Am I the only one who hates Gradius?

[Leonard Smith]

The problem with the Konami code on the original Gradius is that it just gives you powerups.  Not always useful. 

[+Gemintronic]

23 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

Did they use the Konami code? It gives 30 lives.

 

Dunno.  Don't remember doing that.  We did have very long play sessions almost every week.  I think collectively we must have been "getting gud".  Now I'm just getting GERD ?

[Tanooki]

19 hours ago, Frozone212 said:

I don't have any issue with Horizontal shooters as a whole but the OG gradius for NES is just badly designed. Levels are cramped and you have zero room for error. Life force is better. Hell Xevious is better

There's nothing badly designed about that game, this is entirely a you issue here if there ever was one.  There are plenty of others that may even qualify as cramped, like Silver Surfer in the vertical stages, but saying Gradius is bad holds utterly no water at all.  I'm guessing maybe this is just another of those attention seeking made up controversy posts, have at it I suppose.  If you're whining about this, do avoid Gradius II if you think this game is a problem.

[roots.genoa]

9 hours ago, digdugnate said:

For real, all the posts I ever see from you on games are complaint posts.  YES, YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE THAT HATES GRADIUS.

Maybe Al should create a "Frozone212 complaints" sub-forum just for him. That's what good admins do! ?

[mbd39]

51 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

Maybe Al should create a "Frozone212 complaints" sub-forum just for him. That's what good admins do! ?

 

He actually belongs on Youtube posting provocative videos such as "Why Gradius sucks."

 

[Frozone212]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

There's nothing badly designed about that game, this is entirely a you issue here if there ever was one.  There are plenty of others that may even qualify as cramped, like Silver Surfer in the vertical stages, but saying Gradius is bad holds utterly no water at all.  I'm guessing maybe this is just another of those attention seeking made up controversy posts, have at it I suppose.  If you're whining about this, do avoid Gradius II if you think this game is a problem.

this is not an attention seeking post. I genuinely feel that the game suffers from it's design.

[Frozone212]

I have no issue with shooters in general (I like Silpheed and Sol Feace for example)

My issue is the fact that death in gradius is far too punishing. I admire the fact that it got onto the NES at all but the developers skimped on the gameplay.

three continues is hardly sufficient for what you have to go through.

If it were to be remade to be slightly easier, I would have a better opinion of it.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Frozone212

[Tanooki]

Seems you're yet again alone in these strange feelings about Gradius.  A game that normally people go and call out as being a fairly balanced on challenge between easy and insidious, one with control tight beyond compare, enemy design and boss that's top notch and with a truly solid array of very useful weapons.  If that game is too hard, I'd hate to think what your mind is set to when playing R-Type for instance, my guess, love affair, as this feels like an opposites day post.

 

The only thing the developers skimped on Gradius, the amount of options (2vs4) and in a few places making the enemies a little easier and smaller, due to system limitations.  Seriously go try Gradius II you'll probably want to kill something as that's far more cruel and accurate to the original source material.

[+GoldLeader]

Even if I'm not great at it...I think Gradius is a blast!  Also I don't come from that era of "Gotta beat the game",  perhaps you do?...If a game is fun I like it.

[Frozone212]

Ok, I need to clear this up. I respect Konami for making Gradius, I do. I just don't like it. It's punishing and that's a choice I criticize the devs for. 

But there is another reason why I hate this game and the reason will become clear soon.

 

I record to youtube a lot (OBS) and hate having to do the video over. I fear that I will never be seen as a serious gamer if I can't even play Gradius perfectly. Couple that with my OCD preventing me from accepting a game over and you have a recipe for frustration. I never upload videos where I die 24/7. I want people to have a good time and enjoy my successes, not my failures. I want to draw people in, not have them question my ability.

 

It's the same reason why I flee from anything remotely difficult. I refuse to play by the rules. If that's illegal than I am on the wrong planet. I won't even play COD on anything harder than regular for this reason. Artificial difficulty is my biggest pet peeve.

 

The words "Just a game", "break" and "have fun" are words I have long forgotten. What used to be nostalgia and fun as a child has turned into a chore.

 

A burning desire to be seen as more than just the average joe has me gaming 24/7. I don't read my bible anymore; I don't read period. I want to excel, to surpass others and taste the fame that others bask in. I have a compulsive desire to win at all costs, damn the consequences. Any advantage, I take, any loophole, I will exploit. I refuse to accept failure, and yet, it happens. OCD does not let me stop this obsession. I am sitting on a backlog of digital hames that I will never complete because I refuse to accept failure, I refuse to play legit. I fear what people would think of me if they knew, knew I was a cheater.

 

I'm not hardcore or casual. I just am.

