Gradius V (PS2)

I like SHMUPS (you're a ship, dodge bullets in 2d) a lot. One that gets a lot of credit (but still not enough) is Gradius V. It probably seems to be just another Gradius game at face value, but the major difference is that this Gradius was developed by Treasure. I think Treasure has the best track record of any long-standing developer out there. Almost all of their games are amazing. They started out with games like Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Heady and made the jump to 3d and other genres without ever sacrificing quality. I'll definitely be covering more of their games in the future.













Gradius V takes all of the great things about Gradius and improves them with Treasure's creative level design. The game doesn't seem too overwhelming (like Radiant Silvergun's 7 weapons or Ikaruga's complicated combo system) They use the winning formula of giving you one more continue for every hour you play the game so that every time you re-play the game you get to see more of it (unless you beat the game before unlocking infinite continues @ 20 hours) This seems to work much better than games that never give you more than 3 continues or games that start off giving you infinite continues.













Compared to other Treasure shooters, Gradius V can't be beat for its simplicity and strong design. It also has ouite a satisfying length to it and a really cool time travel part. It might not be for you if you like epic final boss battles, but if you're hardcore enough to beat the game, you can actually keep going on another loop (which is harder and has modified bullet patterns) untill you finally run out of lives.