Gradius ReBirth

Overview

Gradius ReBirth is a 2D sci-fi fantasy side-scrolling shoot-'em-up developed by M2 and published digitally by Konami for the Wii in Japan on September 2, 2008, in North America on March 9, 2009, and in Europe on July 3, 2009.

The first in Konami's ReBirth trilogy (which also includes Contra ReBirth and Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth), Gradius ReBirth is a deliberately-retro re-imagining of the Gradius series, combining classic gameplay mechanics from earlier games in the series while including synthesized rearrangements of the series' musical tracks.

The game's story is set in the Gradian Year 6664, two years before the events of Nemesis 2. Players reprise the role of James Burton, Gradian pilot of the Vic Viper, as he combats a new Bacterian threat after the planet Antichthon falls silent (with its mother computer hacked).

As of January 30, 2019, the game can no longer be acquired due to the closure of the Wii Shop Channel.

Gameplay

Like previous installments, ReBirth tasks you with navigating various enemy filled environments by shooting everything in sight. And as always, you can upgrade your ship in various ways via the "Power Meter," by using capsules that enemies drop upon vanquishing them.

The available upgrades are:

• Speed Up: Increases the speed of your ship, the Vic Viper.
• Missile: Gives you missiles that allow you to attack ground-based enemies with ease.
• Double: Fires multiple cannons simultaneously.
• Laser: Replaces the cannon fire with a laser.
• Option: Gives you a small orange ball that follows you ship, and adds extra firepower. Up to four of these can be obtained.
• ?: Gives you a shield that protects you from enemy fire for a limited number of hits.

The bosses, considered to be one of the highlights of the series, are all new (unlike the levels). The way to defeat these foes is to "shoot the core," which the game reminds you to do at the beginning of each battle. Bosses may change behavior or physical appearance after a certain amount of damage has been dealt to them.

Modes

ReBirth features two modes: A standard single-player mode, that gives you unlimited credits (also known as, continues), and; Score Attack, which gives you only one credit to beat the game with. This mode also the only one to feature leaderboards.