The MSX version blew away everything we had seen on MSX at that point. It was just *AMAZING* stuff for the machine. It was the first game to be distributed in a 128kb rom (every other game was either 16 or 32kb).. this actually gave a big headache to pirates as there was no way to dump the whole game to the MSX ram like with previous games, and hardware was developed to be able to emulate any 128kb (and later 256kb) cartridges. I never cared about the choppy scroll to be honest, to me this game played like heaven when I first saw it
Its no joke. The MSX version was amazing at the time. I never noticed the scrolling or had any problems avoiding bullets. The MSX version was much more playable than the NES
@@JesterEric Yeah when I was a kid I never noticed stuff like that. The NES sprite flickering was something I never payed attention too and it didn't bother me a bit.
Yes, this is a another game were retrocore only cares about the "choppy" scroll. This is the easiest Nemesis game, and it isn't hard for the scroll. I grew up playing this game, it wasn't a problem. The problem is trying to play them at 60 hz now instead of 50 hz.
The choppy(actually, stepped by 8 pixels)scroll of the MSX version is a hardware limitation. The MSX has not hardware scrolls, so you can't do pixel scrolling without using a lot of CPU and redefining screen characters all the time. Not good for a shooter. But the playability is a lot better than the other 8bit computers, even the C64. The included music+effects gives a really good port. The version that you show on the video uses an special sound cartdidge, the SCC, that adds 5 extra voices to the 3 voice standard on any MSX1. In fact, the Sharp has the same sound as the MSX original(launched on 1986) version. The version you show was included in a special pack launched later by Konami itself for disk based MSX. And there is also a homebrew version of the game that uses 2 SCC chips for voice support, and modified graphics, and also smooth scroll(MSX2 or better). Take a look of it, please.
Gradius always was (and in fact, it still is) one of my all-time favourite games. I first played it on a MSX in 1987 and later I have had the opportunity of playing it in many more systems so I've been able to make comparisons between them. Seeing this video many people may think that the MSX conversion is an awful port because of the choppy scroll (because 1st generation MSX didn't implemented scroll by hardware, something solved in 2nd gen MSX computers) but I suggest people play the MSX version entirely. Seeing only the first stage is not enough to judge it. If we take a look only to 8-bit systems, apart from the excellent NES port, the only one that satisfied my needs was the MSX port. It's colorful, its graphics are cool and detailed, its music and sounds are great, it has 4 extra hidden stages and it was the first MSX cartridge with 1 Mbit (128 KB) in order to keep everything in. Despite its scroll it's a wonderful port and one of the best beloved games for any MSX user.
When you actually played the game you did not notice the scrolling on the msx version. The nes version had better graphics and scrolling but was a worse game because the sprites were too big for the size of the screen
Ah, this game is one of my childhood memories that I ever played on a multicart tape during my Micro Genius (a Famicom clone) era in the 90s. Awesome comparison!
The MSX version also has 4 secret stages and the version being played in this overview is the scc version and not the original release that only used the 3 channels of the MSX sound.
Gradius series is one of my favorite franchise all the time, it is the series that I started to collect retro games. I spent 4 years to collect all the physical versions of the entire Gradius, Parodius and Salamander series not only you showed in this video, but also include all the compilations contain one or more games from the series like Konami GB Collection and Konami Arcade Collection DS, also the 3 compilations on PSP and the Konami MSX Collection on Sega Saturn and PS1. I think the sharp x1 and pc-8801 version are the rarest version to collect out side of Japan, but luckily, after 4 years' searching I got them both in a day!
Gradius is one of my favorites. I'm most familiar with the NES port and it is punishing. Took me ages to finally beat the damn thing. It's strange that I never came across the game in the arcade. Perhaps it wasn't widely distributed in the US? I love that here are so many ports of this game. It's a shame that I'd have to be wealthy to be able to play the Japanese computer ports on original hardware.
My first gradius was the NES, I still have the famicom 1 and 2, but after I played the pc engine one I never go back to the nintendo ones. Portable PSP is the one to go. Also have gradius collection. But pc engine have me enchanted. Great video.
12:09 in the mid 80's when european users playing computer game on spectrum and commodore 64 with japanese playing computer game on the x1, msx, fm-7, and pc-8801. in america they playing on apple ii and ibm pc. The japanese ports while that don't look very colorful they play certainly well
One thing about the X68000 port (and all Konami games on the Sharp for that matter): it doesn`t seem to support (of for the life of me I cannot figure it out) scanlined video modes. Only the hi-res mode works, but of course, the graphics are not hi-res at all so it looks a little blocky (and yes I have an original dual Frequency Sharp monitor). When I got the sharp (first game I had was parodius, same issue) at that time the system of my dreams, ended up to be a major blow from which I still have to recover fully (thankfully enough the majority of other brands all included scanlined graphics modes, but alas). Ironically, as I can connect a PSX to the Sharp monitor using the Selecty 21 splitter, I got to play the X68000 Akumajou Dracula with full scanlines via Playstation and with the X68000 sitting right beside it, it looked as if it was running on it. I say ironically because it looks much better on PS thanks to the low res scanlined mode. Konami, what the heck were you thinking (facepalm)
Oh man, I would go to Blackpool a lot! I'm from Liverpool originally. The best places we had for arcades were the Bright Spot in New Brighton, Southport and of course, Blackpool. Rhyl had some good arcades at one point too. In Liverpool we had two pretty good racdes being Las Vegas and Aladdins Palace. Aladdins Palace has th massive Virtua Fighter 3 on release but some dick smashed the screen only q week later. They also had a cool two player Manx TT set up.
