Gradius 4 - So Pretty.

Hi-Res, textures, lighting, all the things we take for granted, but for a shooter with difficulty bordering m*rder, there must be something to preserve for.

Gradius 4 is darn difficult. Even if you try to pattern read the bosses, you still need a fair bit of latent reflex to get through them.

Still, the difficulty is helped by the slow down, which I still think is a deliberate attempt.

Yet, I persevered through the series. After playing Gradius 4, I just cannot go back to the original Gradius. I wouldn't touch Gradius 3. Gradius 2 does have some warm, play me more music though. Nope. No more.

In fact, back to Chuckie Egg for me.

Gradius 3 - Just 8 Bit of Punishment

Unforgiving! Relentless! Punishing! Misery! What the devil! Should games like this be this difficult? Thank goodness for the slow downs. I wonder if that was a deliberate attempt by the programmers to say 'hey, we found it &$&%&$ hard too.'

That's it. I'm done with the Gradius series.

What the..? There's a forth one? Talk about pasteurization!

I'm certainly not going to punish myself with Gradius 4.

Gradius 2 - Simply Outstanding Improvement

From the flaming first level to the flaming end of level boss and the gorgeous feel good music! With a proper shield and gorgeous level designs, this obliterates the original.

But what the bacon?!

My Gears of War skills honed to a tee were not enough to reach further than a few levels of this game. Kept dying, and dying and dying. Of course I kept trying and trying, but there are limits that a person can take before it becomes punishment.

But hang on... another Gradius?

Gradius - Ports better than Original?

Difficult? Cumbersome? Lethargic controls? Speed ups that should not be an option but a requisite? Yes! For crying out loud! Even the graphics didn't boggle the imagination and the end of level boss variation was blasphemy!

Still, the music was all goodness and that's probably what's going to keep me persevering at the infuriating difficulty. Well, that is until I've learned the pattern of dodging impossible bullets without the help of options.

But wait.....what's this?

R-Type Dimensions - Xbox 360

Incredible! On the fly 2d to 3d graphics. Such a nice gimmick. Such a great way to lift that dull boring game that it has now become and given it a refreshing face lift. To be honest though. Although the lighting effects are nice, the 2d graphics update just seems like a hi res flash game. In fact, come to think of it, I much prefer the graphics of the original. It feels good. I think I'm going to give that old pc engine game another go and see if my muscle memory has improved. Nostalgia eh!