 

I used to love the NES but now I hate it. Hate the games, hate the difficulty. It used to be fun, it used to be something magical. My childhood has been ripped away, replaced by anger and regret. Regret that I wasted eight years of my life pursuing something i could never have. The only friends I have are on Discord. I have one persistent subscriber on YT who I am friends with but that's it. Everyone else is just a digit, A number. 

 

Recording to YT is...unpleasant.

 

In my mind, I can't fail, I am literally incapable of recording a flawed video or failing a game. My OCD will NOT LET ME DO THIS! It's the same reason why I never beat COD black ops Cold War because of the Operation Chaos and Red Circus. I have to do it, or it will never let me go and in the case of RC and OC, I will be stuck looking at the screen for hours on end because i suck at mathematics and the brilliant developers decided to put a math based puzzled into a GAME THAT IS NOT PUZZLE BASED! Sorry.

 

I Haven't played Jak and Daxter because of this either. 3 was so bad on my sanity that my mother actually had to get me out of the house to recover from the mental strain. I literally stopped functioning, fell out of the chair and lay still as if dead. Same with Ratchet and Clank Going commando. 

 

Hard games are fun for other people. For me, it is either cheat to win or don't play at all. Thus, Gradius earns my eternal scorn for being something I will never be able to beat, ever. I've conquered Contra, Super C, Journey to Silius (cheated) and even beat Nightfire for xbox (Hell is underwater levels)

 

So...

 

Record, play, scrap the video, record and play and repeat until I either get it perfect or I forget to eat or hydrate.

 

It's either be perfect or be seen as just another channel trying and failing to stay afloat.

 

I am terrified of being anything less than capable. Doomed to live in a shadow of the more successful people. 

Why Do i hate gradius? Because it reminds me of who I truly am: A failure

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

[+Gemintronic]

I suffer from taking myself too seriously.  It makes bad situations worse and good situations seem bad.  No one is a failure for failing.  Failure comes with not trying.

 

With Gradius we may be interpreting it with the wrong angle.  It's an arcade game.  It's meant to take your quarters thus short, hard gameplay.

 

You might not like arcade games.  That is OK.

[Austin]

Frozone, it sounds like you need a change of hobbies. Seriously.

[TIX]

wow you are really an angry video game nerd !

heeey this a cool you-tube nickname..  oh wait

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by TIX

[Chris+++]

 

Well, this certainly makes my addiction to Klax seem like small potatoes.

 

When you encounter a Game Over, make yourself sit with the anxiety for a few seconds and just observe it dissipating. If it helps to add words, tell yourself, "I have no job right now except to observe the anxiety as it fades. Nobody is making me do anything about it, or act on it, or criticize it. I only need to observe." Maybe living with the anxiety for a bit until you get used to its "curve" will help you assume a less maddening pattern.

 

If that doesn't work, and taking a break from playing games (which you need, at least for a couple of days) doesn't work, either, then it would probably be a good idea to heed Austin's advice and find something else to do that's more enjoyable and lets you live in the moment.

 

In a nutshell, if you're not having fun, and you don't expect to succeed in this particular capacity, there's no reason to spend time doing it. You only get the one life, after all. Trading your very time for an activity that only makes you feel bad goes against logic, and even one's survival instinct.

 

 

[Razzie.P]

 

[Frozone212]

that's an exaggerated take on my life but spot on.

 

funny

[Frozone212]

So, after taking time to actually play gradius (with judicious use of rewind), I have come to the conclusion that the game is not right for me. I am sorry for the outburst yesterday. I am however, grateful to have gotten as far as I did. It's certainly weird and abstract in its alien designs but just too taxing for me to play with any form of dedication. I like shooters, but just not gradius. It just goes On and on and on with no end. Maybe i'll try some of the others, might even change my opinion of the game down the line. 

 

so, I don't hate it, I just don't like the original.

 

Recording it is where the frustration comes from. 

Have a nice day guys

Edited May 6, 2022 by Frozone212

[Cobra Kai]

You are definitely allowed to hate any video game you want. I'm not very good at Gradius, but I recognize that it's a tight and expertly crafted early shmup. It was good enough and influential enough to spawn a successful series of parody games in the Parodius series, so there must be something good in it.

 

 

[Frozone212]

And here I though Parodius was a sequel to the series. TIL something new

[digdugnate]

On 5/5/2022 at 3:28 PM, roots.genoa said:

Maybe Al should create a "Frozone212 complaints" sub-forum just for him. That's what good admins do! ?

you're just a untalented jealous gatekeeping!

