An extract from WiiWare World's review of Gradius ReBirth:
"The original Gradius arcade release was one of the first truly great side-scrolling shooters and along with R-Type spawned a legion of copycat video games back in the 80's and 90's. The Gradius titles have been copied and cloned more times than can be counted and much like other popular shooters over the years the series has gradually evolved, taking on more modern touches. With the release of Gradius Rebirth, Konami (with the assistance of emulation experts M2) has decided to revive the franchise on Nintendo's WiiWare service but instead of making use of the more modern shooter conveniences, the game instead chooses to take a trip back to the origins of the series and tries to cash in on the popularity classic gaming is currently enjoying on the various current generation game consoles. So how does a game that attempts to mimic the 8-bit shooter stylings of its early counterparts fare in a world where shooters have long since lost their luster, not to mention become so ridiculously intense that they've garnered such labels as "bullet hell" and "manic"?
Gradius Rebirth allows for a wide variety of control methods including using the Wii Remote on its side, the Nunchuk, the Classic Controller, or even a Gamecube controller if you're so inclined. The game also features several game play modes and options to keep things interesting, not to mention a wealth of control configuration options to customize the controls to your exact liking.
The main game mode is pretty much what you'd expect it to be. It's 'Gradius' in all its glory. You'll navigate through the game's many levels blasting baddies and eventually facing off with a boss at the end. As you progress through the game, you'll have the ability to start back at the last check point you reached in the game. While this will come in handy for less-seasoned shooter fans, most hardcore shooter enthusiasts will seldom, if ever, use any type of continue or save point while playing, but at least the feature is there if you need it."
Over the past few years, publishers have embraced their old school roots and released new titles with eight and 16-bit style graphics, much to the delight of gamers who grew up playing NES, SNES and Genesis in the 80s and 90s. Only a handful of companies have done this, and thankfully, it appears that this renewed art style won’t go away any time soon. Here now, are a handful of new games with some retro flavor.
John Artest (RunDLC)
Forget about food. The way to this gamer’s heart is through his NES console. I love it when a publisher takes a classic gaming franchise and then releases a sequel that retains the spirit of the titles that came before it, despite having better graphics and audio. Hell, some companies even keep it retro by intentionally designing 8-bit visuals.
Xbox Live and PSN received a handful of these games, but if you want the cream of the proverbial crop, you go to Wii, or more specifically, WiiWare. Here are the five best retro reboots on Nintendo’s Shop Channel.
John Artest (RunDLC)
CA writes: "Released in 1985 by Konami, the original Gradius was quite a revelation and hugely influential. It introduced and popularised many features that are still evident in even the latest bullet-crazed shmups from Japan.
As well as being heavily copied by others, it's a game that has also given Konami a lot of mileage over the years, both in terms of direct sequels, and spin-offs. The fact that most of these follow-ups rarely strayed too far from the original game's template underlines just how well-executed it was all those years ago. This is a trend that continues with the latest entry in the series, Gradius ReBirth."