Hmmm my brother actual had the Amstrad Version, and i dont remember it looking like that at all (spaceship looks different), and it couldnt have been that bad as he completed the game, and from what i remember it was a good conversion. Maybe there was 2 different versions.....or attack of the rose tinted glasses maybe?. Damn if the PC-Engine version didnt have the scrolling up and down issue it would probably be the best version, thanks to the extra level and music
I think it's a case of the rose-tinted glasses when it comes to the Amstrad version. I've though so many old games were great conversions only to play them recently and have all my memories destroyed :)
I feel the Amstrad had the same fate as the Amiga with its constant Atari ST ports, the Amgia was capable of better conversions of games but 80% of the time just got sloppy Atari ST ports, much like Amstrad go down ports of the speccy code
Funny how the Amiga got ST ports when the Amiga was meant to be the better system and better sellin system. You'd thing developers would make games on the Amiga then port them to the ST.
From what I've heard over the years, the PS1 version has closer to arcade resolution than the Saturn on this one (as well as the Salamander pack). It had been pointed out many times over the years at the Shmups forum. Other than that, I own both Gradius packs (PS1 and Saturn), and find them pretty much identical myself.
The FC/NES version is the earliest Konami Code game. Japanese gamers think of Gradius first when Konami Code is thought of. Sadly, most American gamers bring up the very prominent American NES Contra when thinking of the Konami Code.
Retro Core Since the 1983 North American Video Game Crash, most Americans lost interest in space shooters, including Gradius. Before guns became very prominent in American video games such as from Wolfenstein 3D and DooM to Halo and Call of Duty, Contra was their best choice that's not a FPS due to FPS did not exist in excellent quality back in 1987.
The arcade version has 4 versions of the game: -The original Konami Bubble System Version (gradiusb) -The converted ROM Version (gradius). Waiting times, are reduced. -The European Version (nemesisuk). Same as the JP version. Except that is not a conversion but a dedicated rebuilt version on ROM (so Waiting times are removed) and some game flows are changed to make the game (quite) hard. -The American Version (nemesis). Like the EU version, this is a dedicated rebuilt version on ROM. But the major drastic change in this version, is the difficulty. The difficulty in this version was cranked up (making it, agressive). But to balance this, every time you die, orange enemies appears in order to easily power-up. Also this version provides you 3 continues.
Thaaank you, good sir! It kind of irks me how some of the retro gaming press talks about how terrible the chip-based audio of the PC Engine is. I have the X68000 and PC Engine versions of Gradius and the old Engine more than holds up to the FM synth of the other versions. Shameful.
+TheMathius78 That's because many of the idiots in the gaming press weren't even born when the PCE was in it's prime. Or if they were they must have been about 10.
+Retro Core I was at least 12 when it came out in the US (as the TurboGrafx-16) and I thought it sounded pretty good versus other systems then. I'm sure it comes down to how developers use the capabilities of the hardware to the best they can be, and obviously Konami was able to work within the PCE's capabilities to produce quite an equal port, if not more, than the original. The music certainly has a lot more push with the percussion beats unheard before.
Yeah, the PC Engine version is pretty impressive in the audio department. Hudson were another company that could produce good sound from the PC Engine. Yuzo Koshiro made the Mega Drive sound like a Konami SFC game on Slap Fight MD.
+Retro Core If anyone needs a refresher on how amazing the soundchip in the PC Engine can be just load up Dungeon Explorer. By far my favorite on the system audio wise.
Awesome video, thanks! Want to try the Pce port now :) I also enjoy playing Gradius Advance (GBA), and Gradius III for Super Famicom (with massive slowdowns and all)
That is so true but I have to be careful about what I say when it comes to the PC Engine :p Even with its slowdown the PC Engine port is excellent. I'm still not a fan of that screen scrolling on stages that shouldn't use it :)
I own Gradius III on the SFC. Great game but man, is it poorly programmed or what! That has to be the worst game for slowdown on a console that's well known for slowdown.
Stage 1 of this game was ported to the SNES as a mini-game in Legend of the Mystical Ninja (i.e. the first SFC Ganbare Goemon game) with arranged music
The X68000 is like head prefect, always top of the class. On a different note. I think the music in the volcano stage was borrowed for a scene in Akira.
@@ChristopherSobieniak OK. Well JVC had a brilliant dev team it would appear, going to show how important knowledge of the hardware and programming talent are in these things. I'm playing a game called Kawasaki Superbike Challenge on the Mega Drive (Fusion) and all the opponents are scaled and rotated perfectly smoothly when Sega didn't do that in Super Hang On. It just has horrifically chosen colours and the visor is not rotated. I'm sat here thinking, if Domark rotated the visor and dash, this game would have been one of the most recognised on the system.
As I posted to someone else on another of your videos, there's no technical reason that the C64 and other machines which used the Atari 9-pin standard for controllers, couldn't have had 3 or more fire buttons. These machines had two analog lines, which could have been used to add extra buttons. It's just that nobody ever made such a joystick.
Actually the C64 did use 2 buttons on some games. Not many but there were a few. The thing is, the old home computers were built with one thing in mind. Make them cheap and sell them high! This is especially true for all the 8bit systems.
