Gradius II
Sequel to Gradius, introducing boss rush and selectable weapon configurations.
Konami released Gradius II, also known as Vulcan Venture in North American arcades, in 1988 as a horizontally scrolling shooter. It follows the original Gradius and precedes Gradius III. The arcade version appears in the Gradius Deluxe Pack for PlayStation and Sega Saturn, as well as the Gradius Collection for PlayStation Portable.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Konami
- Publisher
- Konami
- Consoles
- Hudson Soft
- Series
- Gradius
- Director
- Hiroyasu Machiguchi
- Famicom
- Shigeharu Umezaki
- Programmer
- Toshiaki Takatori
- PC Engine
- Koji Igarashi
- Composer
- Shinji Tasaka
- Motoaki Furukawa
- Kenichi Matsubara
- Seiichi Fukami
- Famicom
- Hidenori Maezawa
- Yukie Morimoto
- Platforms
- Arcade
- Famicom
- PC Engine Super CD-ROM²
- X68000
- Windows
- mobile phone
- Genre
- Scrolling shooter
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The Vic Viper pilot returns to face a second wave of attacks from the Bacterion Empire, now commanded by the giant head Gofer. Gameplay stays true to the original Gradius but borrows enhancements from the spin-off Salamander (Life Force), most noticeably in two selectable weapon setups. A series first appears here: a boss rush level made up entirely of boss fights. The familiar selection bar is back, now offering four distinct weapon configurations and progressions. Every scheme includes speed-up and multiples (Options), but they differ in Missile, Double (laser), and Laser weapons. A maximum of four multiples can be held. Two shield types are available: a shield that offers extra durability only to the Vic Viper’s front, and a forcefield that protects the whole ship but only against three hits. In the Famicom version, picking another multiple after four causes the existing four to orbit the spacecraft for 16 seconds; the forcefield is the only full-body protection, surviving five hits, and appears in four weapon configurations. Double and Laser must be activated twice to reach full power. The PC Engine version changes the ending screen based on the difficulty level chosen.
Release
The initial home conversion of Gradius II arrived on the Family Computer in 1988, but it stayed within Japan. The likely reason is that this version used a custom VRC4 memory mapper to improve graphical features like animation, and adapting it to a standard mapper—as Konami later did with Castlevania III—would have required excessive effort, especially since the original Gradius was less popular outside Japan. A PC Engine Super CD-ROM² port followed in 1992, also Japan-only. Its graphics were nearly identical to the arcade original, the soundtrack was mostly redbook audio, and it added one stage reminiscent of the temple level from the NES Life Force and Gradius III’s first stage. In 1996, Gradius II appeared in the Japan-exclusive Gradius Deluxe Pack for PlayStation, Saturn, and Windows. A worldwide release finally came in 2006 via the Gradius Collection on PlayStation Portable. Mobile phone and Windows Phone versions arrived in 2004 and 2010, respectively. North America did not see any version until that 2006 collection. The Famicom and PC Engine ports were reissued on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007, with the PC Engine version getting an international release. Hamster Corporation brought the arcade original to PlayStation 4 in 2016 and Nintendo Switch in 2020 as part of their Arcade Archives series, which also appeared in Konami’s Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection. The 2025 Gradius Origins compilation included multiple versions of the game.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Gradius II as the second most-successful table arcade unit in their May 1, 1988 issue, and it became Japan's third highest-grossing arcade game of 1988. Review aggregator GameRankings scored it at 80%. IGN gave the Virtual Console release of the PC Engine version an 8 out of 10, praising the ability to choose power-ups before a stage and the inclusion of useful cheat codes. Nintendo Life also gave the PC Engine version an 8 out of 10, praising new features like the animated intro sequence and exclusive stage.
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