Gradius: The Interstellar Assault retains the traditional horizontal scrolling gameplay from the Gradius series. Once again the player takes control of the Vic Viper and flies through five different stages destroying Bacterion's army. The game retains the traditional power-up bar from the original Gradius. The player can speed-up multiple times, use missiles, shoot double firepower or lasers, use several options at a time and use the classic shield (although it is referred to as a forcefield). However, before each game is started or continued, the player is given a "Weapon Select" screen. Here the player can choose between one of three settings for the missiles, double firepower, and lasers.
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Highly playable; one of the best shooters on the system.
For the first handheld entry in the series, Nemesis for the Game Boy was a pretty great way to bring the Gradius series to the Game Boy, but on its own, it isn’t anything too special compared to the other games, but was still a good game. It did bring the series gameplay effectively onto the gray brick, while still being fast, fun, and satisfying to play, while also being quite possibly the most accessible entry in the series, given how the game would allow you to customize your playthrough before you would truly dive in. Of course though, this is Gradius we are talking about, and there was no way that Nemesis was going to get away without any kind of follow-up, so just one year after that, the sequel known as Gradius: The Interstellar Assault would be released.
I had no expectations when I went into this game whatsoever. Not to say that I was expecting a bad game out of this entry in the series, but we are all aware at this point as to what we are going to get out of one of these games, especially since this is the 9th entry in the series. But hey, I mean, the series technically reached its 10th anniversary in the year this was made, if you do count Scramble the first title in the series, so you could assume that they would wanna go all out for this entry……………….. which they didn’t do. I can’t necessarily say it is better or worse than Nemesis, but what I can say is that it is still a good title in the series, one that any fan would enjoy, and one that does improve on several aspects of the previous entry, while taking away several aspects.
The graphics are not just Game Boy graphics this time around, but they are also COMPLETELY IDENTICAL to Nemesis, with most of what you see in the game looking the exact same as that game, but hey, it still does look good for what it is, and some of the sprites of the bosses and enemies you face do look pretty good, the music is still good, sounding very similar to that of the original game, but still managing to provide a good selection of tunes to listen to while blowing up space goons, the control is the exact same as the previous, so moving on, and the game is almost identical to the previous in terms of gameplay, but it does bring in elements from the other titles in the series to make it not seem like a direct copy… only mostly.
The game is a horizontal scrolling shooter, where you take control of the ship that just doesn’t know when to quit, the Vic Viper, go through a set of five different stages through many very similar looking areas, shoot up plenty of different enemy spacecrafts and space creatures while trying to avoid turning into a collection of space dust yourself, gather plenty of different orbs to activate plenty of different upgrades for your ship that can do plenty of things, such as increasing your firepower, speed, or defense, and take on plenty of big, bad bosses that will put your shooting, aiming, and dodging skills to the test in numerous ways. It is a good ol’ helping of that same Gradius dish that you had been served plenty of times before, and you may be sick of it at this point, but to its credit, it still manages to hold the same level of quality the previous title had, and it is still fun to play despite its simplicity. And hey, not everything about this specific entry is entirely unoriginal… for the most part.
Returning in this title is the Weapon Select screen from previous games, where before you would begin a run, you would be allowed to choose your weapon preference for your missiles, your main weapon, and even for the lasers that you can unlock for yourself as you play. While it doesn’t change things up in the game too much, it is good to see this feature make a return in this game, and it works out pretty well, allowing for a good amount of variety for your loadouts. Aside from that though, the only real noteworthy thing I can mention about The Interstellar Assault is that, shockingly, there are bit-sized pieces of plot points that are shown throughout the game, and they even change up what happens in the game as well.
At the beginning of the game, there is a cutscene that shows you flying through space beside these spaceships, but they end up getting destroyed by an enemy force, and you are immediately thrown into the first level where you have to then rocket through plenty of obstacles trying to avoid getting shot down by that same enemy force. After you complete the first stage, you are then immediately captured by said enemy force and taken inside of it, to where you even lose all of your power ups, so you have to fight your way out of there. Now, if you were to say any of this about any other game, it sounds like no big deal at all, and really, it isn’t, but having some kind of story bits and cinematic moments in any Gradius game at all, Game Boy or not, is pretty neat, and I did enjoy these moments whenever they did pop up.