Yes, but the analog lines were already present on both the C64 and Amiga, companies just needed to make use of them. It wouldn't have cost anything extra because those machines already had them. On the C64, these lines were used for things like paddle controllers, the Koala Pad and mice. On the Amiga, they were used for analog joysticks, although there's no technical reason that they couldn't have been used for paddles as well. After all, an analog joystick is really just a set of paddles hooked up to a handle. Connecting a single button to each line would have been trivial and in addition to the original fire button would have resulted in a 3-button controller. When you consider that the analog lines registered from 0-255 (on the C64 at least), with each one being represented by a single byte, you could theoretically have up to eight buttons connected to each line, by adding resistors so that each button registered a different bit pattern. As I see it, this didn't happen because of a catch-22; Hardware makers didn't want the expense of adding additional buttons when there was no software to take advantage of them, and software makers weren't going to support a piece of hardware that didn't yet exist. I suppose a company could have created both a game and the controller, but it probably wouldn't have seen widespread adoption.
Might have helped if the systems came with two-button controllers. I think a lot of people were just keeping their old joysticks and devs tend to develop for the least common denominator tech wise
Found your channel a couple of days ago, and love it! I was a C64 guy in the U.K. What is that awesome "Challenger stage" music version from 0:04 to 0:36? Do you have the TH-cam link to it?
Thanks for watching, makaras. I'm afraid I don't remember where I got that music from. This is quite an old video. Being a C64 fan you might like yo know that the most recent video in the Battle of the Ports series looks at the Sega game S. D. I. The C64 version wipes the floor with the speccy and CPC versions.
I've got this one on the PSP and PC Engine. Both are fantastic in their own ways but also have their own flaws. The PSP version in the Gradius Collection is awesome to have on the go, but I'm a bit disappointed in the video out to a TV when using a PSP model that has the video out jack. Even component cables don't do much for it, its too blurry when using the alternate video modes it comes with even when pumped into an OSSC and is too small in normal mode due to how the PSP outputs its video to the TV (not a fault of the game of course, that's just how the PSP is). The PC Engine version is really nice, but as you mentioned before the screen does have to scroll up and down when moving in that way. Not a deal breaker at all, just a minor issue keeping it from being perfect. The music definitely makes up for it though. The X68000 version is insane. I wish I could afford an X68000, it's got so many great games that were either exclusive or just better than other ports. It's so rare and expensive though... :(
There has recently a Amiga port of this game: th-cam.com/video/XFd0ayRvVuk/w-d-xo.html Also its a port that avoid slowdowns when playing on a Amiga 1200 rather than Amiga 500.
Actually there is another Famicom version which was not for sale called Gradius Archimedes, only 4000 copies available back then and become one of the most expensive cartridge on Famicom. The difference from this version is that it has Archimendes noodle packages instead of power-ups to promote the instant noodles brand Arukimendesu / Archimendes
One of my first games for when i had the NES. Been a shump fan ever since. What a shame TG-16 & Saturn owners never got to play Gradius since it was one of many titles never ported for the U.S. systems.
ZX Spectrum: YEAH, HURT ME BABY, HURT ME PLENTY, MUHAHAHAHA! Amstrad CPC: first impressions: COLORS! MUSIC!, further impressions: meh C64: I like it but's it's kind of restricted of what it could have been MSX: inevitable blocky scrolling aside, it's probably the best staple of art how well a superior arcade machine game can be re-designed to an 8-bit computer. This should have been the basis of the other home computer conversions instead of the arcade machine!
PS1 version is kinda missing, but it's practically the same as the PSP version and Saturn. Only difference is the PSP has those different display modes that stretch it, and the Saturn doesn't have the exact 256px wide resolution that the arcade game does (which the PlayStation could do). Also, good on not including the DS version - that's emulated (and hideous looking, I always hated the job done on that collection). Not M2's best work, but I'll probably lay the fault on Konami in that case for owning production and not caring how things looked.
Once again the Saturn excels... too late now though! Every time the SS features in BOTP, I always start thinking; 'what if?' Any reason why the PS version wasn't featured?
Saturn got a lot more recognition in Japan as it's clear to see with all the Japanese exclusive titles. I didn't cover the PlayStation version mainly because of time restraints plus I know that Saturn version is superior and I own that :) really though the main reason was due to time. This episode took a total of 11 hours to produce excluding the time it took to encode the video. Wow, 11 hours for a 30 minute video!
I wonder if Gradius is a mispelling of gladius or something, because in some Wonder Boy games you can get gladius looking sword the game calls a gradius
@@RetroCore Yeah well if you write gladius in katakana it's グラディウス, Guradiusu. Which is exactly how gradius is spelled in Japanese, So actually it's kind of funny when I see English speakers correct other English speakers for saying 'gray-dius' instead of 'grah-dius'
Salamander also suffered this. Both Speccy and CPC port in the back used C64 screenshot (actually a very good port) but damn, the Speccy and CPC could have been handle better things!
I think the Master System could have pulled off a pretty good port but no doubt the music would have been awful unless it made use of the FM channels found in Japanese systems.
+Retro Core Actually a Korean SMS (the SG-1000 for being more precise) port was discovered, is even for download in theisozone.com The port itself is less or more than a simple MSX port for the SEGA console, the music uses the PSG Music so it's not that bad but it's not at the level of the SCC sound obviously.
MetalSonicodraco7342 yes, I k ow about this version but since its basically an illegal port of an inferior MSX game I don't really count it. I'd love to see a real Master System port using the FM audio.
Retro Core Yeah, I also will like to see a proper Gradius SMS port with FM sound, maybe using a engine like the one used in R-Type could have done some justice
MetalSonicodraco7342 yeah, a revamped version of the R-Type engine would work well. Oh well, unless some talented Master System fan takes on the project we'll never see it.
The ZX version was part of a bullshot scandal in the UK press with a review in a magasine using hand made « screenshots » to show the game graphics witch looked a lot better (a bit like the Game Boy Nemesis level of detailed sprites). Off course when the game was released, people could see how much bullshit this was.