[Austin]

14 hours ago, Frozone212 said:

So, after taking time to actually play gradius (with judicious use of rewind), I have come to the conclusion that the game is not right for me. I am sorry for the outburst yesterday. I am however, grateful to have gotten as far as I did. It's certainly weird and abstract in its alien designs but just too taxing for me to play with any form of dedication. I like shooters, but just not gradius. It just goes On and on and on with no end. Maybe i'll try some of the others, might even change my opinion of the game down the line. 

 

so, I don't hate it, I just don't like the original.

 

Recording it is where the frustration comes from. 

Have a nice day guys

Can you clarify what you mean by "it just goes on and on"? A single run of the game is only 20 minutes, and with levels that are fairly varied, what you are saying doesn't really seem to line up with my experience. How far exactly have you made it?

 

The game does loop if that's what you mean, but there's a clear final boss/ending before doing so. The loops aren't necessary unless you want an even higher challenge (obviously not for you at the moment, but it's there).

 

Something to keep in mind with the first Gradius is that it *is* a hard game to get into. The difficulty level is pretty high for newcomers, for a few different reasons. It gets pretty manageable when you learn it, however.

 

Life Force on the other hand is one of the easiest shooters ever created, hence why newcomers generally prefer it. It also helps that it was made a couple of years later so its production values are much higher too. Arcade and PC Engine Gradius hold up much better than the NES version.

[Tanooki]

Wait...Gradius is not punishing, the sequel is.  Gradius is a bit of a challenge, but it's fair, you can even recover in later levels losing your stuff, try that on the sequel.

 

This seems entirely a you issue, a personal one, reading that post to clear things up.  One, you're not a serious gamer, you're just another wannba streamer right with OBS?  So you're obsessing about the game because you fear not being able to record a good run.  That doesn't make Gradius a bad game or bad or punishing, it means you have issues.  I'm not trying to be mean, I know it comes off that way I'm being blunt reacting to that post.

 

You can't enjoy a game, you can't let a game be fun, you admit to forgetting this.  That's 100% not normal, that's a deep rooted psychological problem you're taking out on Gradius and I'm going to be a lot more games people call fun and you stand up nearly alone saying...it stinks! like the old The Critic cartoon.  Nah, you're personal issues are what stink.  Maybe it's time to stop?  DO you really crave and need so much attention from faceless nobodies online that you need to live your life around getting some perfect stream to get some more subs?

 

That is sad.

 

You admit you can't read regular or religious books, can't do other functions a normal person does, you have some unhealthy need to fixate on one thing and when it doesn't go your way, you melt down and throw shade and blame.  I get you're blaming the OCD and trust me I deal with that shit in this house, you can be broken, you choose not to be and instead not improve but fester with that mindless circular illogic.

 

If you think Gradius is harder than Contra and especially Super C, you're nuts, and I mean beyond the clear issues going on here.

 

Face it, you are the average joe, you are not special, you're one in a faceless group of 10s of millions who stream garbage online trying to get attention from other people for some cry for self affirmation and attention.  Get over yourself is something you need to work on, think about that some because what you're doing is causing more harm than you probably realize.

 

Like or hate Gradius, it has nothing to do with this, or this thread even, this is you having a psychological break even if you can't or refuse to realize it with us reading from the outside.  Get help.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I, too, hate all things I'm bad at. How dare they be bad! I should be an expert at everything I try! Improvement? I don't think so - if I'm not instantly good at it, the problem must be with whatever it is rather than me! It's certainly my GENETICS that cause these things, like I told the girl I picked up at the bar last night, not that I'm BAD or UNSKILLED at certain things....

 

 

Erm, wait, what were we talking about again? Oh, Gradius. Yeah, that's a great game. Move along, nothing to see here.

[Austin]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

If you think Gradius is harder than Contra and especially Super C, you're nuts, and I mean beyond the clear issues going on here.

Damn man, no need to kick the dude while he's down, heh.

 

I don't really understand why you think Contra or Super C is harder than Gradius. Those games are super forgiving on the NES, dropping you right back into gameplay when you die and giving extra lives out like candy on Halloween. Enemies and bosses are pretty slow, so it's not difficult to memorize enemy patterns or even react on the fly. Arcade versions are obviously another story all together, but that's not what we're talking about here.

 

I just did another run of Gradius right before typing this post, as this thread had me wondering. I managed a one life clear on the first loop, but to be fair, I know the game. That's not to say there weren't a lot of close calls. And with situations like the two volcano sections that are ridiculously fast compared to the arcade game (and with no safe spots like in the arcade game), I understand why it's hard for newcomers to adapt to it. The final level is brutal as well, with tight corridors and enemies constantly spawning from all sides. If you do not have it memorized, and if you can not execute your strategy, you will die and it will be hard to recover.