Gradius Gaiden
Japanese Name	Gradius Gaiden (lit. "Gradius Side Story")
Release date	JPN August 28, 1997
Developer	KCET
Publisher	Konami
Platforms	PlayStation
Chronology
Previous Gradius III	Next Gradius IV

Gradius Gaiden (lit. "Gradius Side Story") is a horizontal scrolling shooter video game produced by Konami and released in Japan on August 28, 1997. It is the first Gradius-named title to incorporate 3D graphics. The soundtrack for the game was composed by Norikazu Miura (credited as Nories Miura).

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Plot 1.2 New Ships 2 Ports 3 Stages 4 Bosses 5 External Links

Gameplay Edit

The core gameplay of Gradius Gaiden remains relatively unchanged. However, two new ships are made available whose weapon configurations are new to the series. Moreover, several changes were made on the weapons system. The chargeable E. Laser, the Reduce size shield, option types, are all items that have been removed in the transition from Gradius III to this title. However, the player can select from several ships, each with a unique weapon configuration. In a slight carryover from Salamander 2, Missile, Double and Laser weapons can be additionally powered up one level. These power-ups are permanent until the player is destroyed, even if he switches between the Double and Laser powerups. There are two new types of shield. One is called 'Guard', which attaches to the top and bottom of the craft and renders the player immune to physical obstacle collisions. The other is called 'Limit' and gives complete invulnerability and lasts for three seconds. The player can re-arrange the power-ups on the power-up gauge before gameplay begins as well as change the default arrangement on the Options menu. The option whether to use a male or female announcer is also on the Options menu.

The difficulty level can also be adjusted from 'easiest' up to 'hardest', for a total of seven difficulty levels. On the easier difficulties, the more troublesome boss attacks are removed and the number of enemies on-screen is reduced.

A level select option (which allows you to start on any stage you've been to, as well as the loop the stage is in) and free play mode (which gives you unlimited credits) can be unlocked by beating the game on normal mode without using any continues and by accumulating at least 10 hours of game time, respectively.

PlotEdit

The game setting taking between Gradius III and Gradius IV, during the 3rd Bacterian War, the planet Gradius defeated the Bacterians by destroying the center of their powers. The Threat of invasion was gone and peace have return to Gradius. two-hundred years passed... the civilization of Gradius prospered and looked as if peace would last forever... That was until Nightmare return again and began with the disappearance of science vessal which went to dark nebula knowns as The Evil Range. The Evil Range had never investigated before due to its notoriety as the dangerous Nebula and entering it was prohibited by the government. Soon after the disappearance of the science vessal, the colony planets of Gradius were attacked and ruined by the unknown forces. The Gradius Army fough gallantly, but the invaders over-powered and destroyed most of the Gradius Army. At this point Gradius Army Headquarter decided to launch a desperation attack on the center of dark nebula, which seemed to be source of the invaders. Receiving the order, four hyperspace fighters launch from the mothership to the dark nebula carrying the last hope to save Gradius on their wing.

New ShipsEdit

Jade Knight: Eponymously, every weapon this ship has is tinted green, including the options.

Its missile, the spread bomb is a carry-over from Gradius II. This ship has two different kinds of lasers available: round and pulse.

The round laser, the most unusual weapon presented in this game, fires concentric rings of laser origination. The pulse laser is a two or three pronged burst laser, similar to the twin laser in previous titles.

Falchion Beta: This ship's weapons are variations on well known themes.

The Falchion has two way missile called a rolling missile, which tumbles to the ground where it splits and shoots both left and right.

It also has a three-way limited range shot called Auto-Aiming, that fires a second shot within the angles of 0 to 180.

Its laser weapon is the gravity bullet, which is a newcomer to the Gradius Series but is present in several earlier Parodius titles. It is based on the Spread Gun that is yielded by Pentarou in Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ and every title afterward.

Also, it has been speculated that the ship is not new at all, but an upgrade of the Falsion from the 1987 Konami game of the same name.

Ports Edit

Gradius Gaiden never initially saw availability outside of Japan (in which it was released three times, initial release, Playstation The Best and PS One Books) until the release of the PlayStation Portable compilation, Gradius Collection, in 2006 for North America and PAL regions. For the PSP version, cooperative multiplayer (in which both players play at the same time, as in the Parodius and Salamander Series) was removed and suffers from lag at certain parts.

Stages Edit

• Stage 1: Beyond the White Snowstorm
• Stage 2: Requiem for Revengers
• Stage 3: Into the Crystal Cage
• Stage 4: Ruins of Silence
• Stage 5: Organic Fortress
• Stage 6: Green Inferno
• Stage 7: On the Event Horizon
• Stage 8: Formidable Guardians
• Stage 9: Fate.....

Bosses Edit

• Stage 1: Blizzard Crawler
• Stage 2: Grave; Nobil
• Stage 3: Shining Core
• Stage 4: Moai Dimension
• Stage 5: Mad Skin
• Stage 6: Stinger Kid, Hunter Fang, Giga's Rose
• Stage 7: Kraken
• Stage 8: Zub Rush, Laser Tetran, DeathDouble and Parasite Core, Triple Core, Deltatry, Juggler Core, Neo Big Core, Heaven's Gate (loop 2+)
• Stage 9: Boost Core, Demos FX, Heavy Ducker, Sol, The Original Visions of Ultimate Monster O.V.U.M.

External Links Edit

• Interview with Norikazu Miura

Gradius Video Games
Gradius series	Gradius • Gradius II • Gradius III • Gradius Gaiden • Gradius IV • Gradius Galaxies • Gradius V • Gradius ReBirth • Gradius VI
Nemesis series	Nemesis • Nemesis 2 (Nemesis '90 Kai) • Nemesis 3 • Nemesis (Gameboy) • Gradius: The Interstellar Assault • Gradius NEO • Gradius NEO Imperial
Parody games	Parodius • Parodius Da! • Gokujō Parodius! • Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius • Sexy Parodius • Paro Wars • Otomedius (Otomedius Gorgeous) • Otomedius Excellent
Other games	Scramble • Salamander (Life Force) • Flak Attack • A-JAX • Falsion • Thunder Cross • Space Manbow • Quarth • Trigon • Thunder Cross II • Crisis Force • Cosmic Wars • Xexex • Salamander 2 • Solar Assault • Gradius Arc
Fan games	Nemesis '94 • Garudius '95 • Manesis 99 Kai • G-Type • GR3 • Nemesis Online • Storm Assault • Salamander 3 • Shoot The Core • Xeno Fighters EX