Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou (PCE CD, 1992)
Graphics-8 Sound-8.5 Control-7 Challenge-8.5 Story-4.5
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Four different weapon setups (3 different sub weapon, 2 double and laser weapons) and two shield styles (frontal shields or force/all over - allows for 2 more hits) to pick from before beginning
One new level added (lvl 5 - moai head level)
Various large and detailed sprites
Difficulty options (easy to very hard/professional)
Good variety
Mini-bosses
Some interesting level design (some levels scroll both horizontally and vertically - these also loop vertically, ice blocks breaking into smaller parts, breakable wall/web structure - Gradius 1, lvl 6 pillars, speed tunnel segment except it's too harsh, enter the ship that released the boss rush for the final level, final level's moving walls, walker/spider boss)
Gun drones return (up to 4)
Pretty good bosses overall (they generally have only one phase except if you take too long they'll use an additional attack, lvl 4 and 6 bosses+the alien snake and fire dragon have two, )
Smart bombs (these trigger on touch though, can't keep one for later use)
Pretty intense at times
Pretty impressive firepower when fully powered up
An enthusiastic commentator voice mocks you after death and tells you where to shoot bosses
Good length
Decent ending cutscene
A bit easier than the arcade game on Normal? (still damn hard at times)
+/-
Uses arcade recordings w/ some added reverb and minor stereo as its OST rather than remastered CD music (the arcade OST is pretty nice but had some rough instrumentation at times and the recordings are a bit short so you'll hear the tracks fading out and restarting a couple of times, could've also used the X68K versions as they had some mixing updates)
Checkpoint system - fairly frequent but you lose all upgrades (only get to keep one power up for spending if you had collected any before death - for example if you were at laser it goes back to speed up)
Much easier when fully upgraded and vice versa
While there is a default auto-fire it's kind of slow (used proper turbo in emulation instead)
Slower rate of fire when using double shot (one per angle on screen at once) however getting up close to your target increases it
Contact damage from flying into stationary obstacles and walls
Levels 4 and 5 basically rehash lvls 1-2 in Gradius 1
Short lvl 7
Boss rush for lvl 8 however it doesn't re-use the game's bosses (re-uses some G1 and Life Force bosses)
Adds a basic intro cutscene (meh)
Unlimited continues (turned OFF by default in the options)
Pathetic final boss (more of a joke boss)
Cheesy boss voices
-
Ridiculous checkpoint placement in the final level
An enemy can appear and steal all or several of your gun drones/options during some boss fights - can't be destroyed but at least you can dodge it if you're prepared (however it will frequently keep reappearing if you still have 4 gun drones)
Some control/interface issues (no manual speed adjustment - have to waste power ups on upgrading it and you can't slow down afterwards (the second to highest speed setting is already too high for the finer movement required in some parts), can't go backwards in the upgrade selection menu, basically no invincibility time after taking a hit with the shield - if you move into a wall or a small ship moves into you then you die almost immediately)
Too hard to recover after death (all upgrades are lost, doesn't hand power ups to you right after starting)
Trial & error (less forgiving hit detection for the back of your ship than the sides+vs some projectiles it's actually slightly bigger than the ship sprite itself around the "corners" of the sprite, some shots from off screen, boss patterns, speed segment - too many paths lead to instant death, breakable wall part in lvl 2 - very hard to go downwards even with ripple laser equipped, most weapon setups have no backwards attack, some weapon setups have no upwards attack unless you switch to double again which you sometimes can't do, etc)
No weapon inventory (for switching back to double from laser) - can't switch between the four weapon setups between levels or after losing a life (have to use a continue)
Some difficulty spikes (lvl 9 beginning (need back attack and/or double) and mid-boss, lvl 7, parts of the lvl 8 boss rush (spinning tentacle robot, alien snake; also no power ups in-between bosses here) lvl 4 unless you have a shield/enough gun drones and/or having switched to double) and dips (lvl 7 boss, brain boss)
The checkpoint system generally puts you almost right before or right before bosses making them much harder to beat
Some slowdown (lvl 2, lvl 3, plenty in lvl 5, parts of the boss rush lvl) and some flicker
Can't reach the lower edge of the screen while your shots and enemy drops can
