Gradius V review by Mike Matei. Read more about Gradius V on Mike's Blog! www.mikematei.... Mike's Twitter / mike_matei #retro #retrogaming #nes #snes #jamesrolfe #mikematei #atari #playthrough #gameplay #gamereview
Yeah, he did a great job. I'm a sucker for Treasure. I miss them so much. Maybe a possible story idea for a future video? History of Treasure. The pre Treasure, Konami days info is hard to find. I've read a bunch of things, but i can't always be sure it's all accurate. I've read that Konami asked Treasure to make Gradius 5 because some of them worked on the original and wanted them to finish the series, but I've also read they only outsourced the game for budgeting reasons. Oh well, at least i have my games. Funny, i just came here after watching your Digital Pictures video. Great stuff, thanks!
Treasure was started in 1992 by previous Konami employees. They worked on the best games from the company, like: Contra, Castlevania, Gradius, and in Star Team, worked on Bucky O' Hare, and the awesome Ninja Turtles arcade game in 1989. I'm not suggesting everyone at Treasure worked on all of those games, just that individuals that worked on those games later formed Treasure--important difference. Anyway, it's sad that one of my favorite developers of all time is basically just a licensing company now for it's old games. They leave a legacy of great games (some brutal), I'll always love. Great review Mike. Gradius V is one of my favorite shmups of all time, and definitely worth any fans time.
Just downloaded it last night gonna play today. Revisiting all the ps2 classics I missed out on as an n64 kid. If you guys have any suggestions shoot em over. I like all game types.
I still play my PS2 after all these years. I have the big one and it has never given me problems knock on wood. I would love to pick this gem up one day. You give great reviews aswell Mike! I'm always impressed with the level of detail you present! Keep up the great work!
ThePreciseClimber Niceee! Glad you can keep yours going! I wish my PS3 worked as well as my PS2. My NES and SNES are still going strong! They just don't make them like they used too.
Ah Gradius V, one of my favorite Shmups games ever made. While I still prefer Gradius II and Gaiden, Gradius V is still a wonderful amazing crafted game that still looks gorgeous despite the game being almost 14 years old at this point, and with gameplay that has finely aged showing Treasure how they were the masters of crafting arcade and action focused experiences. While I miss both Gradius and Treasure, this is still one of the best games ever crafted for one of my favorite series and a wonderful swan song for the series. ... now if Thunde Force would've gotten a game this good as a send off, TFVI was kind of a dissapointment imo.
The director of Gradius 5, Hiroshi Iuchi, is one of my favorite game designers. He also directed Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga. After Gradius, he made an awesome shooter on 3DS called Kokuga. The last I heard he was creating another shooter for PS4 called Ubusuna.
So happy to see the Gradius games get a review. A damn shame Konami will let this amazing series rot and/or be doomed to stupid pachinko machines as well.....
These games demonstrated how much video games could be a hobby of insanity back in the day. I played the hell out of 3 back in the day. There are only a few modern franchises that are considered punishing.
Solid review! Since the NES game, GRADIUS has always been my favorite series by Konami. Now that they own Hudson, it’s a tie between GRADIUS & Bomberman that Konami owns.
This wasn't the last Gradius game mike. There was a mobile game made, and a wii ware game called Gradius Rebirth, but I agree it is the best shooter out there.
Excellent review. This is by far my favorite Gradius game. Really miss Treasure these days. BTW a great Gradius clone is Super Hydorah. Give it a shot.
R-Type is definitely my favorite Shmup franchise. I can't count the amount of times i drew Dobkeratops at elementary school all the way to .. well, basically a couple of years ago. I've come to like the Tactics games the most eventually, they were great at combining all the elements into a fun package.
DethstruXioN ™ it's really awesome how the game completely crushes you until you figure out how to dissect it. It's an intelligent shooter. Instead of relying on twitch reflexes ,it comes across more as a thinking man's shooter. I love that!
TheAlphaOmegaX3, i totally agree. I've owned R-Type on GameBoy since it came out in 1991, and i have only been able to beat it recently... Certain things started to click that i could not comprehend as a kid. It's a tough love for sure.
Went Top-50 in North America when this came out. It had a competition mode where you could upload a code to an internet site. The dream was being able to pull off a 1-credit clear (1CC).
I bought this game for the PS2 just a few weeks before Mike started to cover it, I knew it was good but I did not expected it was that good! Gradius V is one of the best shmups ever, the perfect balance between the 80's classic shmups and the more modern bullet hell style.
I had no idea Gradius V existed until today. Thank you. I have played Gradius IV hundreds of times wondering why no more existed. this makes me want to buy a ps2 slim and Graduis V for it immediately. Unfortunately my original ps2 fell off the top of my old tv and died the death almost 10 years ago.
I discovered the same thing in 2012. Gradius V is what got me to start collecting games. It is a masterpiece and got me to think,what else have I missed out on.
I remember when I went to a local store in 2004 and picked this one up, just because it's Gradius and I thought: what could go wrong with this title.? It ended with me playing it for months because I was so excited about graphics, music and game play. Imo the best gradius by far.
Man I love this game it's one of my childhood games ever, I know it sucks they never made a Gradius 6 or anything, I really missed Gradius series really I want it back.
