Tag: Gradius

  • News Gradius III Gets the MSU1 Digital Audio Enhancement Treatment

    Option!

    Shmups! We love them and we are not shy to admit it.The Super Nintendo always fell short to the lush number of shmup offerings present on the PC Engine, Mega Drive and even the NES / Famicom. Yet whisper Axelay in the wind and a wave of awe will overcome everyone. However, today's news is in regard to another classic Konami shmup, the early...

  • Review Gradius (Wii U eShop / TG-16)

    Arcade-style pew-pew

    Gradius will forever be considered a definitive game in the shoot 'em up genre, held up as a key example of what makes these kind of games truly special. It's a game familiar for its iconic NES version, of course, but the release of the TurboGrafx-16 iteration on the Wii U Virtual Console is a welcome one - after all, it was a...

  • Music Here's The Entire Gradius III Soundtrack In NES Style, Just Because

    The remix you didn't know you needed

    Gradius III was one of Konami's first releases for the SNES and took the popular shooter franchise into the 16-bit realm for the first time. As is the case with many Konami games, it featured an excellent soundtrack by Konami Kukeiha Club, the company's in-house music team. In its pure, untouched form it's a...

  • Review Life Force (Wii U eShop / NES)

    Forcefully fun

    Konami's 1985 hit Gradius is one of the most influential scrolling shooters of all time, so it was pretty tough to follow up. Rather than make Gradius II right away, the company decided to create a spin-off; Life Force — originally known in Japan as Salamander — hit arcades in 1986 and the NES two years later. Space shooters were...

  • Review Life Force (3DS eShop / NES)

    A force to be reckoned with

    The space shooter is a genre that has somewhat faded into obscurity in recent years, both due to advances in technology rendering their limited scope obsolete and their typically gruelling difficulty proving unpalatable to some gamers. The NES port of Life Force, (or Salamander, as it was originally known on Eastern...

  • Review Gradius (Wii U eShop / NES)

    Just keeps shooting

    To say that the original Gradius was influential on the evolution of the side-scrolling shoot 'em up would be a gross understatement. When it hit arcades in 1985 it was lauded for its amazing level designs and simple, yet wildly playable, power-up system. This NES release was one of the first home ports of the game and has become...

  • News Konami Updates Gradius Rebirth

    Konami's retro Gradius title gets an upgrade.

    Konami has just released an update to their Gradius Rebirth WiiWare release that tosses in a few new twists to the package. Among the new additions are some graphical improvements, remixed soundtrack tunes, and a few other goodies worth checking out for those who own the game already. All you have to do...

  • News USA WiiWare Update: Gradius Rebirth

    It’s been a long time coming but Konami has finally gotten around to releasing Gradius ReBirth on the North American WiiWare service; somewhat ironic when you consider we only just reported on the availability of the soundtrack in Japan!

    A poignant love-letter to fans of the long-running series, ReBirth is less a revolution and more an evolution;...

  • First Impressions Gradius Rebirth

    Gradius Rebirth is out now in Japan and the guys at Konami have done a good job bringing the classic series back for another outing, this time on WiiWare.

    ReBirth isn’t an all new game, more of a remix of past Gradius titles, all presented in a lovely retro style. The first thing that hits you is the charming 16-bit graphics and sound, which are...

  • News Gradius ReBirth Hitting Japan Next Week

    Here’s a pleasant surprise – it only seems like five minutes ago that we were able to announce the development of Gradius ReBirth for WiiWare, and now the game is almost with us!

    The 2D shooter will be arriving on the Japanese WiiWare service next Tuesday (alongside Midnight Bowling and what appears to be some kind of Othello variant), which...

  • News Pilot the Vic Viper Once More in Gradius Rebirth

    WiiWare, much like Virtual Console, is turning into a heaven for shoot 'em up fans. Konami today announced that it's going to resurrect the Gradius franchise on the service with Gradius Rebirth (A fitting name)!

    Last seen in 2004 on the PlayStation 2, Gradius really needs no introduction to most gamers, as it's one of the most popular shoot 'em up...