I tryied very hard to clear the game only to being frustated to the fact,that for example, The Japan arcade version of arcade doesn't give enough powerups while the European version gives LOTS of them...Just to fuck you hard because: More Powerups, More enemies. And the 5 or 7 Limit credits per game...which you can put 99 credits but you still gi back
You know, with all these games that have you mess around with the keyboard, why not just have an option to play with just that? Customize keys, have fun.
They may do in some cases. Better still, system like the C64 can actually make use of two buttons so why not use them? They really were penny pitchers back then.
@@RetroCore Honestly, between this series and Chinnyvision, I get the picture of Euro home computers as being the domain of companies that gave no fucks about delivering a passable product, nevermind quality. Maybe the 83 crash was a blessing, since America was largely spared the trash...
@@RetroCore Don't know, why it would be bad to grab the spacebar. The Competition Pro with Auto-Fire on sitting on my lap, left hand goes to the spacebar. BAM!
The MSX version blew away everything we had seen on MSX at that point. It was just *AMAZING* stuff for the machine. It was the first game to be distributed in a 128kb rom (every other game was either 16 or 32kb).. this actually gave a big headache to pirates as there was no way to dump the whole game to the MSX ram like with previous games, and hardware was developed to be able to emulate any 128kb (and later 256kb) cartridges.
I never cared about the choppy scroll to be honest, to me this game played like heaven when I first saw it
You are joking, right?
Its no joke. The MSX version was amazing at the time. I never noticed the scrolling or had any problems avoiding bullets. The MSX version was much more playable than the NES
@@JesterEric Yeah when I was a kid I never noticed stuff like that. The NES sprite flickering was something I never payed attention too and it didn't bother me a bit.
Yes, this is a another game were retrocore only cares about the "choppy" scroll. This is the easiest Nemesis game, and it isn't hard for the scroll. I grew up playing this game, it wasn't a problem. The problem is trying to play them at 60 hz now instead of 50 hz.
@@reerjgiorge Well, if you can show me an MSX game that looks more impressive than that released before Gradius, be my guest :)
The choppy(actually, stepped by 8 pixels)scroll of the MSX version is a hardware limitation. The MSX has not hardware scrolls, so you can't do pixel scrolling without using a lot of CPU and redefining screen characters all the time. Not good for a shooter. But the playability is a lot better than the other 8bit computers, even the C64. The included music+effects gives a really good port. The version that you show on the video uses an special sound cartdidge, the SCC, that adds 5 extra voices to the 3 voice standard on any MSX1. In fact, the Sharp has the same sound as the MSX original(launched on 1986) version. The version you show was included in a special pack launched later by Konami itself for disk based MSX.
And there is also a homebrew version of the game that uses 2 SCC chips for voice support, and modified graphics, and also smooth scroll(MSX2 or better). Take a look of it, please.
Gradius always was (and in fact, it still is) one of my all-time favourite games. I first played it on a MSX in 1987 and later I have had the opportunity of playing it in many more systems so I've been able to make comparisons between them. Seeing this video many people may think that the MSX conversion is an awful port because of the choppy scroll (because 1st generation MSX didn't implemented scroll by hardware, something solved in 2nd gen MSX computers) but I suggest people play the MSX version entirely. Seeing only the first stage is not enough to judge it. If we take a look only to 8-bit systems, apart from the excellent NES port, the only one that satisfied my needs was the MSX port. It's colorful, its graphics are cool and detailed, its music and sounds are great, it has 4 extra hidden stages and it was the first MSX cartridge with 1 Mbit (128 KB) in order to keep everything in. Despite its scroll it's a wonderful port and one of the best beloved games for any MSX user.
When you actually played the game you did not notice the scrolling on the msx version. The nes version had better graphics and scrolling but was a worse game because the sprites were too big for the size of the screen
I beat the NES version of this game with a busted NES MAX controller without dying. It was a fun night.
That must have been quite a challenge.
My left thumb was definitely sore afterwards.
Gradius has to be one of my all time favorite side-scrolling shooter games. It's just fantastic, in my opinion.
Yep, Gradius is sure on if the classics. It can be annoying at times however it does keep you coming back for more.
Ah, this game is one of my childhood memories that I ever played on a multicart tape during my Micro Genius (a Famicom clone) era in the 90s. Awesome comparison!
Believe or not but my first experience of Gradius was also on a Famicom pirate multi cart way back in the late 80s.
Retro Core same but I was play in a gba multi cart
The MSX version also has 4 secret stages and the version being played in this overview is the scc version and not the original release that only used the 3 channels of the MSX sound.
Gradius series is one of my favorite franchise all the time, it is the series that I started to collect retro games.
I spent 4 years to collect all the physical versions of the entire Gradius, Parodius and Salamander series not only you showed in this video, but also include all the compilations contain one or more games from the series like Konami GB Collection and Konami Arcade Collection DS, also the 3 compilations on PSP and the Konami MSX Collection on Sega Saturn and PS1.
I think the sharp x1 and pc-8801 version are the rarest version to collect out side of Japan, but luckily, after 4 years' searching I got them both in a day!
I do like the translucent Famicom carts for Gradius.
@@RetroCore Exactly, this is quite unique style cross all Famicom cartridges.
Gradius is one of my favorites. I'm most familiar with the NES port and it is punishing. Took me ages to finally beat the damn thing. It's strange that I never came across the game in the arcade. Perhaps it wasn't widely distributed in the US?
