History VideoGame / TheAdventuresOfRadGravity

''The Adventures of Rad Gravity'' is a PlatformGame released in December of 1990 for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. It was developed by Creator/InterplayEntertainment and published by Creator/{{Activision}}.

* FakeDifficulty: Mostly of the bad game design variety. Fairly large and difficult stages with no checkpoints, enemies whose weak (read: plain attackable) points are not the clearest, and an item that requires you to [[CastFromHitPoints sacrifice a full Energy Unit to use it]]... [[ClassicVideoGameScrewYous and needs to be used at the end of a long, difficult stage where you quite likely won't have enough energy to use it]] are some examples.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: [[TotallyRadical Rad]] Gravity himself. (Heck, having "Gravity" as a last name is pretty cool in and of itself.)

* PermanentlyMissableContent: There are some power-ups on Effluvia.[[note]](Don't worry, though; the only real powerup is optional and is an upgrade to the melee weapon, which became useless after the first level. You're going to regret missing those Energy Units, though.)[[/note]]

[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Adventures_of_Rad_Gravity_001_2989.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:That [[LanternJawOfJustice chin]] is only the tip of the [[RuleOfFunny ridiculousness]] [[NintendoHard iceberg]].]]

!!This game includes examples of:

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: [[spoiler:[[EvilAllAlong Kakos]] means evil/bad in Greek. Not much of a surprise, then.]]

The player controls the eponymous space adventurer as he goes through numerous planets on his mission to reactivate the eight missing [[WetwareCPU Compuminds]] that were shut down and hidden by [[BigBad Agathos]]. He is guided by the only one left, Kakos, who is his ship's computer during the game. Along the way, he picks up various power-ups and [[HeartContainer Energy Units]] that make life easier...[[PowerUpLetdown usually]].

* CastFromHitPoints: One of the last items you can pick up makes a temporary controllable floating platform. It costs a full [[HeartContainer Energy Unit]] to use. (It might literally be one of the bars from the HUD, actually....)

* FakeDifficulty: Mostly of the bad game design variety. Fairly large and difficult stages with no checkpoints, enemies whose weak (read: plain attackable) points are not the clearest, and an item that requires you to [[CastFromHitPoints sacrifice a full Energy Unit to use it]]...[[ClassicVideoGameScrewYous and needs to be used at the end of a long, difficult stage where you quite likely won't have enough energy to use it]] are some examples.

* NintendoHard: A good deal is from the FakeDifficulty, but this game is full of plain, straight-up difficulty from the get-go. You start out with a short-range lightsaber that you only thrust, and one of the first enemies almost randomly deflects your hits with a swinging chain. [[HeartContainer Energy Units]] only give you one unit of energy instead of a full heal. [[GoddamnBats Enemies are sometimes in such places so that, if you jump or don't shoot them first or whatever, they will bump into you, knocking you back and into a pit.]] Corridors are sometimes too narrow to jump and have enemies that can shoot you even if you duck. And then there's [[ThatOneLevel the last level]], which, while the damage dealt per hit is relatively low if you have green armor, is ''relentless.'' [[UsefulNotes/{{Emulation}} Savestate early and often]]...[[SaveScumming you're gonna need it.]]

* PowerUpLetdown: First you get the gun, finally, which is useful...but only fires horizontally. You also collect powerful bombs (and by the time you get them, you can soon after find an upgrade that makes them do more damage) that fairly quickly become merely situational due to the high amount of narrow corridors in the second half of the game. And finally, at endgame, you get an item called the Energy Disc that lets you hover across long gaps for a time...but not only is it at endgame, but you need to [[CastFromHitPoints sacrifice a good chunk of your energy to use it]]. You also can't shoot while using it.

''The Adventures of Rad Gravity'' is a PlatformGame released in December of 1990 for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. It was developed by Creator/InterplayEntertainment and published by Creator/{{Activision}}. The player controls the eponymous space adventurer as he goes through numerous planets on his mission to reactivate the eight missing [[WetwareCPU Compuminds]] that were shut down and hidden by [[BigBad Agathos]]. He is guided by the only one left, Kakos, who is his ship's computer during the game. Along the way, he picks up various power-ups and [[HeartContainer Energy Units]] that make life easier...[[PowerUpLetdown usually]].

* EleventhHourSuperpower: The strongest armor in the game, the White Armor, is found very near the door to the final boss on Telos. That is, if you actually manage to find it.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Rad has been likened to Creator/BruceCampbell, and the game can be seen as a parody in some ways.

* VideoGamePhysics: Surprisingly, some objects are actually affected by fire; this is essential when solving a couple of the game's puzzles. This is also used when fighting your first boss, which consists of a pair of tall, invulnerable robots you need to toss bombs over to push away from each other so that they don't wind each other back up when they wind down. (Good luck getting them over and at the right place, since hitting from the back of the advancing robot will push it further to its partner, all while avoiding wavy shots.) But wait, there's more! Let's not forget that you have a little momentum when running (causing much sliding off of platforms into pits) and you have a cruelly long knockback distance when you get hit (causing you to slide back again even more).

