History YMMV / Gradius

* AdaptationDisplacement - Most American fans believe that the NES version of ''Gradius'' is the first in the series due to the fact that arcade version was renamed ''Nemesis'' outside Japan.

* AntiClimaxBoss - And how! Almost every FinalBoss in the series (with the exception of Doom from ''Salamander 2'', Venom in ''Nemesis II'', Central Server in ''Gradius NEO'', Mother Computer Z in ''Nemesis'' for the Game Boy, and Guardian Core and Escape Ship from "Gradius: The Interstellar Assault'') either uses easily dodgable attacks (Bacterion from ''III'', O.V.U.M. from ''Gaiden'') or straight up doesn't attack at all (Xaerous Brain from the original and ''[=ReBirth=]'', Zelos Force from ''Salamander'', Gofer from ''II'' and ''IV'', Venom from ''V''). This is justified, as the final stage is usually a GeniusLoci controlled by the Bacterions, and so in a sense, the entire final stage (and to an extent the entire game) is the boss fight. By the time you get to the Bacterion leader, you've already practically won.

* AntiClimaxBoss - And how! Almost every FinalBoss in the series (with the exception of Doom from ''Salamander 2'', Venom in ''Nemesis II'', Central Server in ''Gradius NEO'', Mother Computer Z in ''Nemesis'' for the Game Boy, and Guardian Core and Escape Ship from "Gradius: The Interstellar Assault'') either uses easily dodgable attacks (Bacterion from ''III'', O.V.U.M. from ''Gaiden'') or straight up doesn't attack at all (Xaerous Brain from the original and ''[=ReBirth=]'', Zelos Force from ''Salamander'', Gofer from ''II'' and ''IV'', Venom from ''V''). This is justified, as the final stage is usually a GeniusLoci controlled by the Bacterions, and so in a sense, the entire final stage (and to an extent the entire game) is the boss fight. By the time you get to the Bacterion leader, you've already practically won.

* AntiClimaxBoss - And how! Almost every FinalBoss in the series (with the exception of Doom from ''Salamander 2'' and Venom in ''Nemesis II'') either uses easily dodgable attacks (Bacterion from ''III'', O.V.U.M. from ''Gaiden'') or straight up doesn't attack at all (Xaerous Brain from the original and ''[=ReBirth=]'', Zelos Force from ''Salamander'', Gofer from ''II'' and ''IV'', Venom from ''V''). This is justified, as the final stage is usually a GeniusLoci controlled by the Bacterions, and so in a sense, the entire final stage (and to an extent the entire game) is the boss fight. By the time you get to the Bacterion leader, you've already practically won.

* BestBossEver: Unlike other final bosses, Doom from ''Salamander 2'' averts ZeroEffortBoss ''hard''.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Disappointed with most final bosses not fighting back? Play ''Salamander 2'' for Doom, one of two final bosses in the entire series to actually put up a climactic fight.

** The FinalBoss fight with Doom in ''Salamander 2'', on account of being one of two final bosses in all of ''Gradius'' to ''actually fight back''.

** Those who use Type E in ''Rebirth'' stick to normal shots, because the alternatives to it are both terrible: V. Shot fires up and down in a game where most enemies come from the front, and while Vector laser pierces through enemies it's weaker than the normal shot and cannot cut through the destructible walls in Stage 2 and the bonus stages, potentially wedging the player into an UnintentionallyUnwinnable situation.

* JustHereforGodzilla: Disappointed with most final bosses not fighting back? Play ''Salamander 2'' for Doom, one of two final bosses in the entire series to actually put up a climactic fight.

* UnexpectedCharacter: Few fans expected ''Nemesis 2'' characters, of all characters (more specifically, protagonist James Burton and antagonist Venom ''before'' he became a massive brain in ''V''), to appear in ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]'', as ''Nemesis 2'' is simply a side entry for the UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} rather than a comparatively big-name console or arcade game. This is more pronounced [[AmericansHateTingle in North America, where the MSX failed to find anything more than a niche following]].

** In most games, Speed Up upgrades last until your ship is destroyed and cannot be undone, potentially leaving you with a ship that's TooFastToStop and will smash into walls or enemies way too easily.

