Game of the Year!

GRADIUS V

No ifs, No ands, and No buts aboot it :p...
Konami and Treasure went all out with this one and while the music isn' t as good as it could have been (I had suspected as much before the game' s release) the rest of the game is an amazing and Incredibly challenging experience. Incredibly challenging but never unfair as there' s always a way around something.

Gradius V amazingly pays homage to not only the entire Gradius series (1,2,3,4, and Gaiden), but also has a bunch of Salamander 1 & 2 references as well, there' s also a bit of Ikaruga in there somewhere also. It' s like getting some of the best elements of each of those games..

For me this is definitely the best shooter released within the last few years and right now my personal pick for Game of the year.

2004 games to put ahead of Gradius V:

1. Chronicles of Riddick
2. Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
3. Champions of Norrath
4. Onimusha 3: Dungeon Siege
5. NFL 2k5



Shooters = teh suck

(' cuz I can' t do ' em) LOL

Kikizo Staff Writer

Oddly, I' ve never heard of GRADIUS V before but I' ll educate myself now.

Other games to consider for best of 2004... surely Fabel deservs a look? If it all ' works' well it could be a revolution.

Looks like a lot of fun

Expect the full Kikizo treatment of Gradius V next week!! Unfortunately NCS didn' t get their Limited Editions until the middle of this week and I got my copy a day afterwards, otherwise it would have been up already!

i loved ikaruga, and i' m a big fan of shooters, so i' ll be picking this one up as soon as i get some money.

A fate brings its will back to the original place and awakens the first
conscience engraved on the deep valley of memory. This is what drives Ikaruga...

Gradius V will cost a mere $30 when it released to the US. Makes it hard to pass up.

How about we reserve judgement until, say.... Nov. 11th?

I dont want to celebrate, I want to sell you hate.

Nah no need to reserve judgement.. Out of all the stuff shown at E3 and all the stuff announced for release this year the Only other game that I' d consider as my personal choice for game of the year is VIEWTIFUL JOE 2!!!!

I think Ill judge on christmas when I can get my hands on the majority of games for the least amount of my own money.

Viewtiful Joe 2 look exactly like Viewtiful Joe 1. No difference. Still got that chick yelling " Just go for it!" every 6 seconds.

Viewtiful Joe 2 look exactly like Viewtiful Joe 1. No difference. Still got that chick yelling " Just go for it!" every 6 seconds.

EXACTLY Why I adore it!!! :)

When I first heard that Capcom was thinking about changing the game a bit I wanted to kill em!! But when I played the E3 build, I was completely satisfied.. :)

I' ve heard of the gradius series, but never checked into it until now. Am I crazy or is this Life Force, from the NES?

The ship looks the same, and its the 2-D side scrolling style that Life Force has. Don' t think I' m sounding dissapointed either, b/c Life Force happens to be once of my favorite NES games. Now I really wanna try this game out!

I' ve heard of the gradius series, but never checked into it until now. Am I crazy or is this Life Force, from the NES?

The ship looks the same, and its the 2-D side scrolling style that Life Force has. Don' t think I' m sounding dissapointed either, b/c Life Force happens to be once of my favorite NES games. Now I really wanna try this game out!

Gradius and Life Force (aka Salamander) are ' different' games in the same world..
Life Force is basically a spin-off of the Gradius series. The Vic Viper ship like you mentioned is in both games.. There have been only two Salamander/Life Force games released so far, whereas Gradius is an ongoing series.

The differences between the two are:

Life Force (Salamander) is two-player coop whereas Gradius has always been one player(that was until the last two console exclusive Gradius games).. Life Force also has both Horizontally scrolling levels and Vertically scrolling ones, whereas Gradius only has horizontal levels. The levels in Gradius are more mechanical whereas the ones in Life Force are more organic.

Fans of Life Force and Gradius will be happy to know that Gradius V contains elements from EVERY Gradius and Life Force game ever made! So if you' re a fan of either, you' ll feel right at home.

if i may also vote for a game that is not released yet:

OUTRUN 2 !

the arcade version, AND lots of new content (incl. 2 new tracks !), the same music as the orginal outrun (and new music too !), this game just gives me that " feel good" feeling once again. sega did it again, and after expecting nothing more than " just another racing game" , sega proved me wrong, and showed that OUTRUN is still alive !

greetz,

music_maniac1965

Come on, folks!

Why kid yourselves...

Everyone knows that Halo 2 will be the BIGGEST game of the year!

With approximately 1,000,000 pre-orders (a record, by the way!), Halo 2 is the most-anticipated game in the history of gaming...period!!!

Videogaming is the contemporary interactive pasttime.

ORIGINAL: DaRoosh65

Come on, folks!

Why kid yourselves...

Everyone knows that Halo 2 will be the BIGGEST game of the year!

With approximately 1,000,000 pre-orders (a record, by the way!), Halo 2 is the most-anticipated game in the history of gaming...period!!!

so most xbox gamers are eager to get their hands on this game, but that does not make it anny different for ME becouse its all about one person' s taste, and my heart' s set on OUTRUN 2

Didn' t care for the original so part 2 is definitely a pass for me :)

Halo 2 is not just for XBOX gamers...

PC owners are expected to get the chance to play it too!

As for one person' s taste...

What? Did you think that I pre-ordered all those copies of Halo 2? Not!

There are quite a few people out there who are actually interested in Halo 2 that do not own either a PC or XBOX.

I understand if Halo 2 is not your thing...just understand Outrun 2 is not mine.

In that case, we agree to disagree. See, things can work out...

Videogaming is the contemporary interactive pasttime.

The Game of The Year should recognize Fable as the brightest game to come, I dream every night of playing this game, when I' m at work im thinking about Fable. Who wouldnt want this game?? well I guess it just appeals to me very much since I have been waiting for a game like this for about five years.

ORIGINAL: DaRoosh65

I understand if Halo 2 is not your thing...just understand Outrun 2 is not mine.

In that case, we agree to disagree. See, things can work out...

nope, its not that halo 2 is not my thing, i will definately buy that game too, but i am a outrun fan in head and heart, and this modern age sequel i played at the arcades, and soon on my xbox tickles my fancies even more

and about taste you can' t debate. its just that the previous messages is my way of telling that i' d prefer outrun 2 to halo 2. but that does not mean halo (or fable, or anny other magnificient game) is crap, i will play them all. (no, not all the games, but all the great games )