Why are these games so unreasonably difficult? Battletoads is fair. Ninja Gaiden is fair. Ghouls 'n Ghosts is fair.
Gradius is not only harder than all of these, not only takes away all your powers if you die, not only occasionally sends you back MULTIPLE LEVELS when you get hit ONCE, they somehow expected people to pay actual money for every single credit.
I've been reduced to a shell of man, so why can't I stop playing them?
supposedly the ? decreases your rank
it doesn't actually help much though
>>2773251
Doesn't it also remove all your powerups? I don't even think it existed in gradius 3 arcade.
>>2773253
Yeah most of the time it's lethal since it also takes away your speed ups. I'm always tempted to use it, even though I know it's mostly a trap.
Some elitist will come here and tell me to stfo.
>>2773259
I find that very unlikely, pretty sure lots of stuff is completely unavoidable without speed ups.
And a lot of bosses are unkillable without decent upgrades, unless you abuse the self-destruct mechanic.
>>2773245
>Why are these games so unreasonably difficult?
Because they weren't meant to be enjoyed, they're meant to take money from frustrated children as fast as possible while flashing as many explosions and lights on screen as technologically viable. These are video games made by the same type of human who would nickel and dime you through DLC today and you've fallen for them hook line and sinker.
>>2773260
I think if you're playing a console port, go for all upgrades, if arcade, only upgrade an option and missiles. You'll still reach max rank 15 minutes in either way. Also it's actually the exclamation item not the question sign.
The ! sign is actually a bomb in Gradius 3. Never mind, I'm probably thinking of Parodius.
>>2773279
You can change what the ! sign does in Weapon Edit.
>>2773274
Actually I always pick the most weapons, because the game slows down to a crawl when you fire everything against a few bosses.
Don't even think about dodging Big Core Mk.III or that Lizard bastard without that. If you die there, just turn off the game.
>>2773245
Better question would be "Why are all other games so unreasonably easy?".
I find these games difficulty just perfect.
>>2773245
>Why are these games so unreasonably difficult?
Because they were made for a time when casual was a way for dressing not a way of life for gamers.
>>2773245
Yeah I never liked Gradius because of the power-up system. It takes you like 35 power-ups to get to full power and then you can lose it all in an instant. If you could complete a part at max you're doomed with the default ship. You should be punished for failing, but c'mon.
>>2773245
You can't stop playing it because the game is good. But the greatest thing in this game is the feeling of progression. You start playing it, you suck, play again, get better, beat the first level, discover the next one and so on until the 1cc. It's hard, relentless, unforgiving, but it always give me this wonderful feeling of accomplishment when I can get further than usual in the game. I'm currently stuck at the Moai level (arcade version), I just can't get past it.
HAWK WIND
DOESN'T MATTER, FUCK DOUBLE
RIPPLE
F. OPTION
REDUCE
FULL BARRIER
reduce is the best upgrade in the game.
