Gradius Rebirth
Wiiware. 173 Blocks of Fridge. $10. 5 Stages. Significantly-changed game loops. Button Configurable. Wiimote, Nunchuck, GC, and Classic supported. 1-Player only.
Worth the price?: Yes
Worth clearing hard drive space?: Only if it requires removing one or two games tops. I gave up Internet Channel for this. Gradius Rebirth is good, but not an eighth coming of Christ.
Recommended to: any shmup enthusiast or Gradius fan, novice or expert.
Very Much Recommended to: anybody who has never played a Gradius game. Or a challenge-based gamer.
Not Recommended to: anybody who judges games based on amount of content or refuses to replay a short game multiple times.
Not Recommended to: anybody who refuses to play a game for the challenge.
The rumor-bag said this is supposed to be a remake of Gradius 1. I would say that yes, while it contains four or five significant stage references to Gradius 1, there is way too much new layout and bosses to say this is a remake and I’d argue to call this more its own original game. But remember that point is hard to argue as almost every Gradius game recycles a crapload from the game before it. And then after saying that, I now gotta say this is a hard fall from Gradius V. Don’t even come into this thinking you’re going to get anything from Gradius V. No Option control with R button. No instant respawn in main modes. No editable powerbar. This is more into Gradius Gaiden territory, but even that’s a stretch as there’s less content and no co-op. You do get 3 selectable Powerbar layouts. You unlock more when you credit-feed the game (on Hard). There is a dedicated mode to test your 1 Credit Clear ability on defaults.
If you’re the player who believes shmups are really mean to you, you know you suck at them, or you really hate “the Gradius Syndrome” where you can’t restart after dying, they included Easy modes where enemies don’t fire or their bullets are destructable, and the game will add 5 free power capsles on the playfield as soon as you respawn from a checkpoint so you can get back on your feet. Freeplay is turned on right away. If you need further incentive after you’ve bought the game, if you can unlock the Type E ship, Loop 1 will become a breeze.
If you’re a super-the-hardest player, you’ll be happy to know Loop 2 and 3 are selectable from the get-go (dubbed Hard and Very Hard) instead of the strange default difficulty settings matched against separate loop difficulty settings, a replay can be saved of any run you do, and forced 1CC Score Attack mode is back from Gradius V but this time it’s online leaderboards instead of requiring a password-based website. The downside is the leaderboards will only hold the top 30 ranked per difficulty in your region with no way to view by worldwide or any other region. I’m in Michigan and I know a dude from Onterio, Canada is ranked right above me as of this writing, but I have no idea how far the leaderboard geographical boundries go. In discussing slowdown, this game runs smooth as hell with exception of two small parts near the end where the framerate will chug down to a SNES Gradius III or R-Type Final feel. It helps me more than interferes in my opinion.
If you’re concerned of Nintendo casual market fucking this game up, I tried Loop 3/Very Hard right out of the download and got my ass handed to me. Hooray they left the balls-hard challenge in the game. I credit-fed through Loop 2/Hard and still struggled with that. You’ll be happy to know also that Loop 2 and 3 are not just the the exact same shit with suicide bullets and faster shots, many parts of every stage’s layout will also change. I did not stumble upon extra optional bosses though.
If you are a gamer that only judges by quantity of content [like a game reviewer], there are only 5 stages. So I suggest you make the most out of your $10 and play on Hard or a more difficult setting your first time through instead of what you regularly play. Since there are infinite continues on the regular game, you can stretch out your content much longer than you regularly would burning though this game on Very Easy then complaining about wasting your money because a 1 Life Clear has to run about 20 mintues.
If ya got an ear for the sort of thing, you’ll recognize the original parts of the soundtrack were made using whatever the hell software instrument composed the SNES Gradius III soundtrack. The small looped jingles are directly stolen from other Gradius games. I don’t think a single sound effect is original in this game. You can recognize audio from old Gradius games as well as Gradius Gaiden and a few things from Salamander 2. Most people haven’t played those games, so much of it will feel new to you. Just like Gradius 4 before America got to finally play Gradius 2 and realized it is almost the exact same game right down to the stages themselves.
The graphics almost appear to be coming from whatever the hell engine was used to make Gradius Gaiden with a few sprites and backgrounds seemingly ripped from Gradius III. The visuals appear generally clean in most areas, but a little soft and bland in a few parts. It feels decidedly 16/32-bit in the actual game, while you could say the cutscenes and title logos may as well be 8/16-bit or worse. Widescreen is supported, which will be only the third time that’s happened. It didn’t switch me away from 480p so I can say that’s supported too.
There are bonus stages hidden in this like back in SNES Gradius III. I haven’t found one yet. The How to Play told me about them. If you remember Gradius 1 NES you could fly through certain tight terrain and receive point bonusus and 1ups. You can do the same thing in this new version. I’ve only found 5000 point bonusus though.
I personally liked the boss fights in this one. For being simple patterns they created a good sense of chaos. The final boss is still a pushover. There is no boss rush 
You wanna hear some crazy shit? They added a story. No, not just flying text intro, human characters that text talk in 8-bit cutscenes. Vic Viper finally has a named pilot and it isn’t that Leo wanker from Zone of the Enders. Dare I say they add a little to the story [only] every time you finish a loop. But you still get no game ending after you beat it. What’s up with that? And a goblin creepy dude named Dr. Venom makes you unlockable ships. Again, what the hell.
Not that anybody here is gonna ask, but I dunno if the in-game story would indicate there is a loop cap for number of times you can beat the game at any mode. I only got to Loop 2 in Hard and Normal.
If you wanted to compare this against the whole non-parodius/otomedius series, I would rank Gradius V, Gaiden, and Salamander 2 above Gradius Rebirth. Otherwise, I’d say Gradius Rebirth is better than any other Gradius game I own. I own the entire series. Even all the portables. I…-er-…-um-….-am kinda a fan-…-or something. Just take it from me I know things.
Shoot the core, gentleman. Good day.
March 14th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Thanks for the review. Like many others who filled up their Wiis, I’ve been wondering whether this is worth ‘cleaning the fridge’ for. With Rebirth being is sort of a neo-retro title ala Mega Man 9, I am not surprised to hear it can’t match Graidus V, Gaiden and Salamander 2. But seeing you rank this game above Gradius II: Ambition of Gofer has me interested for sure.