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Thursday 21 February, 2008
Gamelog #2
Gameplay: After another 45 minutes of gameplay, I finally made to level…TWO! As one can imagine, I patted myself on the back for that one (which actually wasn’t a good idea because I flew into a wall at that moment). Still, I got a lot better at upgrading my ship for me to survive. I managed to get three options for Vic Viper, all equipped with the laser this time (double still sucks, sorry). My Vic Viper was a TANK…that didn’t last that long. Even being a tank in this game, being killed is still quite easy. I can understand why some people just hate this game, but I personally love it. The difficulty is truly meant for the hardcore gamer.
I also found that having my ship upgraded to full speed isn’t a good idea. Often times, I could not control Vic Viper, which resulted in stupid ceiling deaths. I yelled and cried because the player is only allowed three lives, and it was my last life. Still, I find this game quite enjoyable and hope to beat it very soon with my Gradius Collection on the PSP.
Design: Gradius is a classic shoot-em-up that is “easy to play, difficult to master”. The classic gameplay and hardcore difficulty are definitely the appeal of this game. Most shoot-em-ups have power-ups to make your ship more powerful to help you through the game. Gradius is no exception. However, the upgrade system is very unique in this particular game because the player can actually choose the way Vic Viper gets upgraded. As far as I am concerned, this is the first (and maybe only) shoot-em-up that allows such customization. Gradius definitely does this upgradable system correctly and without flaw.
In terms of the difficulty, I am often reminded of Contra when I play Gradius. Without a doubt, this game will frustrate ALL players (hardcore or casual). But resilient hardcore players will beat this game, no doubt. I almost feel that the level design of this game is mostly memorization (and therefore a lot of trial and error is involved). Though players will be challenged to dodge bullets at every angle, as long as you have one set path in this game of progression, you should be fine. This aspect only probably makes up the “love or hate” relationship of this game with the player (personally I love it).
For its time, Gradius is actually quite a gorgeous game. Vic Viper is a bright ship and easy to look after in contrast to the very dark backgrounds of the game. The enemies are also very colorful and never get boring to look at.
The only aspect of the game I did not like very much was the music. Occasionally it would change to a different tune when I entered a cave, but for most of the space sequences, the music was the same. It goes great with the theme of a galactic space shooter, but it was not memorable enough for me (such as Megaman 2 music for the NES, especially the Wily stage music). If I could change anything in the game, it would most likely be the music.
Overall, Gradius is a very well designed game. While the difficulty is awfully steep, it is still fun mainly because it was MEANT to be this hard (like Contra). It isn’t hard because of poor game design (like E.T. for the Atari). The upgrade weapon system also adds a very unique twist to the shoot-em-up genre. The game looks great visually and never gets boring. In fact, because of the insane difficulty and nice visuals, Gradius is actually one of the very few games that’s fun to watch other people play.
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