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Gradius is a series of horizontally-based scrolling shooter video games developed by Konami since 1985. The player controls a spaceship called the Vic Viper, with the goal of destroying enemies while avoiding their attacks.The games are level-oriented; the game world in each Gradius game is made up of several contiguous environments that are distinct from one another. Movement in each environment progresses from left to right until the end of the level is reached, at which point the player must challenge a boss character. If the player is successful in destroying the boss character, play continues at the beginning of the next level. Each level usually has a distinct visual theme.
1 Power ups
When gameplay begins, the Vic Viper can only move and fire a relatively weak gun directly to the right. This level of capability is generally insufficient for fighting enemies, but the Vic Viper can gain greater capabilities by collecting and using power up items.
Gradius was the first shoot 'em up to use the 'selection bar' power-up method, which has since been adopted by many other scrolling shooters. While most arcade action games utilize distinct power up-items that each correspond to a specific effect on the player character, Gradius has a single power up item. The effect of this power up item is to advance the currently selected item in a power up menu that appears at the bottom of the screen. When the desired power up is highlighted, the player can obtain it by pressing the power up button, returning the menu to its initial state in which no power up is highlighted. In the original Gradius, this menu looks somewhat like the following:
| SPEED UP | MISSILE | DOUBLE | LASER | OPTION | ? |
Almost all power ups in the Gradius series are based on one of these. Explanations follow:
- SPEED UP: This power up increases the speed of the Vic Viper's movement; usually needed at the beginning of the game or when restarting an area after the Vic Viper has been destroyed, because the initial speed of the Vic Viper is much too slow to comfortably avoid enemy attacks. This power up may be triggered multiple times to achieve greater speed, but there is a danger in increasing the speed too much, resulting in a lack of precise control needed to avoid collision with terrain or enemy characters.
- MISSILE: This power up adds a secondary projectile weapon. Arcade versions of Gradius games usually have a separate button for firing this projectile, while home console and computer versions usually use the same button for both this and the primary projectile weapon. In the original Gradius, the weapon is a missile that fires downward and to the right, travelling along the ground. Most Gradius "missile" weapons are a variation on this concept.
- DOUBLE: This power up adds a second projectile weapon identical in power and firing rate to the standard gun. In the original Gradius, this second gun fires at a 45 degree angle up and to the right. In later Gradius games, it may fire in a different direction depending on a choice made by the player before the game starts. The Vic Viper cannot have Double and Laser at the same time. If Laser is chosen while Double is being used, Double will be lost.
- LASER: This power up changes the standard gun into a laser weapon that fires to the right. The laser weapon does substantially more damage than the standard gun, and can be controlled to a certain extent while it is being fired by moving the Vic Viper vertically; this can be used to quickly destroy a group of enemies. The Vic Viper cannot have Laser and Double at the same time. If Double is chosen while Laser is being used, Laser will be lost.
- OPTION: Options are glowing elliptical entities that mimic the movement and attacks of the Vic Viper, resulting in greatly increased attack capability. Furthermore, Options are invulnerable, making them additionally useful in certain situations. All attack power ups possessed by Vic Viper are also possessed by each Option. In most Gradius games, up to four Options can be obtained.
- ? (SHIELD): This power up adds a projectile-blocking shield to the front of the Vic Viper. The shield is destroyed after a certain number of absorbed projectiles. In later Gradius games, this can be replaced, at the player's option, with other shields, such as a force field that envelopes the entire ship or the ability to shrink the ship. In later Gradius games, it is also usually labeled with an appropriate power up label instead of the less than informative question mark.
- ! (MEGA CRUSH): This powerup has appeared in several Gradius games, but only appears on the gauge in Gradius III. In all Gradius games, it comes in the form of a blueish version of the Power Capsule used to power up Vic Viper. Upon picking up one of these blue capsules, all onscreen enemies are immediately destroyed. In some Gradius games, it also wipes all enemy projectiles or "bullets" off the screen as well. In Gradius III, it appears as both a blue capsule, but can also be used by highlighting the ! slot on the Power Gauge, in this case, the pickup merely wiped out enemies, while the Power Gauge version both did this and destroyed all enemy bullets.
Home console and portable versions of Gradius spawned the now-legendary Konami Code, considered by some to be one of the defining elements of Gradius. The code (traditionally Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A; variants also exist), when entered while the game is paused, grants the player most of the available power ups. While this is essentially a cheat code, the player is only allowed a limited number of uses, suggesting that this is meant only as a limited adjustment of the difficulty. In most cases, the limit starts at one use and an additional use is granted for each completed level. An interesting exception to this rule is Gradius III for the SNES/SFC, where entering the original NES version of the code destroys you, rather than powering you up. Substituting L and R for Left and Right will grant the proper effect, however. While this is a well-known feature among Gradius fans, many video game enthusiasts more closely associate the " Konami Code" with the NES version of Contra, a later Konami game in which the code can be entered at the title screen to grant the player 30 lives.
