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Wot's this? This is the "flashback" stage, where you fight
tons of old Gradius bosses. The beginning of this delightful addition
kicks off with all of those little mechanical orbs appearing out of
nowhere to attack, along with that delicious Gradius boss music. Great place
to power-up! |
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The battleship of the enemy launches the first enemy to fight
the original Gradius cruiser! It's pretty similar to the original, just
watch out for some small new tricks. |
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The brain dude from Life Force/Salamander is back and he's still
pretty easy. Shoot the eye, fly around the back to avoid the arms, shoot
the eye again when it opens, etc. |
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Now the level 2 boss from Life Force/Salamander pops up.
Watch his arms, as he'll retract them and spin them around really quickly
As long as you don't back yourself in a corner, it's not a big problem
really. |
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Now those flame dragons will pop out, entrap the Vic Viper in
a circle and whatnot. Shoot the heads, watch out for the flames. Yes, this
is the easy part. |
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THIS THING IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!!!! Missiles are
shot from the top and bottom, which then rain from above or below. While
carefully dodging the plethora of projectiles, you also have to shoot for
the central core, which is immensely hard to hit because of the rotating
shields. Thanks God that there's a slow motion-like function on
emulators or I'd go insane here. |
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If you've dispensed with that bloody bastard sphere, it's straight
into the back of the ship! Keep your guard up! |
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Yes, this is insane. Mechanical orbs appear out of nowhere,
in spades...those walker robots are all around, shooting at you...mounted
turrets litter the landscape with more bullets...and when you THINK you're
done, the floors and ceilings start closing in. Doesn't life suck. |
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As if possessed by a demon child, bits of the floor and ceiling
will come hurtling straight the Vic Viper. As if the programmers were
intentionally sadistic, die and you'll be sent right in front of this area...
sans weapons. Trust me, it's TOUGH just dodging them and not shooting them. |
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This defense mechanism goes all out in attacking with turrets,
walker robots, machine guns and the like. Again, I love my emulators
and slow motion...the projectiles come fast and furious. |
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The infamous spider robot...shoot as you might, this one can't
be destroyed. You just have to fly between its legs (that sounds perverted)
when it lifts them. This is easier than it sounds, because there are
usually walks on the screen, waiting to not only shoot you, but slam into
you as well. After enough torture, this guardian will leave you alone. |
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There's all sorts of goopy biological crap here, so you KNOW
you've hit the main nerve system, because head boss guys never keep themselves
clean and/or sterile. |
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The lovely Gofer mumbles a bit then starts spitting. If you
keep firing at his mouth, you'll be out and done with the game in no
time. Congrats! |
