Gradius IV: Fukkatsu (ver JAC)

Arcade Video game published 25 years ago:

Gradius IV - Fukkatsu (c) 1999 Konami Company, Limited.

Gradius IV is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up in which the doomsday planet of Bacterian is now long-forgotten and Planet Gradius enjoys peace and prosperity. Then suddenly, without warning, a massive attack force appears and quickly overwhelms the Gradius Defense Forces. When it seems that all hope is lost, a lone fighter screams across the sky and the battle for freedom is joined once more.

As with previous games in the series (with the exception of "Salamander") Gradius IV features a power-up system based on a selection meter at the bottom of the screen called a 'power meter', that enables players to buy weapons and upgrades. To achieve this, players must destroy special individual enemies - usually red in colour - or enemy waves that then drop orange capsules. These can be collected and used to upgrade the Viper's weapons. Each collected capsule advances the power meter by one step. Players can activate the highlighted item at any point, after which the power meter resets.

Occasionally, destroyed enemies will drop blue capsules, these act as single-use smart bombs that kill all on-screen enemies when collected. Game difficulty increases depending on how many power-ups the player has equipped, so it is sometimes advantageous to NOT power-up the player's ship too much.

Gradius IV features nine stages, with a large alien boss or ship waiting at the end of each. The end-of-game boss is the giant head of Gofer; the alien Being intent on controlling all life in the galaxy.

- TECHNICAL -

Konami Hornet Hardware

CPU : PowerPC 403GA 32-bit RISC @ 64 MHz
Sound CPU : Motorola 68000 @ 16 MHz
Sound Chip : Ricoh RF5C400 PCM 32Ch, 44.1 kHz Stereo, 3D Effect Spatializer
3D DSP : Analog Devices ADSP-21062 (SHARC) 32-bit floating point DSP @ 36 MHz
Graphics Chips : 3DFX Voodoo 2 Pixel processor with 16meg RAM, 3DFX Voodoo 2 Texture processor with 32meg RAM
Interface : Jamma +

Players : 2
Control : 8-way Joystick
Buttons : 3

- TRIVIA -

Even if titlescreen says 1998, Gradius IV was released in February 1999.

The title of this game translates from Japanese as 'Gradius IV Revival'.

This game is known as "Gradius IV" in USA and Europe.

Konami released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Gradius IV Fukkatsu Original Game Soundtrack - KICA-7947) on 05/03/1999.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Power meters:
1) Option 1: Nemesis
- Missile: Falls to the ground, then slides along it until it hits something.
- Double: Fires a bullet at 45 degrees up as well as forward.
- Laser: Replaces your bullets with a blue beam.
2) Option 2: Mega-Destruction
- Spread Bomb: Large explosion of death.
- Tail Gun: Fires backwards as well as forwards.
- Laser: The infamous Toothpaste Laser.
3) Option 3: The Third Way
- Photon Torpedo: Similar to standard missile, but goes straight through enemies.
- Double: Fires a bullet at 45 degrees up as well as forward.
- Pulse: Salamander's ripple laser.
4) Option 4: Salamander
- 2-Way: Bombs fall up and down.
- Tail Gun: Fires backwards as well as forwards.
- Pulse: Salamander's ripple laser, in a nice shade of red.
5) Option 5: Harbinger of Doom
- Vertical Mine: Detonates after a delay in a large vertical explosion.
- Double: Fires a bullet at 45 degrees up as well as forward.
- Armour Piercing: Powerful bullets that pass through multiple enemies.
6) Option 6: Vanguard of Chaos
- Flying Torpedo: Twin missiles shoot forward after release.
- Tail Gun: Fires backwards as well as forwards.
- Twin Laser: Last seen in Gradius III, twin sets of short beams.

* 2nd Loop Start : in Power Meter selection screen, input Up(x2), Down(x2), Left, Right, Left, Right, Button-2 (Shot), Button-3 (Missile). You will be able to start the game with 2nd loop and the password will be displayed in Game Over screen. This password was required on 'Gradius IV Internet Ranking' (now, this was finished though).

- SERIES -

1. Gradius [Model GX400] (1985, ARC)
2. Gradius 2 [Model RC751] (1987, MSX)
3. Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou [Model GX785] (1988, ARC)
4. Gradius III - Densetsu Kara Shinwa-e [Model GX945] (1989, ARC)
5. Nemesis '90 Kai [Model GS-166] (1993, X68K)
6. Solar Assault - Gradius (1997, ARC)
7. Gradius Gaiden (1997, PSX)
8. Gradius IV - Fukkatsu (1998, ARC)
9. Gradius Generation [Model AGB-AGAJ-JPN] (2001, GBA)
10. Gradius V [Model SLPM-62462] (2004, PS2)
11. Gradius Neo (2004, NTT DoCoMo i-mode Phones)
12. Gradius Neo Imperial (2005, NTT DoCoMo i-mode Phones)
13. Gradius Wide (2007, NTT DoCoMo i-mode Phones)
14. Gradius Rebirth [Model RVL-WGDJ-JPN] (2008, WII)

- STAFF -

Producer: Hiroyasu Machiguchi
Main Programmer: Ken Midorikawa
Game Programmer: Yasuyuki Nagatomo, Naoki Niihama, Takeshi Asaki, Ken Inagaki
Character Design: Daisuke Yoro, Daisuke Chiba, Ayumu Hasegawa, Jun Omoto, Naoki Morita, Hiroyuki Ashida, Hiromichi Iwashita
Music Composer: Harumi Ueko, Atsuki
Sound Effect: Yoshihiko Koezuka
Hardware Producer: M. Okada
DSP Programmer: NWK
Software Tool Support: Kami
Hardware System Design: H. Konishi
Hardware Design: T. Kobayashi, H. Yamashita
Document Design: Hideaki Minoda
Product Design: Masaaki Uematsu, Kenji Fujinaka
Mechanical Engineer: Yuji Tamura, Yoshinobu Kitami
Director: Hiroyuki Ashida

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
Sony PlayStation 2 (2000, "Gradius III & IV")