I love that here are so many ports of this game. It's a shame that I'd have to be wealthy to be able to play the Japanese computer ports on original hardware.
Ken Wheeler that's strange, coz it took me a couple of months to beat it, specially when I was playing other games
Also the NES version only lets you have two Options/Multiples/whichever fans prefer to call them. Sucks, don't it?
As a kid and a Sega fan I loved this game and made me buy a Game Boy to bring it home.
Just discovered your channel a few days ago and love it! I love these comparison videos.
+RyuHayabusa06 Cheers man. Please spread the news about my channel to your friends.
Something weird I noticed about the NES/Famicom Gradius is that the sound effects don't kick in until the music intro stops. How weird.
I don't truly know why that happen, but I guess that the music of the intro (Beginning of History) is using all of the Voices of the NES sound chip?
I remember on Blades of Steel for the nes the game had an intermission where you could play a mini gradius.
That's pretty cool.
My first gradius was the NES, I still have the famicom 1 and 2, but after I played the pc engine one I never go back to the nintendo ones. Portable PSP is the one to go. Also have gradius collection. But pc engine have me enchanted. Great video.
I can take or leave the PC Engine version because I have the Saturn version but I do love the audio on the PC Engine game.
Nice video, well presented. Gradius is a game i've loved for years however i'm not good at it which is frustrating!
Thank! Yeah, Gradius can be a real pain if you loose your weapons in a tricky area. But I don't find it that frustrating for some reason.
Amazing comparison video. Thank you for taking the time to make it.
No worries. thanks for watching.
12:09 in the mid 80's when european users playing computer game on spectrum and commodore 64 with japanese playing computer game on the x1, msx, fm-7, and pc-8801. in america they playing on apple ii and ibm pc. The japanese ports while that don't look very colorful they play certainly well
One thing about the X68000 port (and all Konami games on the Sharp for that matter): it doesn`t seem to support (of for the life of me I cannot figure it out) scanlined video modes. Only the hi-res mode works, but of course, the graphics are not hi-res at all so it looks a little blocky (and yes I have an original dual Frequency Sharp monitor).
When I got the sharp (first game I had was parodius, same issue) at that time the system of my dreams, ended up to be a major blow from which I still have to recover fully (thankfully enough the majority of other brands all included scanlined graphics modes, but alas).
Ironically, as I can connect a PSX to the Sharp monitor using the Selecty 21 splitter, I got to play the X68000 Akumajou Dracula with full scanlines via Playstation and with the X68000 sitting right beside it, it looked as if it was running on it. I say ironically because it looks much better on PS thanks to the low res scanlined mode. Konami, what the heck were you thinking (facepalm)
Were there two versions of Arcade Gradius? I remember the ground in the first stage looking a lot more pink.
Ah, you maybe thinking of Salamander / Life Force. It's easy to mistake the two as they are quite similar.
"Mom, can I get Gradius?"
Mom: We have Gradius at home.
Gradius at home: 4:45
Having recently stumbled across your channel, I am really enjoying these BOTP Videos :-)
Thanks. Hope you stay and can recommend the channel to your friends.
+Retro Core Yes, i have already have, alot of people in the retro arcade community. I am from Blackpool so have big retro arcade roots.
Oh man, I would go to Blackpool a lot! I'm from Liverpool originally. The best places we had for arcades were the Bright Spot in New Brighton, Southport and of course, Blackpool. Rhyl had some good arcades at one point too.
In Liverpool we had two pretty good racdes being Las Vegas and Aladdins Palace. Aladdins Palace has th massive Virtua Fighter 3 on release but some dick smashed the screen only q week later. They also had a cool two player Manx TT set up.
+Retro Core We had Corel Island and Mr B's and Funland 😀
There's also a bubble system version of gradius but these days the bubble system is so rare that you've couldn't find it anywhere
Yes I know but it's just the same game but with a warmup countdown timer at the start. The Saturn, PlayStation and X68000 versions feature this timer.
I've play both versions but Nemesis is a little bit harder due to enemy patterns and a lot more enemies shooting at you.
Then again, the bubble system gradius is the ONLY version that Konami ever ported to home console and not the international version.
Fantastic video as usual. Love your work and am loving being subscribed.
Thanks, Byron Law. I'm happy that you like my videos and channel!
Hmmm my brother actual had the Amstrad Version, and i dont remember it looking like that at all (spaceship looks different), and it couldnt have been that bad as he completed the game, and from what i remember it was a good conversion. Maybe there was 2 different versions.....or attack of the rose tinted glasses maybe?. Damn if the PC-Engine version didnt have the scrolling up and down issue it would probably be the best version, thanks to the extra level and music
I think it's a case of the rose-tinted glasses when it comes to the Amstrad version. I've though so many old games were great conversions only to play them recently and have all my memories destroyed :)
*****
Ooh, that commoent won't go down with the Speccy fans :p
I feel the Amstrad had the same fate as the Amiga with its constant Atari ST ports, the Amgia was capable of better conversions of games but 80% of the time just got sloppy Atari ST ports, much like Amstrad go down ports of the speccy code
Funny how the Amiga got ST ports when the Amiga was meant to be the better system and better sellin system. You'd thing developers would make games on the Amiga then port them to the ST.
From what I've heard over the years, the PS1 version has closer to arcade resolution than the Saturn on this one (as well as the Salamander pack). It had been pointed out many times over the years at the Shmups forum. Other than that, I own both Gradius packs (PS1 and Saturn), and find them pretty much identical myself.
I LOVED Nemesis on my MSX in the 80's.
The only problem on pce gradius is that there are slowdowns almost to the point that the action slows down like a lot.