* RemadeAndImproved: Similar to "ports" of previous games in the series, the SNES version of ''Gradius III'' isn't a port of the game so much as a remade version, as its stages, weapon loadouts, and bosses are different. Nonetheless it's regarded as better than the arcade version, which gets complaints for being sadistically unfair and difficult. The stages and bosses are redesigned in favor of fairness, like the rocks in the lava stage now being completely destructible and Big Core mk-III no longer has its BeamSpam [[TurnsRed final phase]] move); furthermore, some of the even more hated elements are removed entirely, like the infamous "Cube Rush" (and the entire cube stage for that matter) and the post-FinalBoss escape sequence. It also adds three continues, whereas the arcade version has none, and some of the powerups available are considerably more powerful (Twin Laser now pierces enemies, Reduce now actually grants the player protection against hits), with some handy new additions as well (such as Formation Option, which keeps your Options in a "wingman" formation, making it easier to manage their placements, and Full Barrier, which restores a partially-consumed shield instead of forcing the player to deplete it first to be able to recharge it).

* RemadeAndImproved: Similar to "ports" of previous games in the series, the SNES version of ''Gradius III'' isn't a port of the game so much as a remade version, as its stages, weapon loadouts, and bosses are different. Nonetheless it's regarded as better than the arcade version, which gets complaints for being sadistically unfair and difficult. The stages and bosses are redesigned in favor of fairness, like the rocks in the lava stage now being completely destructible and Big Core mk-III no longer has its BeamSpam [[TurnsRed final phase]] move); furthermore, some of the even more hated elements are removed entirely, like the infamous "Cube Rush" (and the entire cube stage for that matter) and the post-FinalBoss escape sequence. It also adds three continues, whereas the arcade version has none, and some of the powerups available are considerably more powerful (Twin Laser now pierces enemies, Reduce now actually grants the player protection against hits), with some handy new additions as well (such as Formation Option, which keeps your Options in a "wingman" formation, making it easier to manage their placements).

* RemadeAndImproved: Similar to "ports" of previous games in the series, the SNES version of ''Gradius III'' isn't a port of the game so much as a remade version, as its stages, weapon loadouts, and bosses are different. Nonetheless it's regarded as better than the arcade version, which gets complaints for being sadistically unfair and difficult. The stages and bosses are redesigned in favor of fairness, like the rocks in the lava stage now being completely destructible and Big Core mk-III no longer has its BeamSpam [[TurnsRed final phase]] move); furthermore, some of the even more hated elements are removed entirely, like the infamous "Cube Rush" (and the entire cube stage for that matter) and the post-FinalBoss escape sequence.

* RemadeAndImproved: Similar to "ports" of previous games in the series, the SNES version of ''Gradius III'' isn't a port of the game so much as a remade version, as its stages, weapon loadouts, and bosses are different. Nonetheless it's regarded as better than the arcade version, which gets complaints for being sadistically unfair and difficult. The stages and bosses are redesigned in favor of fairness, like the rocks in the lava stage now being completely destrictible and Big Core mk-III no longer has its BeamSpam [[TurnsRed final phase]] move); furthermore, some of the even more hated elements are removed entirely, like the infamous "Cube Rush" (and the entire cube stage for that matter) and the post-FinalBoss escape sequence.

* RemadeAndImproved: Similar to "ports" of previous games in the series, the SNES version of ''Gradius III'' isn't a port of the game so much as a remade version, as its stages, weapon loadouts, and bosses are different. Nonetheless it's regarded as better than the arcade version, which gets complaints for being sadistically unfair and difficult. The stages and bosses are designed to be easier and more fair to players (for example, the rocks in the lava stage can be completely destroyed now, and Big Core mk-III no longer has its BeamSpam [[TurnsRed final phase]] move), and some of the more hated elements are removed entirely, like the infamous "Cube Rush" (and the entire cube stage for that matter) and the post-FinalBoss escape sequence.

* SequelDifficultySpike: ''Gradius II'' is already difficult enough, but ''Gradius III'' is a crime against humanity. Bosses have more well-guarded weak points, enemies are more likely to corner you, a lot of the weapons (especially the Edit weapons) [[ScrappyWeapon suck]], and continues are not allowed. It took until the [=PS2=] version (as part of a CompilationRerelease with ''Gradius IV'') to have something amounting to a continue feature, the stage select.

* HarsherInHindsight: The title of ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]''. The game ended up marking the ''death'' of the series instead, being the last original ''Gradius'' video game if one doesn't count its spinoff series ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}}''. It didn't help that ''[=ReBirth=]'' received a lot of criticism simply for failing to meet the [[ToughActToFollow lofty standards]] set by ''V''.

