Gradius Collection Review

Huge cock-off flaming space eagles. These are the kinds of sweet videogame bosses we gave up for today's drug barons, you idiot teenagers.

So what sets Gradius apart and gives it a more timeless edge than the competition? This is a series of horizontal shoot-'em-up games that obviously rewards precision and quick reflex as well as pattern memorisation - after all it helped first etch the lines that all subsequent side-scrolling shooters would trace. But it's the player's responsibility for ship upgrades that makes the core difference. Until Gradius (and mostly after it), shoot-'em-up craft progression simply required the player to blow up certain enemies and harvest the resultant floating power-up for an automatic benefit. Doing so made your fire incrementally more powerful or your shield last longer or granted you an extra life or smartbomb. Conversely, in Gradius, you shoot the enemy, collect the power-up and then are handed responsibility of deciding which part of your ship (the beloved Vic Viper) to spend the upgrade on. And, again uniquely, this decision must be made not at the end of the level in a ship upgrade shop, but right there in the heat of the battle - fingers twisting to make selections while at once working to dodge enemy fire.

So your ship starts slow and needs speed-ups to improve it's manoeuvrability; or you might choose to spend the upgrade on missiles to take out ground-based targets underneath you, or, by accumulating upgrades you can choose to blow them all at once on a thick laser beam or a safety bubble to make your ship impervious to three shots, or an extra life or an 'option' floating droid to double your firepower. This ingenious system lets the player adapt their craft mid-play to suit their own style - something almost unique that side of Radiant Silvergun.

That Konami nailed the balance of upgrades in the first game is a small miracle and its enduring appeal and genius was confirmed when, in 2004's Gradius V, Treasure (the Japanese company widely regarded as the most innovative shoot-'em-up developer) took over development of the title and did little to change this core mechanic.

And so with this solid network of ideas beating at the heart of each of these games, the gameplay system is instantly satisfying. The only contemporary concern is that modern gamers, used to the indulgence of soft-touch developers, might baulk at the idea that all your upgrades are instantly lost in one enemy hit. Still, with perseverance, most players will soon slip into the challenge thanks to the compulsive level design and just-one-more-go dynamic.

In terms of the specific package here each of the five titles is recreated perfectly (at least to these eyes) from the arcade originals. The difficulty mode in each game is by default set to easy and the hit box for Vic Viper set to small. Also, it's now possible to save your progress anywhere in each level. These factors might seem unusually generous of Konami but to players used to Gradius V, this feels just right and goes someway to compensate for the PSP's unwieldy d-pad.

Often it's a real challenge to discern a boss enemy's weakspot.

Indeed, it's this hardware detail that fails the Gradius player most readily. The games require careful precision and the PSP pad often feels shaky, wobbly and just a little too imprecise. Analogue control is offered but, despite is superior responsiveness, will take some getting used to for Gradius veterans and besides, it's placement makes prolonged playtime uncomfortable.

Inexplicably you'll need to save your settings for each game separately, including, stupidly, having to manually select whether you want to autosave on each title one by one. Indeed, the presentation of the package is fairly rudimentary and the loading times when travelling between each game are long. But once inside each section of the collection play is fast and smooth and mercifully there are no additional load times.

There are various screen size options for picky players including the aforementioned and excellent PSP widescreen mode - a move that thankfully works perfectly for the Gradius play environment. However, the tiny sprites and even smaller bullets make play anywhere but a darkened room difficult. Although there was little the developer could do to offset this (without tampering with the originals), it's worth mentioning as there's little chance of successful play on public transport or out in the park.