is a series of shooter (shoot'em up) video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper.
Games
Scramble (1981) An early horizontal-scrolling shooter from which gameplay elements of the Gradius series were inspired. Although there is no canonical relationship between Scramble and the Gradius series, Scramble is implied to be a spiritual predecessor to the series, evident by its appearance in flashbacks during Gradius introduction sequences (Gradius Advance). Scramble has been ported to other platforms, including MSX and Commodore 64. In 2002, Scramble appeared on GBA as one of the titles featured in Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced as well as later Konami game compilations for PlayStation and Nintendo DS.
Gradius (1985) The first true Gradius game to introduce the concept of the 'weapon bar'. During the game, many enemy craft leave behind items or 'pick-ups' when destroyed that can be used to power up or modify the player's vessel. Collecting one of these will shift the selection cursor along the weapon bar at the bottom of the screen. The player can then select the weapon highlighted if they want it. The cursor then resets. In general, the more useful 'power-ups' are towards the right-hand side of the bar, so the player may decide to stock up on pick-ups until the better item is available. This innovation allowed for deeper tactics on the part of the player and for greater freedom of weapon choice rather than relying on the pre-determined power-ups common in other games in the genre. Originally released as an arcade game, its popularity resulted in ports to the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, NES/Famicom, MSX, Master System, X68000, Amstrad CPC and PC Engine. More recently, ports to the Saturn, PlayStation, and certain mobile phones were created. (Saturn, PlayStation and computer versions are all packaged with Gradius II as Gradius Deluxe Pack). In addition, the NES version was re-released for Virtual Console, NES Classic Edition, and the PC Engine version on the PlayStation Network. In territories outside Japan, the arcade and MSX versions of Gradius were released under the title Nemesis.
Salamander/Life Force (1986) Set in the same continuity as Gradius. The game is noteworthy for a number of reasons. Most prominently, the game switches between horizontal and vertical stages, one of the first games of its kind to do so, and it was also one of the first shoot 'em ups to include cooperative gameplay.
The first player ship is Gradiuss own Vic Viper ship, while the second ship is the Lord British space destroyer (sometimes called the "RoadBritish") which is based on the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Unlike Gradius, Salamander uses a more conventional weapons system, with enemies leaving a wide variety of distinct power-ups. The NES version of Salamander, called Life Force in North America (and marketed in that region as the "sequel" to the first Gradius), and the MSX version used the power meter from the Gradius series. There also exists an arcade game named Life Force that is identical to Salamander released in Japanese arcades the same year, except that a Gradius-style power meter is used instead of conventional power-up items, and the stages were recolored slightly as well as given some voiceovers to make the mission about traveling inside someone's body, rather than through space. Stages took on names such as "Kidney Zone" and "Stomach". An American release was also made, but it retained the original power-up system of Salamander, though it was renamed as Life Force.
Nemesis 2 (1987) The MSX Gradius 2 is unrelated to the second arcade Gradius game (which used the Roman numeral "II"). Instead of controlling Vic Viper, the available ship is called "Metalion" (code name N322). Like the MSX version of Salamander, this game also has a storyline, which is told through cutscenes. The gameplay is mostly unchanged from the rest of the series, though there are some power-ups that temporarily give the ship some enhancements. In addition, when the bosses are defeated, the Metalion can fly inside them before they explode, and a smaller level will start that awards weapon upgrades when finished without dying, depending on the speed at which the boss was defeated. In the same year, Zemina released a version for the Korean Master System. This version was ported to the X68000 computer under the name Nemesis '90 Kai, with a number of graphical and aural enhancements. A graphically enhanced version with smooth scrolling appeared in the Japan-exclusive PSP Salamander Portable collection.
Gradius II (1988) Bearing no relation to the MSX game titled Gradius 2, Gradius II is the chronological sequel to Gradius. The game did not see a North American release until 2006 as part of the PlayStation Portable title Gradius Collection. On November 12, 2020, it was released on the Nintendo Switch as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives series. It was released as Vulcan Venture in territories outside Japan.In the X68000 version of Gradius II, switching the title mode to "USA" will change the game's name to Vulcan Venture.
Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction (1988) The fourth game of the series to be released for the MSX platform. "Gofer no Yabō" (GOFERの野望) is also the subtitle of Gradius II for arcade. Like the other MSX titles in the series, Nemesis 3 has an over-arcing plot depicted through the use of narrative cutscenes. Nemesis 3 retains Gradius 2's weapon capture system, although weapons are obtained by navigating the player's ship into secret alcoves scattered throughout stages rather than entering enemy core ships. The game additionally allows the player to select a preset weapon configuration before starting.