However, if neither of these features tickle your fancy, then there isn’t gonna be anything else in this game that will. It is still the basic gameplay that you have seen from the series over and over again, with little to nothing done to change it, and while it is still fun and satisfying, if you are expecting something new and surprising from the 9th entry in the series (which you definitely should expect at this point), you won’t get that here. Not to mention, the game still chugs at that stuttering frame rate that Nemesis did, and unlike that game, there is no customizable option menu that you get before the game. Sure, it isn’t exactly a feature that I expected would stick around after its original inclusion in Nemesis, but the fact that it doesn’t show up in this direct sequel is somewhat upsetting, so that is a bit of a bummer.
Overall, despite the continuing lack of innovation for this series and a lack of features that were in the previous title, The Interstellar Assault is still a solid enough entry in the series, and a pretty good sequel to Nemesis, taking that same gameplay the previous title brought to handhelds and continuing to make it fun, fast, and satisfying. I would recommend it for those of you who were fans of the previous title, as well as those who are big fans of Gradius in general, but all in all, there are plenty of other better shumps that you could play over this. But hey, it’s fine, Konami can just continue the series from here and improve on it further… you know, five years later. Or 8 years later, if you lived in America. I guess they Gradiused too hard and needed to have a bit of a break, like I need as well.
Game #468
I had no expectations when I went into this game whatsoever. Not to say that I was expecting a bad game out of this entry in the series, but we are all aware at this point as to what we are going to get out of one of these games, especially since this is the 9th entry in the series. But hey, I mean, the series technically reached its 10th anniversary in the year this was made, if you do count Scramble the first title in the series, so you could assume that they would wanna go all out for this entry……………….. which they didn’t do. I can’t necessarily say it is better or worse than Nemesis, but what I can say is that it is still a good title in the series, one that any fan would enjoy, and one that does improve on several aspects of the previous entry, while taking away several aspects.
The graphics are not just Game Boy graphics this time around, but they are also COMPLETELY IDENTICAL to Nemesis, with most of what you see in the game looking the exact same as that game, but hey, it still does look good for what it is, and some of the sprites of the bosses and enemies you face do look pretty good, the music is still good, sounding very similar to that of the original game, but still managing to provide a good selection of tunes to listen to while blowing up space goons, the control is the exact same as the previous, so moving on, and the game is almost identical to the previous in terms of gameplay, but it does bring in elements from the other titles in the series to make it not seem like a direct copy… only mostly.
The game is a horizontal scrolling shooter, where you take control of the ship that just doesn’t know when to quit, the Vic Viper, go through a set of five different stages through many very similar looking areas, shoot up plenty of different enemy spacecrafts and space creatures while trying to avoid turning into a collection of space dust yourself, gather plenty of different orbs to activate plenty of different upgrades for your ship that can do plenty of things, such as increasing your firepower, speed, or defense, and take on plenty of big, bad bosses that will put your shooting, aiming, and dodging skills to the test in numerous ways. It is a good ol’ helping of that same Gradius dish that you had been served plenty of times before, and you may be sick of it at this point, but to its credit, it still manages to hold the same level of quality the previous title had, and it is still fun to play despite its simplicity. And hey, not everything about this specific entry is entirely unoriginal… for the most part.
Returning in this title is the Weapon Select screen from previous games, where before you would begin a run, you would be allowed to choose your weapon preference for your missiles, your main weapon, and even for the lasers that you can unlock for yourself as you play. While it doesn’t change things up in the game too much, it is good to see this feature make a return in this game, and it works out pretty well, allowing for a good amount of variety for your loadouts. Aside from that though, the only real noteworthy thing I can mention about The Interstellar Assault is that, shockingly, there are bit-sized pieces of plot points that are shown throughout the game, and they even change up what happens in the game as well.
At the beginning of the game, there is a cutscene that shows you flying through space beside these spaceships, but they end up getting destroyed by an enemy force, and you are immediately thrown into the first level where you have to then rocket through plenty of obstacles trying to avoid getting shot down by that same enemy force. After you complete the first stage, you are then immediately captured by said enemy force and taken inside of it, to where you even lose all of your power ups, so you have to fight your way out of there. Now, if you were to say any of this about any other game, it sounds like no big deal at all, and really, it isn’t, but having some kind of story bits and cinematic moments in any Gradius game at all, Game Boy or not, is pretty neat, and I did enjoy these moments whenever they did pop up.
