Gradius IV

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Gradius IV

Title screen

Developer:	Konami
Publisher:	Konami
Director:	Hiroyuki Ashida
Music:	Harumi Ueko Atsuki Yoshihiko Koezuka
Program:	Ken Midorikawa Yasuyuki Nagatomo Naoki Niihama Takeshi Asaki Ken Inagaki
Art:	Daisuke Yoro Daisuke Chiba Ayumu Hasegawa Jun Omoto Naoki Morita Hiroyuki Ashida Hiromichi Iwashita
Release date:	Arcade JP: February 4, 1999 PS2: April 13, 2000 PSP: February 9, 2006
Previous game:	Gradius Gaiden
Next game:	Otomedius

Gradius IV: Fukkatsu (JP: "グラディウスIV 復活", "Gradius IV: Resurrection") is a horizontal scrolling shoot em' up developed and published by Konami in the year 1999. It is the sequel to Gradius III.

The game is notable for being the last mainline Gradius released in arcades, and has only been ported via Gradius III and IV on PlayStation 2 and Gradius Collection on PlayStation Portable.

For replay videos, visit the Video Index.

Gameplay Overview

Controls

Gradius IV is a 3 button game with 9 stages. Finishing all of them will start the 2nd loop.

• A button: Equips the slot highlighted in the Power Meter.
• B button: Fires the player's main weapon.
• C button: Fires the player's missiles.

Power Meter

Gradius IV reuses the Power Meter to handle the power up system. Collecting Power Capsules highlights one slot going from left to right. Grabbing a Power Capsule when the last slot is highlighted makes it go back to the Speed Up. Dying with a Power Capsule not utilized will highlight the Speed Up slot regardless of where it originally was.

Each slot does the following:

Slot	Effect
Speed Up	Increases the player's speed. Can be equipped up to 5 times.
Missile	Adds a ground-based projectile.
Double	Adds a secondary shot giving more coverage. Equipping Double replaces Laser in case the player was using it.
Laser	Upgrades the main shot. Higher damaging than both the regular shot and Double. Equipping Laser replaces Double in case the player was using it.
Option	Adds an orange orb that mimics the player's movement and weapons. Can be equipped up to 4 times.
?	Activates a shield that grants protection against bullets and enemies.

Weapons

Preset configurations

Type A
Missile: Fired downwards and travels across the ground. Normal Double: Secondary shot fired at a 45° angle. Normal Laser: Thin beam that can pierce through enemies.

Type B
Spread Bomb: Explodes upon impact dealing heavy damage. Tail Gun: Secondary shot fired backwards.

Type C
Photon Torpedo: Fired downwards and travels across the ground faster than the regular Missile, can pierce through enemies. Ripple: Becomes wider as it travels across the screen, cannot pierce through enemies.

Type D
2-Way: Two missiles fired up and down, they can't travel through the ground.

Type E
Vertical Mine: Mines that are thrown based on velocity and direction of the ship, explodes upon impact. Armor Piercing: Piercing bullets. Has higher speed, but lower damage.

Type F
Flying Torpedo: Fired forwards in a set of two missiles, holding down the B button spreads them apart vertically. Twin Laser: A set of two thin small lasers.

Shields

• Grants frontal protection against bullets, can withstand several hits.

• Grants protection from all sides against bullets, can withstand up to 6 hits.

Power Capsules

	Red Power Capsule Appears upon defeating enemy formations and orange colored enemies. Advances the Power Meter by one slot.
	Blue Power Capsule Appears after 12 Red Power Capsules. Clears the screen from small enemies and bullets. Does not advance the Power Meter.

Loops

Gradius IV loops infinitely. There's little to no slowdown, allowing for higher loops to spawn much more bullets than usual. The loops have a few stage changes.

Stage 1

The melting dragons spawn more often, Chimera's fireballs release suicide bullets when shot at.

Strategy

For general tips, walkthroughs and boss descriptions, see: Gradius IV/Strategy

Trivia

• In the game`s opening, a scene of the Gofer fight from Gradius II can be briefly seen.