Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou

Story- Gradius' new villain is named Gofer. Isn't that the same loveable antagonist from Caddyshack? No, Gofer isn't cute like that groundhog from old Chevy Chase movies. Gofer is a giant evil brain that has taken psychic control over entire spacefleets and is turning them on the universe to make it his own. The planet of Gradius refuses to surrender and sends in a pilot (that's you) in a Victory Viper spaceship to go and stop Gofer.

Gradius never had the most deep or intelligent stories, but at least they bothered with one. So, why am I fighting space dragons and flying through dangerous alien worlds again? Oh, it's because the bad guy used mind control to turn the world against me. It's a fun excuse for Gradius' awesome moments and it makes seeing Gofer finally bite it at the end all the more satisfying.

Presentation- Gradius II looks pretty good on the X68000. It doesn't look as good as it did in the arcade or even on the Turbo CD, but it still looks nice. Sprite animation takes a hit and a few of the enemies are a bit less detailed, but it shouldn't look too different from the arcade version. There's a good variety of enemies and bosses are still huge and impressive.Level designs are amazing as ever. One of the strong points of Gradius was always flying through beautiful alien worlds and navigating their deadly terrain. Gradius II really improves on this, featuring much more detailed and varied levels than the first game.

The other consistently strong point in the Gradius series is its music. The music of the arcade version is changed a little bit for the X68000. It's a bit heavier on the synthesizers, but it still sounds amazing. Some of the songs sound better and others just sound almost the same. The announcer is still here too! He'll tell you to shoot the core, shoot the head, and let you know which powerup you used on your powerup bar. His voice is completely 100% intact, which is great because Gradius announcers are awesome.