Released on May 29th 1985.
Interesting facts about Gradius
-According to How Long to Beat’s website the average play through takes about 1.5 hours, though if you go through without needing to continue you can probably beat it in 30 minutes.
-Currently, about 10 games are sold per week for the NES version worldwide.
-The arcade version was released internationally under the name “Nemesis.”
-Originally intended to be a sequel to a previous game, Scramble, the development team instead set out to make a game that would surpass Namco’s popular game, Xevious.
-The look and design of Gradius was unique for its time, each world was given its own original enemies and themes.
-In Japan, the media the game ran on was a magnetic based system called “Bubble Software.” It would be converted to a printed circuit board (PCB) for release in the US.
-The North American version of the arcade game is considerably more difficult than its other localized versions released elsewhere.
-Gradius would be the first NES game Konami released in the US.
Back of the Box Description
-“It’s a Duel to the Death With the Evil Bacterions!
You are the last hope of the gentle people of Gradius. You’ve just lifted off to confront the all-out attack of the amoeboid Bacterions.
Your hyper-space fighter is armed with the greatest arsenal in the galaxy. Air-to-surface and double beam laser cannons for incredible firepower. Powerful force fields for protection. Time and space warps for fleeing the dimension.
You’ll need it all just to survive. Because at the heart of the Bacterion Empire lies the Xaerous Superfortress – the nerve center of the all-knowing, all-seeing Bacterion Bio-Computer.
It’s a Duel to the Death, While the entire galaxy watches. Watis. And hopes.” (Literal copy from the back of box including weird grammar and punctuation.)
NewGame+ Content:
Gameplay by World of Longplays
OST by GBelair
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