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Galactiger's Gradius (NES)
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| [January 23, 2008 07:44:23 PM]
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Gamelog #2 Session #2 for CMPS 20
Start Time: 5:00 pm
End Time: 6:00 pm
Assignment due 1/25/08
Note: Whoops, this got posted to the front page. LOL, how embarrassing! Anyway, there ought to be a way to get this format template for 20/80K posted somewhere. It would be convenient.
GAMEPLAY
Gradius started out as sort of fun to play and turned into a chore. I couldn't get past the first level; a spewing volcano of sorts got in the way. The game doesn't have a tutorial, which makes you feel silly if you can't figure out the complicated weapons system when there's really only two buttons (it's the NES version). Out of boredom with the game, I tried to see how long I would last simply holding down the "shoot" button. Surprisingly, it was comparable to how long I lasted when I was actively trying to play well. This was immensely discouraging.
Some of the more difficult aspects of the game which were difficult to the point of destroying the fun of the game were evading enemies and figuring out how to use the power-ups effectively. Evading enemies of normal size was okay, but trying to evade multiple "baseballs of doom" was really difficult. The boss volcano that spewed brown "baseballs of doom" looked really unpleasant and was really difficult, if not impossible, to get by. The power-ups were often more of a hindrance than a boost. One of the power-ups also shoots bad guys, but effectively makes you a bigger target, making it more difficult to pass levels where you have to squeeze into certain areas. Not only that, it absorbs most of the accumulated bonuses, making it difficult to get something else that will help you.
One very sad thing about Gradius is that you are thrown into a situation, without any reason to care about the outcome. Usually, compelling story and characters would do this for a game. The development that would go into story and characters could be pretty minimal, such as a scant few lines of text that names a few character names. No such thing is in Gradius, which means that after I quickly tired of the gameplay itself, there were no characters or story to keep me coming back.
Looking through other reviews of the game, the major thing going for this SHMUP is that it's a classic. That good point can only persuade someone to try a game, not to stick with it. Many other reviews had similarly negative tone; my bad experience is not unique.
I don't recommend this game to anyone but someone who 1) is a hardcore SHMUP-player, and 2) has access to the manual and/or walkthrough. Although the game has a two-player option at the beginning, I didn't have the opportunity to try it. Besides, I'm not sure I would subject any of my friends to Gradius.
DESIGN
Gradius creates conflict, but mostly not the kind you want or expect. The challenges are mostly how to not get bored, frustrated, or angry playing this game. The game didn't bother to keep things interesting. With no story, few characters, poor gameplay, and huge difficulty, Gradius doesn't keep me interested in the least. This game could be hugely improved with tutorials and narrative, which it lacks completely.
The steep learning curve and complicated power-up system make this a bad game. Gradius has a following, but it's not part of the typically mainstream audience and market, and the learning curve and complications are likely why. I enjoyed this game for the first ten minutes, but every 10-minute interval after that, I had learned nothing and basically repeated the same game experience, which was pretty awful.
Despite all its faults, Gradius makes pretty good use of space within the gameworld. The whole screen is filled with baddies and the environment for much of the time. The sky is filled with stars rather than being a plain, empty black. Good use of space might be a good feature in a game. However, the good use of space in this game serves only to make the game more difficult than it originally was, which hurts the design of the game.
The tone of the music and the tone of the gameworld conflict hugely in my opinion. The tone of the music sounds like you're exploring and making revelations. The tone of the gameworld makes it seems as though you have a clear mission to destroy bad guys. However, the tone of the music and gameworld both conflict with what's really going on. For example, death in-game resulted in a jubilant ditty being played. The tone is therefore mixed and confused, which is pretty disappointing.
I would change a lot of things about this game. If something is not obvious, I would have a tutorial so it's not necessary to keep a manual. Paper manuals are frequently lost, even for games which require some explanation. It's not that the controls of Gradius themselves are complicated; it's just complicated and confusing when there's no explanation given. Knowing this information changes gameplay from an experiment into an experience, I think. The one thing this very frustrating experience has taught me about games I will make are: have explanations handy in-game. Not only does it simplify things and ease the learning curve, it can make or break a game.
That's it for this entry. Keep gaming!
This entry has been edited 8 times. It was last edited on Jan 26th, 2008 at 02:43:56.
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| [January 22, 2008 10:52:51 PM]
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Gamelog #2 Session #1 for CMPS 20
Start Time: 7:00 pm
End Time: 8:00 pm
Assignment due 1/25/08
SUMMARY
Gradius is a game with very little backstory. That's probably a good thing, considering that Gradius is a SHMUP. Even though it's not story-oriented or character-driven, Gradius is somewhat compelling for the music and gameplay. This is the first Gradius game, and all of the games that follow don't deviate from the essentials set forth in this game. Developed by Konami, Gradius takes place in a hostile science-fiction outer space environment as you navigate the land and shoot anything that moves.
GAMEPLAY
As far as my emotional response goes, I sort of enjoyed this game. Although the rules are fairly simple, the upgrade system is kind of complicated and not really obvious as you start to play the game. I probably was less enthused about the game than someone would have been when Gradius first came out, but the music is familiar to me and helped me to enjoy this game.
The gameplay mechanic is deceptively simple. You simply shoot and avoid collision with everything on-screen as best you can. The upgrade system is where the game gets complicated. You have five levels of level-up, which require more and more power-ups to attain. They are: speed up, missile, double, laser, option, ?. Speed up is self-explanatory, or it would be if it was more obvious what thing it's speeding up; I couldn't figure it out. Missile shoots a bullet-like projectile diagonally down and ahead. Double shoots twice as much as normal in varying directions. Laser shoots little beams of laser across the screen. Option and ? give you sentinels and forcefields, though during gameplay I got them so rarely I cannot reliably tell them apart. As someone whose first SHMUP is the original Gradius in 2008, this does not surprise me.
I first heard the music of Gradius as a symphonic, orchestrally-arranged suite. Hearing it now in its original, true form is an interesting twist on nostalgia. I recognize the melodies some of the time, but as far as I can tell the music sometimes lacks the expression and depth of the symphonic version. This is likely because at times the music seems to cut out. This hurts the usually immersive effect of the game simply because it sounds terrible.
I don't know the characters in this game. That's not to say that there aren't any, but I had to look up the game on Wikipedia to find the name Vic Viper to describe the name of the ship. The ship is the protagonist, surprisingly; the pilot is nameless, or nonexistent. Even the existence of a pilot is a mystery. As a game, the lack of certainty and depth doesn't really hurt the game overall; it also didn't help. I really enjoy games with a compelling story, and you just won't find such a thing in Gradius. It would be one thing if the story was bad, but not having any whatsoever is just terrible.
I didn't have any interaction with other players during gameplay. That made the game difficult to endure; I almost got lonely. It would be one thing if the game was absorbing and compelling. Playing a game for that long when I don't really enjoy the gameplay is a chore. This is my first SHMUP, and I gave it a chance. Unfortunately, the game was repetitious and frustrating; I didn't make it past the first level and the game played a jubilant ditty when I died. In short, I don't particularly care for this game.
That's it for this entry. I will continue after I play some more.
This entry has been edited 4 times. It was last edited on Jan 26th, 2008 at 02:26:33.
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Galactiger's Gradius (NES)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Got frustrated
GameLog started on: Tuesday 22 January, 2008
GameLog closed on: Saturday 16 February, 2008 |
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Galactiger's opinion and rating for this game |
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This game is full of gritty action set in a hostile alien world. It's a pretty good SHMUP, but you should probably avoid it if you dislike humiliation.
Rating (out of 5): |
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