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Thursday 24 January, 2008
GAMEPLAY
In my second session, I didn't get much farther than I did in the first session - falling out of practice costs one a lot in shmups. I did learn that the continuous laser upgrade has a number of important advantages over other kinds of laser, and I tried out all the different varieties of option - the rotating option is my preference. I also got a feel for how the shields work, and also worked out the ! quality upgrades (the only that's really worthwhile in my opinion is the double-option, and even that isn't very good.)
I did manage to catch sight of the third boss, but only once. The checkpoint before it features an enemy spawner on the roof, nestled behind a mountain, and provides only 3 powerups, forcing the player to forgo the second speed boost in order to obtain the missile power which is absolutely necessary to destroy the spawner, which is in turn necessary to stem the uninterrupted tide of enemies issuing therefrom. The region just before that checkpoint features a new game mechanic: player controlled vertical scrolling. It also features a wall of dirt which must be dug through by the player (with bullets.)
DESIGN
In Gradius, intelligently managing the power-up system is essential to success, and so Gradius' greatest design flaws reside in that system. In order to challenge a player who has obtained a substantial number of powerups, the level design must present challenges which a non-powered up player will find nigh-insurmountable, and if the player dies, they lose all power-ups - excepting only that if they had an unactivated powerup of any rank, they begin with an unactivated speed boost. Thus a single death nearly always becomes many deaths, and it is plausible that one will expend all continues attempting to recover from ones first demise. This is aggravated by the fact that at least two powerups must typically be spent on "speed up" before the player is able to effectively respond to new threats, or even some known threats.
A significant example is the digging sequence at the end of level 3 - with option powerups, the player can easily dig a tunnel in which it is comfortable to maneuver, while a fresh life often leads one desperately hoping that the tight-fitting tube one is trapped in does not end in certain doom. A particularly egregious example is the checkpoint for boss 3, just after the tunnel, which has three significant qualities:
First, it is where the player spawns after being defeated by a boss
Second, it presents a significant challenge before that same boss may be faced again
Third, it requires that the player be able to attack and destroy an enemy above the player - it is not possible to maneuver such that the default forward weapon will strike the enemy, and if not killed this enemy will surely destroy the player. It is not possible to do this without powerups.
Another significant flaw is the fact that some of the available powerup options are always inferior to others - most significantly, at least half of the missile options only attack downward, when it is just as common for enemies to reside on the roof as on the floor of a tunnel.
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