The PC Engine conversion was excellent and arguably had better music than the arcade original :)
The FC/NES version is the earliest Konami Code game. Japanese gamers think of Gradius first when Konami Code is thought of.
Sadly, most American gamers bring up the very prominent American NES Contra when thinking of the Konami Code.
Yep. They tend to call it the Contra code too I've found.
Retro Core Since the 1983 North American Video Game Crash, most Americans lost interest in space shooters, including Gradius.
Before guns became very prominent in American video games such as from Wolfenstein 3D and DooM to Halo and Call of Duty, Contra was their best choice that's not a FPS due to FPS did not exist in excellent quality back in 1987.
Loved this video thanks for sharing
Great video. Happy Birthday Mark!
Thanks. I turned 40 yesterday. Celebrated by going out on the town until 6am!
The arcade version has 4 versions of the game:
-The original Konami Bubble System Version (gradiusb)
-The converted ROM Version (gradius). Waiting times, are reduced.
-The European Version (nemesisuk). Same as the JP version. Except that is not a conversion but a dedicated rebuilt version on ROM (so Waiting times are removed) and some game flows are changed to make the game (quite) hard.
-The American Version (nemesis). Like the EU version, this is a dedicated rebuilt version on ROM. But the major drastic change in this version, is the difficulty. The difficulty in this version was cranked up (making it, agressive). But to balance this, every time you die, orange enemies appears in order to easily power-up. Also this version provides you 3 continues.
Lovely comparison, stellar video like always! Kudos!
Cheers man.
Thaaank you, good sir! It kind of irks me how some of the retro gaming press talks about how terrible the chip-based audio of the PC Engine is. I have the X68000 and PC Engine versions of Gradius and the old Engine more than holds up to the FM synth of the other versions. Shameful.
+TheMathius78 That's because many of the idiots in the gaming press weren't even born when the PCE was in it's prime. Or if they were they must have been about 10.
+Retro Core I was at least 12 when it came out in the US (as the TurboGrafx-16) and I thought it sounded pretty good versus other systems then. I'm sure it comes down to how developers use the capabilities of the hardware to the best they can be, and obviously Konami was able to work within the PCE's capabilities to produce quite an equal port, if not more, than the original. The music certainly has a lot more push with the percussion beats unheard before.
Yeah, the PC Engine version is pretty impressive in the audio department. Hudson were another company that could produce good sound from the PC Engine. Yuzo Koshiro made the Mega Drive sound like a Konami SFC game on Slap Fight MD.
+Retro Core If anyone needs a refresher on how amazing the soundchip in the PC Engine can be just load up Dungeon Explorer. By far my favorite on the system audio wise.
I play the third and fourth games on my PS2 everyday lol. They're awesome as all heck.
(Not the third and fourth ports you showed, I mean the sequels)
Mario G Hernandez gradius V?
Gunma the retro gamer No, Gradius III and IV. I have those on one disc for the PS2.
To me, i have Gradius Collection on My PSP.
Awesome video, thanks! Want to try the Pce port now :) I also enjoy playing Gradius Advance (GBA), and Gradius III for Super Famicom (with massive slowdowns and all)
That is so true but I have to be careful about what I say when it comes to the PC Engine :p Even with its slowdown the PC Engine port is excellent. I'm still not a fan of that screen scrolling on stages that shouldn't use it :)
I own Gradius III on the SFC. Great game but man, is it poorly programmed or what! That has to be the worst game for slowdown on a console that's well known for slowdown.
+Retro Core Yes I imported it back in the day playing it on a PAL modified SFC in 50hz!
Slooow as feck, but that music was great though :)
leeboy2k1
Indeed. The SFC Gradius III music is legendary!
+Retro Core Still, at least they didn't try to compensate by shrinking the sprites down to fit, I see that as a decent trade-off.
Stage 1 of this game was ported to the SNES as a mini-game in Legend of the Mystical Ninja (i.e. the first SFC Ganbare Goemon game) with arranged music
+Tempora158 That's right and Xexex was in Goemon 2 or was it 3?
Retro Core Second Goemon game has Xexex
Tempora158
Thanks for the reminder.
The X68000 is like head prefect, always top of the class. On a different note. I think the music in the volcano stage was borrowed for a scene in Akira.
It makes you appreciate what the PC Engine could do!
@@ChristopherSobieniak Are you saying the X68000 is a PC Engine?
@@iwanttocomplain No, I meant that the PC Engine was capable of playing ports of classic arcade titles as good as the x68000.
@@ChristopherSobieniak OK. Well JVC had a brilliant dev team it would appear, going to show how important knowledge of the hardware and programming talent are in these things. I'm playing a game called Kawasaki Superbike Challenge on the Mega Drive (Fusion) and all the opponents are scaled and rotated perfectly smoothly when Sega didn't do that in Super Hang On. It just has horrifically chosen colours and the visor is not rotated. I'm sat here thinking, if Domark rotated the visor and dash, this game would have been one of the most recognised on the system.
As I posted to someone else on another of your videos, there's no technical reason that the C64 and other machines which used the Atari 9-pin standard for controllers, couldn't have had 3 or more fire buttons. These machines had two analog lines, which could have been used to add extra buttons. It's just that nobody ever made such a joystick.
Actually the C64 did use 2 buttons on some games. Not many but there were a few. The thing is, the old home computers were built with one thing in mind. Make them cheap and sell them high! This is especially true for all the 8bit systems.
Yes, but the analog lines were already present on both the C64 and Amiga, companies just needed to make use of them. It wouldn't have cost anything extra because those machines already had them.
