Gradius V Bonus DVD and the Gradius Series -- WTF???

[SoulBlazer]

Thanks to a kind DP member on here, who I'm not sure I can mention publicly, I got a copy of the bonus DVD that came with Gradius V today.

I popped it into my PS2 and was very impressed. The Gradius V gameplay scenes are nice and remind me of the 'preview' stages that you can see in Gradius Galaxies for the GBA. Very helpfull.

Then I looked at the history of the Gradius series. And my jaw dropped in surprise.

Now, I know many Gradius games did'nt come out here in the States. And I know many were remade in Japan only. And it probaly does'nt include EVERYTHING that it could (for example, no mention of the Gradius Deluxe Pack of 1 and 2 for the PC).

Still, I wish there had been some documentation included with the DVD explaining WHAT we were seeing in the gameplay and intros included here. It left me totally confused as to where they got the material from and just how many Gradius games and remakes have been released, and what the differneces were.

For example, the gameplay of Gradius -- that can't be the NES version. The graphics are too different. And there were no voices in our version. I always thought Salamander and Life Force were the same game, just a different name. Why were both included in a re-release in Japan? What the heck is Salamander II? Are we looking at the SNES or the Arcade version of Gradius III on here, or something else? How come our version of Life Force did'nt have all those cool voices?

Can anyone point to me a file or a website that explains the ENTIRE Gradius series -- games released, what platforms, changes between the versions, etc.? Or can anyone just explain what we're seeing here on the DVD? It's very cool and all, I'm just left feeling very confused by what I'm seeing. :hmm: And wondering what I have to do to play those versions we're seeing on the DVD. :D

[klausien]

The games shown on the Gradius DVD are all the Deluxe Pack incarnations. The intro movies are from the deluxe packs as well. It sucks that Konami shafter us with Gaiden. I need to track that down.

[lendelin]

Soulblazer, I had the same confused impression you have when I watched the DVD.

First, I had no clue how many different games came out in the series although I knew about Salamander and Parodius;

second, the US releases I have and played [Gradius, Life Force (NES), Gradius 3 (SNES), Gradius 3 and 4 (PS2)] were in some level designs and some enemy patterns different from the demos shown.

I guess the demos shown are either strictly the Japanese versions which are slightly different from the US versions, or in some cases they showed the arcade versions.

A Gradius expert could certainly help to clear the confusion.

I loved to watch the Parodius games, damn, they should have released them in the US! Maybe the next time I'm in Germany I look to pick them up since my brother still has my few PAL games and the PAL NES and SNES systems.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

I'd love to be able to tell you, but the dumb bastards at the EB I pre-order the game (gradius V) from never gave me the breakdown dvd. :( I'm going to guess that the footage would be taken from either the arcade or deluxe versions of the game, though how about the PC-engine releases?

[Needle]

I'm not a huge Gradius expert, so some of this information I give may be just plain wrong. but it's a start towards an explanation.

All Gradius games except for Gradius V started in the arcade. The NES ports are the ones we fans remember most dearly, however the original arcade versions are the ones that are shown on the DVD. That's why some of the Gradius games have "voices" and whatnot.

Salamander and Life Force are the same CONSOLE game, but apparently they're two different arcade games. As far as I'm aware the only difference between the two games is the power-up system. Life Force uses the traditional Gradius-style powerup method, while Salamander used a specific "Pick up this icon to get this powerup" system.

Corrections to this analysis are welcome.

[ddockery]

Another small tidbit, but as would seem obvios, Salamander II is simply the sequel to Salalmander. It's included in the Salamander Deluxe pack for Saturn and PSX - japan only of course.

[SoulBlazer]

Well, that helps clear up some of the confusion. Anything else that can be added into this thread would be great.

Man, those Pardious games -- I just don't know WHAT to make of them! The Japanese make some seriously weird shit, that's all I can say. LOL

Not to mention I heard, while watching the brief playthroughs of the games, music from the William Tell Overture, Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and about a dozen more classical songs in there. :P

And why the HELL did'nt Gradius Gaiden get a release in the States?????

I mean, the game is almost fully in English! The voice and words in one of the intros (where I've learned I've been saying Gradius wrong all these many years ), the text in the game -- almost everything is English. And I always thought the Gradius games did well in the States.

Boy, did Konami really screw us over with the series. I knew they did, but not THIS badly. :eek 2:

[whoisKeel]

there's so many incarnations of gradius, it's hard to even start. there's the msx and X68000 versions, gradius 2 for famicom, mini lcd handhelds, pc engine titles, on and on. i've yet to see the dvd (or even gradius V itself), but i would imagine they were taken from arcade versions (or saturn/ps2 deluxe packs which are supposedly fairly identical) if you've only played nes gradius, you haven't seen gradius at all, i mean it doesn't even scroll up/down lol. also nes lifeforce for nes, as i've come to understand, is QUITE a different game altogether from other lifeforce/salamander versions. gradius gaiden, while it sucks we never got a release, can be had for $30 sealed (ps1 books series, ie jp's gh titles). just google around for some gradius and you'll get all you need to know, there's tons of fansites for the series, and play gradius2 for turbo cd if you can, i really like that one.

[Ed Oscuro]

if you've only played nes gradius, you haven't seen gradius at all, i mean it doesn't even scroll up/down lol.
That sums it up, yes, lol :P

Difference between the arcade/x68K versions and NES games is sort of like the difference between Interstellar Assault and Gradius on the PC-Engine, as far as gameplay goes. Huge difference.

[KJN]

For an overview of Gradius and it's related series like Salamander and Parodius for various platforms take a look at this site: http://gamestone.co.uk/gradius/index.php

[Ed Oscuro]

For that site...they have a really neat little poll going. Interesting options to choose from there...can't choose one myself, though :p

[rbudrick]

Salamander and Life Force are the same CONSOLE game,

Actually, that's not true. Play both Salamander for Famicom and Life Force for NES and you will notice some pretty significant gameplay differences. Graphically, they are basically the same game, but they are pretty different.

-Rob

[Kamino]

It's time to play DP MEMBER JEPOARDY!
Answer:


A Gradius expert


"Who is Sotenga?"
CORRECT!
now to track him down...

[bargora]

I've scooped up a fair number of Gradius games.

Gradius Deluxe Pack (JP Saturn) -- Gradius and Gradius II
Gradius III and IV (US PS2)
Gradius Gaiden (JP Playstation)
Gradius Galaxies (US GBA)
Salamander Deluxe Pack (JP Saturn) -- Salamander, Life Force, and Salamander II
Gokujyou Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack (JP Saturn) -- Parodius and Ultimate Parodius
Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius (JP Saturn) (The third Parodius game)
Sexy Parodius (JP Saturn) (The fourth Parodius game)

I still need Gradius V, but I've got enough Gradius fun to keep me busy for a while. I believe that all of the Deluxe Packs and Parodius games were also released for JP Playstation.