub rush is just that dangerous. However, if you’re feeling really brave, you could attempt surviving without it for the extra fire power against the bosses.

Against the bosses themselves, the force field will come in really handy if you managed to keep it (extremely unlikely, but possible if you played exceptionally well) since unlike Gradius 3, the most threatening attacks used by the bosses are the standard bullets shot at extremely close range by the Life Force bosses. The lasers on the other hand, are extremely predictable and easy to avoid.

For the most part, just play defensively and don’t be afraid to time out Tetran (the four armed octopus boss you mentioned), since you have to be very aggressive in order to actually kill him with this item set up.

For the individual bosses:

Big Core: Play defensively. It is not needed to go through the lasers to hit his core, cause even with your pea shooter you’ll kill him before he times out.

Brain Golem: I don’t know about lower difficulties, but on V.Hard he also shoots the standard diamond bullets from his arms as he chases you. These can be hard to dodge sine they tend to come at close range while you’re circling around him, but if you commit to your movement (no last minute hesitations), and herd him as he chases you so that you always have enough space, then you can beat him without worries.

Tetran: When he first retracts his tentacles and hovers around the screen, keep your distance because when he reaches your usual position, he’ll swing them out un-reaction-ably fast and instant kill you. Once he starts rotating his tentacles normally, you’re safe though. The main worry is the diamond bullets he shoots from them as he rotates, which like the Brain Golem will usually be fired at you at close range. It’s very difficult to actually kill this boss with a single option, so I’d say just time him out by playing defensively and planning your movements so that you have as much space to maneuver past his tentacles as possible.

Gua: Not really hard at all, even the laser shower on his second phase gives you a lot of room to maneuver and isn’t all that threatening.

Intruder: During the first phase, you basically get a free kill by letting him circle around you. However when he splits in three for the second phase, you’ll get crushed when they start homing in on you. You can actually escape from this though, and it’s not too hard, however it may make you flinch, so don’t go for this on the first phase if you’re feeling nervous. Also the second phase dragons have very low hp, so you don’t have to worry too much about a long term fight.

Covered Core: Fairly easy. Just stay straight in the middle, and watch the missiles above and below you very carefully. The shields protecting his core do not fire suicide bullets like the Big Core, so don’t worry about that. Only real danger here is the threat of nervousness from being so close to victory.


As for Gradius 2 being bad…It’s alright. There are some absolutely brutal recoveries, but only a few of them are borderline unwinnable (I still have no idea how to deal with the last part of the Crystal Stage). It’s not the best Gradius game alright, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t had some pretty exciting moments with it. Gradius is like Pizza, even the bad ones are still pretty good.