* BigBad: Though he's only mentioned, unseen until the endgame, [[EvilSorcerer Agathos]] is the one who shut down the compuminds of the United Planets. [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss However]], he did it to stop [[AIIsACrapshoot the computer]] Kakos, [[TreacherousAdvisor Rad’s guide]] who led the compuminds in attempting to conquer the galaxy and wants Rad to reactivate them to try again.]]

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: As [[NintendoHard brutal]] as the game can be, it has a few of these. Passwords, numerous health and armor upgrades (though roughly half of the health upgrades and the final armor upgrade are in [[GuideDangIt very hard to find locations]]), unlimited continues, and a checkpoint for the FinalBoss [[spoiler:and real final boss]] (''very'' useful given how long and difficult [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Telos]] is).

* IncrediblyLamePun: Turvia's gimmick is being upside down, aka Topsy Turvy.

** The first gun upgrade actually winds up being this in a way, as the ability to shoot below you actually overrides your ability to duck and shoot.

* LethalLavaLand: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Volcania]], with extra emphasis on the "[[NintendoHard lethal]]".

* SoundtrackDissonance: In the last level, the boss music reverts to the level music at Agathos if you beam down to his room from your ship.[[note]]The game decides to have mercy and gives you warp coordinates to the boss room when you enter it, seeing as you worked very hard to get there and probably had low health.[[/note]]

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: As [[NintendoHard brutal]] as the game can be, it has a few of these. Passwords, numerous health and armor upgrades (though roughly half of the health upgrades and the final armor upgrade are in [[GuideDangIt very hard to find locations]]), unlimited continues, and a checkpoint for the FinalBoss [[spoiler:and real final boss]] (''very'' useful given how long and difficult [[TheVeryDefinitivelyFinalDungeon Telos]] is).

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: As brutal as the game can be, it has a few of these. Passwords, numerous health and armor upgrades (though roughly half of the health upgrades and the final armor upgrade are in [[GuideDangIt very hard to find locations]]), unlimited continues, and a checkpoint for each of the two final bosses (''very'' useful given how long and difficult Telos is).

* BeefGate: There are some parts of the game that all but require you to take damage to get across, it's so difficult to pass. Then there are levels that have hazards so damaging, they'll kill you in one or two hits. [[GuideDangIt One of these levels is available right after the first level is cleared.]]
* BigBad: Though he's only mentioned, unseen until the endgame, Agathos is the one who shut down the compuminds of the United Planets. [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss However]], he did it to stop [[AIIsACrapshoot the computer]] Kakos, [[TreacherousAdvisor Rad’s guide]] who led the compuminds in attempting to conquer the galaxy and wants Rad to reactivate them to try again.]]

* DerelictGraveyard / GhostShip: The abandoned ship in the Asteroid Belt.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:After defeating Agathos, an old man will come down and tell you that the Compuminds were EvilAllAlong, led by Kakos, and they were shut down to avoid them taking over everything. The final boss? Kakos. How do you fight him? Trick the torpedoes he fires to hit him, the small eye sitting on your ship. The challenge? [[InterfaceScrew Asteroid Belt controls]]. [[BlatantLies Don't worry, he's the easiest boss in the game.]]]]

''The Adventures of Rad Gravity'' is a PlatformGame released in December of 1990 for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. It was developed by Creator/InterplayEntertainment and published by Creator/{{Activision}}. The player controls the eponymous space adventurer as he goes through numerous planets on his mission to reactivate the eight missing [[WetwareCPU Compuminds]] that were shut down and hidden by the game's BigBad, Agathos. He is guided by the only one left, Kakos, who is his ship's computer during the game. Along the way, he picks up various power-ups and [[HeartContainer Energy Units]] that make life easier...[[PowerUpLetdown usually]].

* BigBad: Though he's only mentioned, unseen until the endgame, Agathos. [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss Except not]]; it’s the computer Kakos.]]

* BigBad: Though he's only mentioned, unseen until endgame, Agathos. [[spoiler: It's really Kakos.]]

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Rad has been likened to BruceCampbell, and the game can be seen as a parody in some ways.

Most people would recognize it for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfwOuXPIhRM the title screen music.]]

''The Adventures of Rad Gravity'' is a PlatformGame released in December of 1990 for the NintendoEntertainmentSystem. It was developed by Creator/InterplayEntertainment and published by Creator/{{Activision}}. The player controls the eponymous space adventurer as he goes through numerous planets on his mission to reactivate the eight missing [[WetwareCPU Compuminds]] that were shut down and hidden by the game's BigBad, Agathos. He is guided by the only one left, Kakos, who is his ship's computer during the game. Along the way, he picks up various power-ups and [[HeartContainer Energy Units]] that make life easier...[[PowerUpLetdown usually]].