One of the defining characteristics of the Gradius series is the use of a "power meter." The power meter is powered by a power-up item, whose purpose, when collected, is to move a highlight to the next power-up on the power meter. When a power-up that the player wants becomes highlighted, he or she may activate it, also causing the highlight to reset.


Also in series

Gradius III
Gradius III
Cosmic Wars
Cosmic Wars
Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction
Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction
Vulcan Venture
Vulcan Venture
Nemesis 2
Nemesis 2

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Desde hace mucho que queria empezar con la saga Gradius (principalmente para jugar al Gradius V) asi que empece con el original en su version de arcade sin saber mucho de este.
Gradius es un buen juego, el gameplay es genial y me gusta que sea un shmup sidescroller, lamentablemente en mi opinion el juego sufre mucho debido a su dificultad, esta se siente gimmicky e injusta durante muchos momentos del juego, como la seccion de volcanes del primer nivel o la horrible seccion del final en la cual tienes que estar adelante para que no se cierre la puerta, esto no se sentiria tan injusto ni frustrante si no fuera porque es un juego de fichas que al momento de perder todas tus vidas comienzas el juego desde 0, asi que morir por culpa de algo que era imposible saber la primera vez no se siente bien.
No me gusta facilitarme los juegos o usar cheats pero en este caso senti mas que justificado el usar el codigo konami para pasarlo (mas cuando este sale en la pantalla de inicio como tip) y recomendaria usarlo para tener una mejor experiencia.
tl;dr Es un buen juego el cual si no fuera por lo injusto que se siente el diseño de niveles probablemente seria mas disfrutable, espero disfrutar mas de las siguientes entregas (aunque probablemente skippeare el 2 y pase directamente al Gaiden).

Este juego es muy bueno, si contáramos solo el inicio porque después se repite las fases y se siente un juego que no tiene final si esque por su dificultad no moriste.

Yeah no, I got bored.
I'm honestly surprised by how good this game was, considering I really dislike the NES version, but this is surprisingly competent in most ways. Stage design is often good, controls well, the power up system is dynamic... but, maaaaaaan, the difficulty system is consistently quite ass.

You will NOTICE when it ramps up because shit starts to get fast out of nowhere with no prior warning, sometimes mid-enemy attack, and that, coupled with this game being a 1CC or bust type of game (where continues don't start you back from where you died, but rather back from the start of the game) make this very jarring to play.

The checkpoints in this game also aren't... optimal, namely the ones right after the introductory section of each stage. Saving the player's "progress" AFTER the part of the game where they are supposed to get their power-ups back from a long fight is such a dick move, and can absolutely kill some runs depending of where you die.

Honestly, Gradius is a pretty solid game. A very brain-numbingly difficult game, but it brings some good ideas to the table.

Gradius was a synthesis of all the gameplay ideas that had been played around with since Galaxian. It added an upgrade system, had good music and sound effects, a variety of enemies and stage designs to work through via smooth gameplay all in one complete package. It set a new baseline for what should be expected from a schmup going forward.

I remember it being on OK space shooter.