It's worth noting that Treasure was formed by former Konami employees at the time, so it's even more appropriate that Treasure took development of Gradius V
Great review Mike... I played Gradius on Nes last year for the first time and its a pretty tough game, I ran into the same problems you mentioned and found them really frustrating... for me it almost seems like the only way to make it far in the game is to never die and keep all your power ups... I'm happy to hear that Gradius 5 is still hard, but has removed these problems...
It's awesome to see this game get the attention it deserves. I picked this up at a thrift store a few years back and is currently my favorite sidescrolling shooter of all time.
Gradius III was one of my favorite games growing up and I didn't even know there were any beyond 4 (which I considered to be much worse than 3 in a lot of ways) So thank you for letting me know about this and I know what I'm gonna be playing for the next few months :)
Respawning in place is a reason why I always will love Galaga. When you die it doesn’t feel like being sent back to square one, and while not levels to hit etc can really help figure strategy on the fly(heh) within those few seconds before back in place. Other system is a hold over from quarter eaters and imo a prime example of false difficulty in older games
Shooters are all I really play. I have a salamander cab in the house. Gradius V is definatly a modern manic shooter style game but at the same time gives enough homage to the original fan-base to please both. Not one I frequently play but better than some others in the series.
Back in 2012, I discovered they made a Gradius V, which I found to be weird cause I didn't know they made any past 3 and Life Force, whichI also thought was meant to be Gradius 2. Discovering Gradius V, playing it, its what got me into collecting games in the first place. I said to myself, what other masterpieces have I missed out on. Sadly, I am still awaiting another game as breathtaking as Gradius V, which has to say something about the quality and replay ability of this game.
Ever tried Gradius Advance on GBA? This Game have a "Superplay" Video Options that shows you how to beat the Game without any Powerup on any Checkpoint.
I don't expect a game to be a cakewalk, but the Gradius games have always been super awesome, with great graphics and sound, glorious music, and a gameplay that is so fucktardedly frustratingly insane hard it's literally an unplayable mess. Without RU-vid I would have never seen how any of these games end. Challenge is fine, but these games, including V, are so hard it's not even fun anymore.
I'm not the greatest at shoot em ups, but I still love playing them. I find it pretty hilarious that I decide to take the plunge and buy this game on a physical disc for my PS2 (for a fairly heavy price considering it's age may I add) from my local retro games store a few weeks ago, only to be graced by a review for the same game by Cinemassacre. Great timing, lol. :P
Oh man. I used to play this a lot back in the day. It's been a long time, but looking back at it is sort of causing me PTSD. It was brutal. A good game overall, but I felt like it required a bit too much memorization at times.
Wow! Mr Matei SIR you are a natural when it comes to reviewing games. Please continue to do this!I remember loving Gradius 3 and 4 on PS2 and also got the entire old school collection on my PSP. Never got to try Gradius 5 though.
I used to play this game so much till I managed to complete it on the hardest difficult without dying once. It was during my prime of these kinds of shooter games. Today I doubt I could even get thru half a stage without dying at least once.
Gradius is probably the only game franchise that would be a lot easier if it started you at the begging of a level instead of a checkpoint when you die.
I love the Gradius series! I think it's the best of the scifi 2D SHUMPs. Gradius V was really good too, though I don't think it had any of the Moai Statue heads as enemies, lol
Mike Dude, that was just awesome! Gradius V turned me into a Horizontal Shmup Fan and Gradius Gaiden is, besides V, my Favorite Game of the Series and the whole Horizontal Genre. Thank you so much for this in depth Review.
watching a this game, and having played it myself, it beats me why they are not still doing PS2 games, this was a very early PS2 game and looks and plays AMAZINGLY, I wish they still would do PS2 games, eitehr CD based games like this one, or a large great DVD game, by todays standars, I can only imagine how cool a PS2 game would look and I would also assume it would be easier to do them, PS2 late era games looked AMAZING.
Great review, Mike. I love Gradius 3 but never played or seen much of this game, so this was a comprehensive and enjoyable review for me. That said, have you heard of or played Super Hydorah yet? It came out recently on PS4 and Steam, and it's a spriritual successor/fan re-imagining of classic Gradius. It features 2-player co-op and it's very fun! It would make for a great Mike & Ryan video feature. PS. You might also be interested to check out the really cool physical special edition version of the game that just came about 2 days ago.
Fuck dude, I miss Gradius. I remember almost shitting myself when rumors of Gradius VI hitting PS3 surfaced! I’d have to say that III on the SNES and V are definitely best in the series.
Good in-depth review! I grow up with commodore 64 Gradius and Salamanter. Funny that you didn´t mention anything about Salamanter (Life Force) which is spin-off of Gradius.
Great review. I absolutely love seeing in-depth analysis of retro games, which is why DF Retro is my favourite RU-vid show. Now Mike is creating content just as good for this channel. Please continue doing more deep reviews of older games. They're fascinating and you're doing a great job of covering every conceivable aspect of the game. Edit: Actually, it should be pointed out that this goes beyond a review and into playguide territory. At least half the runtime of this video is tips and tricks for effective play, and that's a good thing. If you're going to talk about an old game's strengths, why not also give advice on how to play it effectively.
Once upon a time, I could beat Lifeforce with one life. I'm old now, a desiccated husk of 41. This game would eat me now. I think I'm ready. This is how I want to go.
People say Dark Souls games are the hardest. I say try playing Gradius V. It will bend you over and make you its bitch! As a kid i spent sooo much time in front of my TV with my PS2 trying to beat it, and when i finally did, i felt like the king of the world.