On the C64, these lines were used for things like paddle controllers, the Koala Pad and mice. On the Amiga, they were used for analog joysticks, although there's no technical reason that they couldn't have been used for paddles as well. After all, an analog joystick is really just a set of paddles hooked up to a handle.
Connecting a single button to each line would have been trivial and in addition to the original fire button would have resulted in a 3-button controller. When you consider that the analog lines registered from 0-255 (on the C64 at least), with each one being represented by a single byte, you could theoretically have up to eight buttons connected to each line, by adding resistors so that each button registered a different bit pattern.
As I see it, this didn't happen because of a catch-22; Hardware makers didn't want the expense of adding additional buttons when there was no software to take advantage of them, and software makers weren't going to support a piece of hardware that didn't yet exist. I suppose a company could have created both a game and the controller, but it probably wouldn't have seen widespread adoption.
I guess it boils down to the game developers being lazy too.
Might have helped if the systems came with two-button controllers. I think a lot of people were just keeping their old joysticks and devs tend to develop for the least common denominator tech wise
Reason why I like to put it in full screen and fully streched is because I guess I like it when it's completely full screen.
Found your channel a couple of days ago, and love it! I was a C64 guy in the U.K.
What is that awesome "Challenger stage" music version from 0:04 to 0:36? Do you have the TH-cam link to it?
Thanks for watching, makaras. I'm afraid I don't remember where I got that music from. This is quite an old video.
Being a C64 fan you might like yo know that the most recent video in the Battle of the Ports series looks at the Sega game S. D. I. The C64 version wipes the floor with the speccy and CPC versions.
My point of view :
- The Famicom version is the most charming
- The Saturn version is the best version
- The PC Engine version is my favorite =)
I've got this one on the PSP and PC Engine. Both are fantastic in their own ways but also have their own flaws. The PSP version in the Gradius Collection is awesome to have on the go, but I'm a bit disappointed in the video out to a TV when using a PSP model that has the video out jack. Even component cables don't do much for it, its too blurry when using the alternate video modes it comes with even when pumped into an OSSC and is too small in normal mode due to how the PSP outputs its video to the TV (not a fault of the game of course, that's just how the PSP is). The PC Engine version is really nice, but as you mentioned before the screen does have to scroll up and down when moving in that way. Not a deal breaker at all, just a minor issue keeping it from being perfect. The music definitely makes up for it though. The X68000 version is insane. I wish I could afford an X68000, it's got so many great games that were either exclusive or just better than other ports. It's so rare and expensive though... :(
I think the PCE is the best version. However the NES version is the one that sticks out better and more nostalgic.
wait, u also forget there is a gradius in pc 9801
I found a playable version on line at gameoldies site; it's the PC engine version and plays wonderfully!
I grew up with the Gameboy version. Played the crap out of it. Quite possibly my 1st proper shmup.
NEMESIS
There has recently a Amiga port of this game:
th-cam.com/video/XFd0ayRvVuk/w-d-xo.html
Also its a port that avoid slowdowns when playing on a Amiga 1200 rather than Amiga 500.
Dang that's a lot of ports. Love this game though. And this series you got going :)
Thanks. I'm sure I may have missed some Japanese obscure PC ports.
You can never have enough Gradius ports. 😉
Great vid. There was another gradius port on the Nintendo ds Konami collection too.
I was going to cover that but never did in the end due to time constraints :(
Actually there is another Famicom version which was not for sale called Gradius Archimedes, only 4000 copies available back then and become one of the most expensive cartridge on Famicom. The difference from this version is that it has Archimendes noodle packages instead of power-ups to promote the instant noodles brand Arukimendesu / Archimendes
Very cool. There have been a few noodle based game promos in Japan over the years. The most common being the UFO Super Famicom fighter.
Hit, at home. Keep, going!
One of my first games for when i had the NES. Been a shump fan ever since.
What a shame TG-16 & Saturn owners never got to play Gradius since it was one of many titles never ported for the U.S. systems.
Saturn Owners could play Gradius. Well, sort of. it's part of the Konami MSX collection for Saturn.
At least the TurboGrafx 16 Mini will include both Gradius 1 and 2!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TurboGrafx-16_Mini
ZX Spectrum: YEAH, HURT ME BABY, HURT ME PLENTY, MUHAHAHAHA!
Amstrad CPC: first impressions: COLORS! MUSIC!, further impressions: meh
C64: I like it but's it's kind of restricted of what it could have been
MSX: inevitable blocky scrolling aside, it's probably the best staple of art how well a superior arcade machine game can be re-designed to an 8-bit computer. This should have been the basis of the other home computer conversions instead of the arcade machine!
awesome BOP!
Cheers man.
PC-Engine hardware is probably more powerful than the arcade machine
So Mark, what was your favorite game in this franchise?
None. I'm not really a fan of Gradius. IF I had to choose one it would be uld be the PS2 Gradius 5
Retro Core And why are you not a fan? What other shoot em up series fo you prefer? What was your favorite entry in THAT series?
I assume that you're planning on making an episode on Gradius II some day?
Yep, sometime down the line that will be happening
@@RetroCore neat! ^^
Can't wait. (Please don't use Vulcan Venture. It's a stupid name.)
PS1 version is kinda missing, but it's practically the same as the PSP version and Saturn. Only difference is the PSP has those different display modes that stretch it, and the Saturn doesn't have the exact 256px wide resolution that the arcade game does (which the PlayStation could do). Also, good on not including the DS version - that's emulated (and hideous looking, I always hated the job done on that collection). Not M2's best work, but I'll probably lay the fault on Konami in that case for owning production and not caring how things looked.