The lvl 8 alien snake boss takes too long to die
Notes:
-Original game is from 1988
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Four different weapon setups (3 different sub weapon, 2 double and laser weapons) and two shield styles (frontal shields or force/all over - allows for 2 more hits) to pick from before beginning
One new level added (lvl 5 - moai head level)
Various large and detailed sprites
Difficulty options (easy to very hard/professional)
Good variety
Mini-bosses
Some interesting level design (some levels scroll both horizontally and vertically - these also loop vertically, ice blocks breaking into smaller parts, breakable wall/web structure - Gradius 1, lvl 6 pillars, speed tunnel segment except it's too harsh, enter the ship that released the boss rush for the final level, final level's moving walls, walker/spider boss)
Gun drones return (up to 4)
Pretty good bosses overall (they generally have only one phase except if you take too long they'll use an additional attack, lvl 4 and 6 bosses+the alien snake and fire dragon have two, )
Smart bombs (these trigger on touch though, can't keep one for later use)
Pretty intense at times
Pretty impressive firepower when fully powered up
An enthusiastic commentator voice mocks you after death and tells you where to shoot bosses
Good length
Decent ending cutscene
A bit easier than the arcade game on Normal? (still damn hard at times)
+/-
Uses arcade recordings w/ some added reverb and minor stereo as its OST rather than remastered CD music (the arcade OST is pretty nice but had some rough instrumentation at times and the recordings are a bit short so you'll hear the tracks fading out and restarting a couple of times, could've also used the X68K versions as they had some mixing updates)
Checkpoint system - fairly frequent but you lose all upgrades (only get to keep one power up for spending if you had collected any before death - for example if you were at laser it goes back to speed up)
Much easier when fully upgraded and vice versa
While there is a default auto-fire it's kind of slow (used proper turbo in emulation instead)
Slower rate of fire when using double shot (one per angle on screen at once) however getting up close to your target increases it
Contact damage from flying into stationary obstacles and walls
Levels 4 and 5 basically rehash lvls 1-2 in Gradius 1
Short lvl 7
Boss rush for lvl 8 however it doesn't re-use the game's bosses (re-uses some G1 and Life Force bosses)
Adds a basic intro cutscene (meh)
Unlimited continues (turned OFF by default in the options)
Pathetic final boss (more of a joke boss)
Cheesy boss voices
-
Ridiculous checkpoint placement in the final level
An enemy can appear and steal all or several of your gun drones/options during some boss fights - can't be destroyed but at least you can dodge it if you're prepared (however it will frequently keep reappearing if you still have 4 gun drones)
Some control/interface issues (no manual speed adjustment - have to waste power ups on upgrading it and you can't slow down afterwards (the second to highest speed setting is already too high for the finer movement required in some parts), can't go backwards in the upgrade selection menu, basically no invincibility time after taking a hit with the shield - if you move into a wall or a small ship moves into you then you die almost immediately)
Too hard to recover after death (all upgrades are lost, doesn't hand power ups to you right after starting)
Trial & error (less forgiving hit detection for the back of your ship than the sides+vs some projectiles it's actually slightly bigger than the ship sprite itself around the "corners" of the sprite, some shots from off screen, boss patterns, speed segment - too many paths lead to instant death, breakable wall part in lvl 2 - very hard to go downwards even with ripple laser equipped, most weapon setups have no backwards attack, some weapon setups have no upwards attack unless you switch to double again which you sometimes can't do, etc)
No weapon inventory (for switching back to double from laser) - can't switch between the four weapon setups between levels or after losing a life (have to use a continue)
Some difficulty spikes (lvl 9 beginning (need back attack and/or double) and mid-boss, lvl 7, parts of the lvl 8 boss rush (spinning tentacle robot, alien snake; also no power ups in-between bosses here) lvl 4 unless you have a shield/enough gun drones and/or having switched to double) and dips (lvl 7 boss, brain boss)
The checkpoint system generally puts you almost right before or right before bosses making them much harder to beat
Some slowdown (lvl 2, lvl 3, plenty in lvl 5, parts of the boss rush lvl) and some flicker
Can't reach the lower edge of the screen while your shots and enemy drops can
The lvl 8 alien snake boss takes too long to die
Notes:
-Original game is from 1988