However, if neither of these features tickle your fancy, then there isn’t gonna be anything else in this game that will. It is still the basic gameplay that you have seen from the series over and over again, with little to nothing done to change it, and while it is still fun and satisfying, if you are expecting something new and surprising from the 9th entry in the series (which you definitely should expect at this point), you won’t get that here. Not to mention, the game still chugs at that stuttering frame rate that Nemesis did, and unlike that game, there is no customizable option menu that you get before the game. Sure, it isn’t exactly a feature that I expected would stick around after its original inclusion in Nemesis, but the fact that it doesn’t show up in this direct sequel is somewhat upsetting, so that is a bit of a bummer.
Overall, despite the continuing lack of innovation for this series and a lack of features that were in the previous title, The Interstellar Assault is still a solid enough entry in the series, and a pretty good sequel to Nemesis, taking that same gameplay the previous title brought to handhelds and continuing to make it fun, fast, and satisfying. I would recommend it for those of you who were fans of the previous title, as well as those who are big fans of Gradius in general, but all in all, there are plenty of other better shumps that you could play over this. But hey, it’s fine, Konami can just continue the series from here and improve on it further… you know, five years later. Or 8 years later, if you lived in America. I guess they Gradiused too hard and needed to have a bit of a break, like I need as well.
Game #468
just some solid gradius! the uglier visuals and unfamiliar feeling of the game boy wear off, and you're left with five levels of gradius bliss. there's some added drama too-- the game is bookended with chase scenes, the persistence of power ups are played with, and things aren't always what they seem. this gets a big game boy rec (if you like gradius-- if not, it won't change it mind, if you don't know if you like gradius, maybe try a prettier one)
So in my quest to play all the Gradius games I have finally made it to Gradius: the Interstellar Assault, or the version I played and named in Europe; Nemesis II: The Return of the Hero aka just Nemesis II in Japan. Not to be confused with Nemesis 2 for the MSX.
Right, usual confusing naming convention of Gradius I've covered in other series reviews out the way. How is the game? Well lets put it this way I never thought when I randomly started these after playing the first game on the Konami classics collection that by the 9th game I would be saying that the Gameboy game is so far the best in the series. Without meaning to attack the Gameboy I just haven't played anything outstanding on the system but this kinda surprised me. this might not be because this game is outstanding, in many ways it isn't but in comparison with it's bigger brothers it just accomplishes so much more in that it's actually interesting.
Let me explain, the other Gradius games feel like iterations at best, at worst like Fifa / Madden yearly number updates. Same levels, like almost identical volcano, easter Island statue, flame dragons. Same bosses. They are stale. Yet this little game has you chased by a giant battleship, fight through space, get tractor beamed into a giant ship, fight your way out, go through an asteroid field where mining ships push asteroids at you, descend through the atmosphere of a planet, fight into a base, then chase a ship through a ship graveyard. The set pieces are interesting, fresh and unique and managing to fit all of that onto a Gameboy cart is really impressive.
Despite that it still looks and plays like a Gradius game. The controls are tight and the ship the Vic Viper handles well so I always felt if I flew into an obstacle it was entirely my fault. Some enemies are pretty identifiable like one of the boss ships that is in every Gradius title (though it has volcanoes on the side of it to make it more interesting and reference the other games). The power up system is the same where you collect items that move you selection along a track to select the power up to use (speed up, lasers, missiles, orbitals etc.)
All the Gradius staples are there only it's actually fresh to play in ways it's bigger visually more impressive older brothers just aren't. It's also way easier and I'm terrible at shoot 'em ups which probably helps....
Right, usual confusing naming convention of Gradius I've covered in other series reviews out the way. How is the game? Well lets put it this way I never thought when I randomly started these after playing the first game on the Konami classics collection that by the 9th game I would be saying that the Gameboy game is so far the best in the series. Without meaning to attack the Gameboy I just haven't played anything outstanding on the system but this kinda surprised me. this might not be because this game is outstanding, in many ways it isn't but in comparison with it's bigger brothers it just accomplishes so much more in that it's actually interesting.
