When it comes to shmups, it's always the little things that cause the most trouble. Case in point, the bullet. All it takes is one bullet to send a hyper-advanced prototype spaceship, a psychic teenager, or a poverty-stricken shrine maiden into the afterlife. These tiny orbs of destruction are undoubtedly cause for many gamers to lose their minds. However, they are just one part of the equation. After all, bullets don't simply appear from the ether, unless of course you're playing ESP Galuda 2 for score, but that's another story entirely. What I mean is all the cannons, tanks, planes, and everything else that's capable of firing projectiles. Their mere presence is enough to strike fear in anyone, because the longer they stay onscreen, the higher the tension builds. If these enemies aren't immediately dealt with, they can and will create impossible situations that players can't survive.
Gradius 1 presents one of the earliest examples of this phenomenon. Every enemy poses a threat. They are capable, resourceful, relentless, and all they need to achieve victory is for one of their bullets to hit your Vic Viper. Take note of the screenshot above. Those walking tanks can and will pursue you for a surprisingly long time, all the while firing bullets. Also, just above is a hopping enemy that fires a large spread-shot. Whether or not it's easy to dodge is beside the point. The spread is designed to force you into a perilous position. If you're in the wrong spot, then your weapons can't reach that one enemy in time to prevent them from making life just that much harder. Basically, it's not the first, second, or tenth bullet that kills you. It's going to be a seemingly endless barrage that pushes you into the corner and smothers you. A bit disturbing, if I'm being honest.
It's situations such as these that give Konami's 1985 classic its teeth, but they're still just a part of the overall experience. Each of the seven stages is short and direct. They present an idea and give you a little taste of how it works. That's it. We're accustomed to the games that introduce a new stage mechanic, then proceed to iterate upon it for a possibly unreasonable amount of time. That is absolutely not the case here. Stage 3 is the trademark Moai stage, but if you can get past the initial onslaught of ring-spewing statues, then you're in the clear. Honestly, it's refreshing, almost like sampling an array of appetizers.
The one stage that hasn't aged particularly well is the 5th. It consists entirely of battles with flesh-sack creatures and their bullet-spitting arms. Slowdown is prevalent due to whatever monstrous calculations were required to give these things sentience. While the arms toss around a lot of bullets, their angle of attack is straightforward and predictable. Perhaps the fights are more dangerous on the second loop and beyond. Since this is the "complaint paragraph", I may as well mention that five of the bosses being repeats isn't exciting. In fairness, it's not a huge deal, and Konami more than addressed the issue in subsequent entries.
I should also mention Nemesis, which is the version released in North America. Numerous changes were made, and none of them were for the better. I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but Gradius 1 has rank. Numerous actions increase it, and the only way to decrease it is by dying. Enemies at higher ranks fire more bullets and at faster speeds. It's actually not too bad of a system, particularly since the rank decrease helps players recover after losing a fully powered Vic Viper. In Nemesis however, it only takes a little effort for the rank to skyrocket. Making matters worse is the fact that you can only acquire one additional life. This when combined with the newly added continue feature just comes off as skeevy. Players might opt to continue on the harder stages, only to get quickly wiped out. All that happens is that they spend their quarters at a faster rate than if they just started from the beginning every time. Pretty insidious.
It's never too late to give Gradius 1 a try. While its level design isn't nearly as creative or complex as in future titles, there is a gritty appeal to it that'll get under your skin. A single enemy can wreak havoc if left alone for too long, and the game isn't afraid to throw several of them at its players. Your survival is dependent on your ability to act. Having good reactions is fine, but the Vic Viper isn't built for threading a needle through an onslaught of bullets. Take the initiative, get aggressive, and push yourself far beyond human constraints.
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