To say that the original Gradius was influential on the evolution of the side-scrolling shoot 'em up would be a gross understatement. When it hit arcades in 1985 it was lauded for its amazing level designs and simple, yet wildly playable, power-up system.
Despite hardware limitations, intrepid NES developers were able to make a massive variety of epic shoot-em-ups with gobs of enemies loosing salvoes of missiles and bullets at a hero and—magically—the system handled it all like a champ. Shmups on the NES rarely even experience any slowdown. Amazing!
Yes! That game brings back childhood memories. I didn't have an NES at that time, but a kid who lived at the same apartment complex did and he was pretty stingy with his video games. On a good day he would let me play some of his NES games at his place and Life Force was one I enjoyed playing. My brother and I had an Atari 7800 then a TG16 shortly after
Gun.Smoke was what I always played. Became too much at times with all the enemies and things flying at you from every direction, fun game though.
Crisis force, Gradius 2, over horizon, the three best shooters on the NES for me personally.
Ther 35th anniversary of the NES is finally upon us and it's time to take a look back at the best classics you can play on Switch.
In Anthony's latest 8-Bit Chronicles, he has a rather...shameful confession regarding Gradius. (Or Nemesis, for you Golden Oldies.)