Let me explain, the other Gradius games feel like iterations at best, at worst like Fifa / Madden yearly number updates. Same levels, like almost identical volcano, easter Island statue, flame dragons. Same bosses. They are stale. Yet this little game has you chased by a giant battleship, fight through space, get tractor beamed into a giant ship, fight your way out, go through an asteroid field where mining ships push asteroids at you, descend through the atmosphere of a planet, fight into a base, then chase a ship through a ship graveyard. The set pieces are interesting, fresh and unique and managing to fit all of that onto a Gameboy cart is really impressive.
Despite that it still looks and plays like a Gradius game. The controls are tight and the ship the Vic Viper handles well so I always felt if I flew into an obstacle it was entirely my fault. Some enemies are pretty identifiable like one of the boss ships that is in every Gradius title (though it has volcanoes on the side of it to make it more interesting and reference the other games). The power up system is the same where you collect items that move you selection along a track to select the power up to use (speed up, lasers, missiles, orbitals etc.)
All the Gradius staples are there only it's actually fresh to play in ways it's bigger visually more impressive older brothers just aren't. It's also way easier and I'm terrible at shoot 'em ups which probably helps....
Grind-your-teeth-to-sand frustrating, but satisfying.
For all of the shmup gamer cred I like to talk up about myself (so much so that I've started calling them STGs to really flex my terminology on the genre noobs), I've never actually played a Gradius game. Not a single one! I've seen plenty of media with the Vic Viper in it, but I've never actually gotten into the source material. This is probably a weird entry to dip my toes into the franchise with, but it's what was suggested to me. Sometimes a recommendation helps to keep things fresh. After all, it's not as if I would have ever given this a look if I hadn't been told to play it.
What's most striking about The Interstellar Assault — and Gradius as a whole, I suppose — is how much of a snowball the Vic Viper is. Seriously, this thing is the idea of "win more" made manifest. Your upgrade path includes something like four speed upgrades, three tiers of missiles, lasers, double fire, two Options that float behind you copying your fire pattern, and a front-facing shield that soaks three shots that would insta-kill you at any other time. It's ridiculous how much shit you can put on the screen at once. But far from just allowing you to be carried by spamming the screen with projectiles, the game doesn't hesitate to humble you. Enemies come from behind, teleport in, or require absurd amounts of precision to take down. You have to start relying on weird little tech options that you discover through play, such as orienting yourself in weird flight paths to maximize your Option coverage; since they can float through walls and you can't, you can end up positioning them to exploit the geometry and cover virtually the entire screen so long as you're clever with your maneuvering and resist your primal urge to wiggle the D-Pad.
I don't especially love the idea of giving a game credit solely for the fact that it came out on archaic hardware, but this is a packed cartridge. Considering this was on the OG green-and-gray Game Boy, it's kind of a miracle that there's as much content as there is, and that it flows as nicely as it does. The laser sound can be a little grating, but the sound chip is doing some serious work to crank out these ear-worm tunes to keep pushing you forward. I'm kind of clueless as to how anyone was expected to play this on a two-inch wide screen, though; you've gotta make some really specific movements through tight hallways and between boss lasers, and it was already hard enough to peek through the gunfire and enemy spam on my monitor that's ten times the size of the system this originally released on.
It's as snappy as it is brutal. I had the distinct thought at one point that it felt like a modern indie de-make of an ancient arcade title, and that's probably exactly what the developers were shooting for. The act of getting through some of the hazards was making me experience enough gamer fury that I could have bitten chunks off of myself, but what was here was compelling enough to encourage me to see it through. Blitzing through a stage that not even ten minutes ago completely kicked your ass is the universal serotonin constant.
The final boss has three phases and an escape sequence. My blood pressure was probably high enough to be considered a medical emergency.
For all of the shmup gamer cred I like to talk up about myself (so much so that I've started calling them STGs to really flex my terminology on the genre noobs), I've never actually played a Gradius game. Not a single one! I've seen plenty of media with the Vic Viper in it, but I've never actually gotten into the source material. This is probably a weird entry to dip my toes into the franchise with, but it's what was suggested to me. Sometimes a recommendation helps to keep things fresh. After all, it's not as if I would have ever given this a look if I hadn't been told to play it.
