It's a short game, and while it's not as hard as Life Force, it still puts up a challenge. It sits slightly below the madness that is Gradius III, but it's about the same level as Gradius II. However, since this was designed for the arcades, it also heralds the return of the high difficulty of the earlier Gradius games. The game's biggest problem is its lack of restraint - it throws so many huge obstacles, and floods the screen with so many enemies, that it eventually grows incredibly difficult.
I'll quote a few passages so that you can get an idea: That extends to some amusingly wrong assumptions and fairly annoying misconceptions. Which means that you can expect a lot of whining about inhumane difficulty, a focus on completely subaltern aspects of games and no mention of anything gameplay-related that's above superficial observation. A few recensions feel padded as a result, although that is rare. More than half of the Quarth article is devoted to the version differences instead of the actual game.
The two Otomedius games are covered on no less than seven pages (with comparatively small pictures, those are fairly large treatises) while the Salamander 2 entry is garnished by huge pictures to somehow divert from the small text. It's more so a minor note, yet I was surprised by some of the priorities. He's also passionate about the project which becomes very clear early on, although that's not always a positive (see below). I spotted some negligible lapses here and there (he claims, for example, that "In The Wind" is the stage 1 theme in Gradius III, it's actually the stage 3 theme) but he even knows about rather esoteric tidbits. + The author is certainly knowledgeable when it comes to the facts. That and the neatly arranged overview of essential data makes for a pleasant flip through if you just want to get a quick glance at several games or a reminder on some crucial information. Not only the established console ports are mentioned/depicted, the various home computer versions are, too (ranging from the X68000 to the C64). It's notably great when a game has received several ports so that you can compare them side by side. Concise, instructive information on the subject matter, structured in an exemplary manner.
GRADIUS GAIDEN CHEATS SERIES
The TwinBee series in particular is treated with a lot of scholarship, you'll find entries for the SFC platformer as well as for the PS1 RPG, there's an article about the puzzle game and another one for the seemingly vastly popular merchandise (radio drama, short films etc.). + It even goes a step further than that: you'll find not only Konami shooters, but also spin-offs and even Gradius clones. From Falsion to Flak Attack and from Quarth to Hi no Tori, it's all there. The important series are all covered, of course (Gradius, Parodius, TwinBee), but also all the marginalia and obscure titles. + It's hard not to be impressed by the thoroughness of this road map through Konami's history. I'm just going to highlight what I see as distinct strengths and weaknesses:
Not entirely sure if this is the ideal place to put it, a new thread seems unnecessary to me and the Gradius series plays an eminent role in it, so I might as well share my impression of HG101's The Unofficial Guide To Konami Shooters here.
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