This is the first boss in Life Force, by the way.
The fact that dying leaves you with a near-powerless ship that has little hope of recovering isn't the only scary thing about the Gradius series.- Usually the Bacterian Emperor either looks like a Brain, a Giant Eye (Zelos), a skinless head (Gofer), a three headed humanoid (Doom), or a face surrounded by smaller faces (Bacterion).
- There is also the two facts that :
- A. The Bacterians are pieces of Bacterion who is an cell.
- B. The Homeworld of the Bacterians is Bacterion himself.
- What's really scary is that every time the Bacterian Emperor gets defeated, the cells composing the Bacterian Empire increase in numbers, making a new and stronger Empire. This gives rise to the theory that the Bacterian Emperors intentionally leave themselves defenseless so that they can spread across the universe.Gofer, in Gradius IV: My body will be broken into pieces and spread across the universe]]. But with every piece, I will be reborn! Then you will regret having destroyed me! HAHAHAHAHA!
- Regenerating walls. Imagine them not only regenerating within your ship, but inside of you.
- The overseas versions of Life Force (NES) only has a static shot of the Konami logo against a solid back background while the ending theme plays. It's rather eerie, particularly if you're playing alone at night. In contrast, Salamander (its Japan-region counterpart) has a proper credit roll.
- The Stage 6 of Gradius V might remind someone of Gas Chambers in The Holocaust. Yikes.
- Gaiden's male announcer lets out a bone-chilling Evil Laugh if you lose your last life late into the game.
- The final non-zero-effort boss of Gaiden, Sol, doesn't have any Background Music at all; instead, there's a hellish-sounding klaxon that plays until you enter the final boss's lair, greatly adding to the tension as the fortress makes one final attempt on your life.
- The very first boss of Salamander / Life Force is the Brain Golem, a creepy giant brain that grows arms and an eye at the front of its brain, and then chases you around the screen.
- Salamander/Life Force (NES) and Gradius II (NES) have the HUD vanish and the background turn solid black for most bosses (due to hardware limitations), making the player feel like they're trapped in a dark room with a very dangerous enemy. This effect is especially pronounced in Life Force, due to its subdued rendition of the boss theme "Poison of Snake"
, and against the Stage 4 boss in particular, a skeletal head with a creepy Slasher Smile and bulging eyes. - The aforementioned Doom from Salamander 2 really means it when he says "I'm going to scare you like you've never been scared before!" Unlike other final bosses, Doom is actually difficult.
- The ending of Nemesis 3. David recovers the capsule containing a 3-year-old James Burton, revives him, and sends him safely back to Gradius. All is well as he time warps out...only to be attacked in the middle of time warp by Venom, who's Not Quite Dead and whose portrait is staring right at the player. Venom declares, in menacing red text, that he'll finish the job. If you failed to get the shield device from earlier in the game, David notes that he can't use his ship's built-in shield in warp (in comparison, if you did get the shield item, he's able to use it to return safely to his own time), and drops out of warp in hopes of defending himself from the attack. The last shot is of Venom's portrait on a black screen as he laughs at you. What happens to David is not explicitly stated, only that he's declared MIA, leaving the gruesome details up to the player's imagination."Year: G6809 - Event: David Burton sets out in Vixen fighter to repel Bacterion. Not yet returned."