What's most striking about The Interstellar Assault — and Gradius as a whole, I suppose — is how much of a snowball the Vic Viper is. Seriously, this thing is the idea of "win more" made manifest. Your upgrade path includes something like four speed upgrades, three tiers of missiles, lasers, double fire, two Options that float behind you copying your fire pattern, and a front-facing shield that soaks three shots that would insta-kill you at any other time. It's ridiculous how much shit you can put on the screen at once. But far from just allowing you to be carried by spamming the screen with projectiles, the game doesn't hesitate to humble you. Enemies come from behind, teleport in, or require absurd amounts of precision to take down. You have to start relying on weird little tech options that you discover through play, such as orienting yourself in weird flight paths to maximize your Option coverage; since they can float through walls and you can't, you can end up positioning them to exploit the geometry and cover virtually the entire screen so long as you're clever with your maneuvering and resist your primal urge to wiggle the D-Pad.
I don't especially love the idea of giving a game credit solely for the fact that it came out on archaic hardware, but this is a packed cartridge. Considering this was on the OG green-and-gray Game Boy, it's kind of a miracle that there's as much content as there is, and that it flows as nicely as it does. The laser sound can be a little grating, but the sound chip is doing some serious work to crank out these ear-worm tunes to keep pushing you forward. I'm kind of clueless as to how anyone was expected to play this on a two-inch wide screen, though; you've gotta make some really specific movements through tight hallways and between boss lasers, and it was already hard enough to peek through the gunfire and enemy spam on my monitor that's ten times the size of the system this originally released on.
It's as snappy as it is brutal. I had the distinct thought at one point that it felt like a modern indie de-make of an ancient arcade title, and that's probably exactly what the developers were shooting for. The act of getting through some of the hazards was making me experience enough gamer fury that I could have bitten chunks off of myself, but what was here was compelling enough to encourage me to see it through. Blitzing through a stage that not even ten minutes ago completely kicked your ass is the universal serotonin constant.
The final boss has three phases and an escape sequence. My blood pressure was probably high enough to be considered a medical emergency.
After revisiting R-Type DX I decided to randomly boot up Gradius' offering to the Game Boy. This is actually known as "Nemesis II" in Japan/PAL, both it and the first Nemesis on Game Boy are apparently noncanon and considered spinoffs. Exactly two people on this entire site might care about that, so I'm cutting that subject short and before we all get confused by Konami's idiotic naming conventions. Seriously, it's very confusing what they did.
You know how some of these games have an escape sequence at the end of the game? Well this one begins with one, not gonna lie it took me a bit by surprise. Interstellar Assault/Nemesis II/Artist Formerly Known As Gradius definitely feels like a spinoff, it does a lot of subversions and still carries the feel of a Gradius game down to the "piss easy until you die and lose your shit" style of gameplay, though thankfully this game is nowhere near as ballcrushingly punishing as Gradius III or anything. At least a few people will be disappointed by that, I know who you are. Sadly, Moai are completely absent from this title. A huge dealbreaker for everyone I'm sure, but this game is still fairly fun.
Only five stages, but the game feels pretty good to play and is also fairly cinematic at times? A decent amount of in-game cutscenes in this one, I think my favorite is the shot of one of the bosses burning up on re-entry into a planet's atmosphere after being defeated. Quite enjoyed how every stage transitioned seemlessly into eachother with cuts rarely being used, I wanna say that's not normally done in Gradius.
Was good enough for me to play through with occasional save stating in one sitting, good stuff.
You know how some of these games have an escape sequence at the end of the game? Well this one begins with one, not gonna lie it took me a bit by surprise. Interstellar Assault/Nemesis II/Artist Formerly Known As Gradius definitely feels like a spinoff, it does a lot of subversions and still carries the feel of a Gradius game down to the "piss easy until you die and lose your shit" style of gameplay, though thankfully this game is nowhere near as ballcrushingly punishing as Gradius III or anything. At least a few people will be disappointed by that, I know who you are. Sadly, Moai are completely absent from this title. A huge dealbreaker for everyone I'm sure, but this game is still fairly fun.
Only five stages, but the game feels pretty good to play and is also fairly cinematic at times? A decent amount of in-game cutscenes in this one, I think my favorite is the shot of one of the bosses burning up on re-entry into a planet's atmosphere after being defeated. Quite enjoyed how every stage transitioned seemlessly into eachother with cuts rarely being used, I wanna say that's not normally done in Gradius.
Was good enough for me to play through with occasional save stating in one sitting, good stuff.