Gradius III (1989) This title introduced the "Weapon Edit" method of selecting weapons, which allowed players to create their own weapon array by choosing power-ups from a limited pool of available weapon types (some weapons in the preset weapon types are not selectable in Weapon Edit mode, although it includes weapons not in any presets).
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)/SFC port includes alterations to levels, enemies, and weapons. For example, two stages were cut out in the SNES version: a 3D stage which involved avoiding hitting cave walls from a unique first-person perspective behind the Vic Viper, and a crystal stage in which the Vic Viper was challenged by crystal blocks blocking off areas like a maze. In addition, the order of stages was changed. The final stage in the SNES version was based on an early stage in the arcade version. The original arcade version's ending had the main boss in a mechanical setting, then going through a speed-up zone to escape the enemy base, whereas the SNES version had the player simply avoiding the final enemy's simple and slow-moving attack patterns with no challenge afterward. However, the SNES version introduced the Rotate and Formation Option types, both of which were reused in Gradius V. The difficulty and major boss tactics were toned down to make it easier. The original arcade version is available for PlayStation 2 bundled with Gradius IV (Gradius III and IV), although the port has some slight differences from the original.
Picadilly Gradius (1989) Only released in Japan, this spin-off game is a token gambling game with a Gradius theme.
Nemesis (1990) The first Gradius for a portable system, released on Nintendo's Game Boy. The name Nemesis was kept for the game's worldwide release, as the game retains some of the elements that were otherwise exclusive to the MSX titles, such as hidden bonus stages. It was later ported with full color support as one of the four games in the Konami GB Collection Vol.1 for Game Boy Color entitled "Gradius".
Gradius: The Interstellar Assault (1991) Another Gradius game exclusively for the Game Boy. It was one of the larger Game Boy carts in existence at the time (2-Megabits), and was completely different from the rest of the series. Most Gradius games used music, enemies, bosses, and even levels from previous games in the series, but this one did not, except for the boss music from the first Gradius game with the addition of a small original section to the piece. A little bit of the "between levels" music from Gradius III can also be found at the very first part of the game. It was released as Nemesis II in Japan and as Nemesis II: Return of the Hero in Europe. A colorized version was featured in the European Konami GB Collection Vol.4, titled Gradius II.
Salamander 2 (1996) The follow-up to Salamander. It had several unique features, such as the Option Shot, the ability to launch the Options as homing projectiles. After firing, an Option would revert to a smaller, less powerful unit called an Option Seed, which revolves around the ship firing the default shot. Weaponry includes the Twin Laser, the Ripple Laser, and the standard Laser. Like its predecessor, Salamander 2 uses a conventional power-up system, rather than the Gradius power meter. Upon acquiring a second power-up of the same type, the player's weapons are twice as powerful for a short duration (10 seconds). The game features variations of previous Salamander bosses, such as the Golem and Tetran.
Gradius Gaiden (1997) The first Gradius produced exclusively for a home console. This is also the only Gradius game (other than Gofer no Yabō Episode II on the MSX) where players can select which ship they wish to use. Gradius Gaiden includes the Lord British Space Destroyer from Salamander and two (relative) newcomers: the Jade Knight and the Falchion β (a variation of the ship from the Famicom Disk System game Falsion). It was originally released for the PlayStation console and ported in 2006 as part of Gradius Collection for the PlayStation Portable. In 2019, it was included in the Japanese version of the PlayStation Classic mini console.
Solar Assault (1997) Solar Assault is an arcade 3D rail shooter in the lines of Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon, with Gradiuss settings. Along with Vic Viper, two other ship choices are available: Lord British and Alpina. Due to never being ported to any console systems, Solar Assault is a relatively obscure part of the Gradius series.
Gradius IV (1999) Released in Japanese arcades as Gradius IV Fukkatsu ("fukkatsu" (復活) being Japanese for "revival", since it was the first arcade Gradius game in 10 years, following 1989's Gradius III). Gradius IV lacked the Weapon Edit function of its predecessor, but it had a bigger array of weaponry than the original Gradius games. Weapons exclusive to this game included the Vertical Mine missile (which detonates in a vertical line shortly after deployment) and the Armor Piercing laser (a shorter-ranged, more powerful laser). It was released on the PS2 in a compilation pack together with the arcade version of Gradius III (Gradius III and IV).
Gradius Galaxies (2001) Gradius Galaxies is the first Gradius to be created by a development team other than Konami's own internal teams (by Mobile21, to be exact). A Game Boy Advance title, Gradius Advance is known as Gradius Galaxies in the United States and as Gradius Generation in Japan. The Japanese version, being the last to be released, has a number of exclusive challenge modes added. It also includes an additional, invisible 5000 point bonus in one of the levels.
Gradius V (2004)