Once again the Saturn excels... too late now though! Every time the SS features in BOTP, I always start thinking; 'what if?'
Any reason why the PS version wasn't featured?
Saturn got a lot more recognition in Japan as it's clear to see with all the Japanese exclusive titles.
I didn't cover the PlayStation version mainly because of time restraints plus I know that Saturn version is superior and I own that :) really though the main reason was due to time. This episode took a total of 11 hours to produce excluding the time it took to encode the video. Wow, 11 hours for a 30 minute video!
I wonder if Gradius is a mispelling of gladius or something, because in some Wonder Boy games you can get gladius looking sword the game calls a gradius
I'd never thought of that. Could be a possibility.
@@RetroCore Yeah well if you write gladius in katakana it's グラディウス, Guradiusu. Which is exactly how gradius is spelled in Japanese, So actually it's kind of funny when I see English speakers correct other English speakers for saying 'gray-dius' instead of 'grah-dius'
A que mais gostei foi a do PC Engine, mas a única que joguei e terminei foi a de MSX ainda nos anos 80, cerca de 40 anos atrás!! 😀
there's a full weapon code for the msx version: pause the game(press f1) then type H Y P E R press return
Thanks.
By the way, would you want to do a "Battle of the Ports" for Gradius 2? I'd love to see that one.
Yeah, sure. There are many shows I'd still like to do. One day I'll get around to it 👍
the nes version was konami's first release for that system in the US.
Well i found gradius for sord m5 but it's been only a demo with few music from game
Screw R-Type, I'll take Gradius any day
It is the first konami arcade system board to have 68000 16bit CPU
and there have a arcade port for nds
Which is an emulation.
i do miss the old scrolling text sometimes...anyway, psp version is my pick, nice quick portable action and not bad
One thing I can say about the Speccy is that the games are jus tas good or better that Apple 2 games. A machine that cost 20X as much!
the zx speccy port has in magazinez at the time the worng scrrensots
Yes, this is so true. I remember reading a Web site about this a while ago.
Salamander also suffered this.
Both Speccy and CPC port in the back used C64 screenshot (actually a very good port) but damn, the Speccy and CPC could have been handle better things!
?wait the psp gradius is an emoltion or not
Is a port.
Liked this game, back in the day, but was useless at it. Would have liked a port on the sega master system.
I think the Master System could have pulled off a pretty good port but no doubt the music would have been awful unless it made use of the FM channels found in Japanese systems.
+Retro Core
Actually a Korean SMS (the SG-1000 for being more precise) port was discovered, is even for download in theisozone.com
The port itself is less or more than a simple MSX port for the SEGA console, the music uses the PSG Music so it's not that bad but it's not at the level of the SCC sound obviously.
MetalSonicodraco7342 yes, I k ow about this version but since its basically an illegal port of an inferior MSX game I don't really count it. I'd love to see a real Master System port using the FM audio.
Retro Core
Yeah, I also will like to see a proper Gradius SMS port with FM sound, maybe using a engine like the one used in R-Type could have done some justice
MetalSonicodraco7342 yeah, a revamped version of the R-Type engine would work well. Oh well, unless some talented Master System fan takes on the project we'll never see it.
You miss out the version that come as an Omake on the game Goemon Ganbarre for the SFC ha ha
😢😥
Japanese micros were a step beyond.
Indeed they were. Or they just had far better developers.
Ah I remember the complete and utter dissapointment of my Amstrad cpc version I had saved up all my pocket money for! Utter tripe lol
😕 The amount of times European children must have been disappointed with computer game ports
The GB version also had different bosses.
You missed colecovision homebrew and Sega mark 3/master system homebrew
Homebrew I won't cover unless i know about it.
The ZX version was part of a bullshot scandal in the UK press with a review in a magasine using hand made « screenshots » to show the game graphics witch looked a lot better (a bit like the Game Boy Nemesis level of detailed sprites).
Off course when the game was released, people could see how much bullshit this was.
This is very true. I remember that story well.
The PSP version has no stars on the first level! Very strange....:O
Wow, I never noticed that. Maybe it was due to the captured video. I'll have to check that out.
+Retro Core I checked another video and the stars are present....
Lord Alfajor
Yes, you are right. Looks like an emulation glitch. As if one of the background layers was missing.
no gba version ? why ?
It's a later sequel, and not a port of the original game.
I tryied very hard to clear the game only to being frustated to the fact,that for example, The Japan arcade version of arcade doesn't give enough powerups while the European version gives LOTS of them...Just to fuck you hard because: More Powerups, More enemies. And the 5 or 7 Limit credits per game...which you can put 99 credits but you still gi back
Konami sure did make their games tough. I think this is doable but it is a right kick in the balls if you loose all of your power ups.
Well, arcade games. Trying to take that money and all.
👌👌👌!
Hello
Zx spectrum the worst version and look at rtype what it could b?
You know, with all these games that have you mess around with the keyboard, why not just have an option to play with just that? Customize keys, have fun.
They may do in some cases. Better still, system like the C64 can actually make use of two buttons so why not use them? They really were penny pitchers back then.
@@RetroCore Honestly, between this series and Chinnyvision, I get the picture of Euro home computers as being the domain of companies that gave no fucks about delivering a passable product, nevermind quality.
Maybe the 83 crash was a blessing, since America was largely spared the trash...
@@RetroCore Don't know, why it would be bad to grab the spacebar. The Competition Pro with Auto-Fire on sitting on my lap, left hand goes to the spacebar. BAM!