History VideoGAme / Gradius

''Nemesis 2'' allows you to find new weapons within stages, which seems like a great idea in theory, but these new weapons get tacked onto your power meter, making it longer and thus requiring more power capules to get power-ups near the end, such as Option and Shield. It's often best to just take one or two weapons you want and ignore the rest.

** In ''Salamander 2'', you could do rolls like in later entries in the ''VideoGame/ThunderForce'' series. And like in ''Thunder Force'', it does nothing but [[RuleOfCool look stylish.]]

* ''Nemesis'' (1990, UsefulNotes/GameBoy)
** Included in ''Konami GB Collection Vol. 1'' (1997, Japan) for the UsefulNotes/SuperGameBoy under the title of ''Gradius''
** Included in ''Konami GB Collection Vol. 1'' (2000, Europe) for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor under the title of ''Gradius''
* ''Nemesis II: Return of the Hero'' (UsefulNotes/GameBoy). Released as ''Gradius: The Interstellar Assault'' in North America.
** Included in ''Konami GB Collection Vol. 3'' (1998, Japan) for the UsefulNotes/SuperGameBoy under the title of ''Gradius II''
** Included in ''Konami GB Collection Vol. 4'' (2000, Europe) for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor under the title of ''Gradius II: Return of the Hero''

* BrainMonster: In ''Salamander'', the first boss is the Brain Golem, which resembles a giant brain with an eye at one end. It attacks mostly by waving two serpentine arms around. Brain Golem reappears in another WombLevel in ''VideoGame/MonsterMaulers'', now equipped with EyeBeams. A frozen-over cousin, "Brain Freeze," appears as an exclusive boss in the UsefulNotes/GameBoy version of ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'', and wields a PaperFanOfDoom in its second attack phase.

** The UsefulNotes/{{NES}} conversion of the first game introduced the KonamiCode, and the UsefulNotes/{{SNES}} conversion of ''III'' was also the first to subvert it. Instead, it has a modified version of the code where the left and right buttons are replaced with the left and right triggers.

** ''Nemesis'' for UsefulNotes/GameBoy may or may not be a retelling of ''Gradius'' itself. Further confusing matters is that interquel ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]'' appears to be a retelling of it.

* {{Retraux}}: ''[=ReBirth=]'' (2009) is designed to look like a [[UsefulNotes/TheFifthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames "32-bit"-era]] game, with a soundtrack in the style of ''Gradius II'' and ''III''.

* ScienceFantasy: The series routinely weaves in and out of this, especially in terms of some of the game's bosses, as some are prophecized ancient terrors, while others are [[ElementalEmbodiment elemental beings]], like [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]], [[ThePhoenix phoenixes]], and lions ''made of'' fire. Even Moais are also recurring enemies and bosses in the series. Other supernatural elements routinely come into play as well, especially in the UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} games where the concept of [[PsychicPowers ESP]] plays a role in the story. To compliment the fantastical side, the series also has fleets of battleships, [[SpiderTank robot spiders]], and alien monsters made of BodyHorror. What other game lets you play as a CoolStarship that battles fiery dragons and battleships with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] and AttackDrones?

** ''Gradius III's'' dragon boss starts off as a [[MultipleHeadCase 3-headed]] [[OurWyvernsAreDifferent wyvern]] (kinda like [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} King Ghidorah]]), but it transforms into a serpentine dragon with AHeadAtEachEnd, making the Vic Viper attack two [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak points]]. This is only for the Arcade version; the UsefulNotes/{{SNES}} version just skips right to the serpentine form.

* FlameSpewerObstacle: Stage 1 of ''Gradius 2'' and stage 3 of ''Salamander'' has firey surfaces that emit huge arcing flames either once per location or at regular intervals.

* SimilarlyNamedWorks: Konami's constant tendency to rename things outside Japan has resulted in this multiple times with this franchise.
** ''Nemesis'' is either the first Gameboy game, or Gradius's North American arcade port.
** ''Gradius 2/Nemesis 2'' on MSX is not to be confused with ''Nemesis II'' on Gameboy, or with ''Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou'', which itself shouldn't be confused with ''Gofer No Yabou: Episode II/Nemesis 3'', which is not ''Gradius III'' in the slightest.
** Also, take care not to confuse ''Life Force'', Salamander's North American arcade/famicom port, with the remade Japanese arcade also titled ''Life Force''