** E.Laser, R. Option, Reduce Shield, and Full Barrier in ''SNES III''. E.Laser and R.Option combined give you a powerful rotating charged attack that can erase destructable bullets even while charging and can kill most everything in several hits - you're basically flying a ''buzzsaw''. Reduce shield is the best shield in the series, although it can only negate two hits, it makes your ship, and thus your hit box, ''smaller'', allowing you to slip though most bullets with ease, unlike other shields which tend to have large hitboxes or bloat your ship's existing hitbox. Full Barrier allows you to refill a partial shield instead of deplete it to bring it back to full.

** E.Laser, R. Option, Reduce Shield, and Full Barrier in ''SNES III''. E.Laser and R.Option combined give you a powerful rotating charged attack that can erase distructable bullets even while charging and can kill most everything in several hits - you're basically flying a ''buzzsaw''. Reduce shield is the best shield in the series, although it can only negate two hits, it makes your ship, and thus your hit box, ''smaller'', allowing you to slip though most bullets with ease, unlike other shields which tend to have large hitboxes or bloat your ship's existing hitbox. Full Barrier allows you to refill a partial shield instead of deplete it to bring it back to full.

** The series was already infernally difficult to begin with, but the arcade release of ''Gradius III'' was preposterously brutal. This is why the Super [=Nintendo=] port toned down the difficulty, in which it was seen as a PolishedPort.

** The [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai Moai]] heads are some of the most well-known elements of the series despite not being protagonists or major antagonists, due to the weirdness factor of "Easter Island heads in space try to kill you with red-and-blue flashing rings."

** The final stage of ''Gradius V'' is a slightly harder version of Stage 2 where the player(s) ascend instead of descend, but it is significantly much shorter and easier than the previous stages, such as [[GasChamber Stage 6]] and [[MarathonLevel Stage 7]], both of them regarded as [[ThatOneLevel the hardest levels]] in the game.

* AntiClimaxBoss - And how! Almost every FinalBoss in the series (with the exception of Doom from ''Salamander 2'' and Venom in ''Nemesis II'') either uses easily dodgable attacks (Bacterion from ''III'', O.V.U.M. from ''Gaiden'') or straight up doesn't attack at all (Xaerous Brain from the original and ''[=ReBirth=]'', Zelos Force from ''Salamander'', Gofer from ''II'' and ''IV'', Venom from ''V''). This is justified, as the final stage is usually a GeniusLoci controlled by the Bacterions, and so in a sense, the entire final stage (and to an extent the entire game) is the boss fight. By the time you get to the Bacterion leader, you've already practically won. In addition, due to how the Bacterions can effectively regenerate from multiple pieces which then become new fully functioning Bacterions, it's also possible that [[SchmuckBait they're intentionally leaving themselves open to spread across the universe]].

** E.Laser, R. Option, Reduce Shield, and Full Barrier in ''SNES III''. E.Laser and R.Option combined give you a powerful rotating charged attack that can erase distructable bullets even while charging and can kill most everything in several hits - you're basically flying a ''buzzsaw''. Reduce shield is the best shield in the series, although it can only negate two hits, it makes your ship, and thus your hit box, ''smaller'', allowing you to slip though most bullets with ease. Full Barrier allows you to refill a partial shield instead of deplete it to bring it back to full.

* SpiritualAdaptation: Depending on who you ask, some fans consider ''Gradius V'' this to ''both the Salamander games'' when a few other fans consider it this to the MSX games.

* HarsherInHindsight: The title of ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]''. The game ended up marking the ''death'' of the series instead, being the last original ''Gradius'' game if one doesn't count its spinoff series ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}}''. It didn't help that ''[=ReBirth=]'' received a lot of criticism simply for failing to meet the [[ToughActToFollow lofty standards]] set by ''V''.

* HarsherInHindsight: ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]'' ended up marking the ''death'' of the series instead, being the last original ''Gradius'' game if one doesn't count its spinoff series ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}}''. It didn't help that ''[=ReBirth=]'' received a lot of criticism simply for failing to meet the [[ToughActToFollow lofty standards]] set by ''V''.

* HarsherInHindsight: ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]'' ended up marking the ''death'' of the series instead, being the last original ''Gradius'' game if one doesn't count its spinoff series ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}}''. It didn't help that ''[=ReBirth=]'' received a lot of criticism for failing to meet the [[ToughActToFollow lofty standards]] set by ''V''.