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Compared to the crowds of people flocking to Konami’s E3 space on the E3 show floor to catch a look at new developments with Silent Hill, Metal Gear or Neverdead, the kiosk where Otomedius Excellent sits in the booth sees relatively little traffic. There’s a few reasons for this. The obvious reason is that shmups aren’t known for garnering much attention beyond their dedicated niche. Perhaps more importantly, though, Otomedius doesn’t have the same brand weight Konami throws around with its top-tier properties; Gradius is old-school. Yes, it’s based on one of the Japanese publisher’s longest-running classic series but the sad fact for fans of the series is that it seemingly hasn’t been a major priority for Konami in years.
Though Otomedius Excellent's design is not especially different from the oldest Gradius (only updated with a 3D engine on a 2D plane) Konami added a few things so that it feels current. Unlike Gradius proper, Otomedius’s ladies can fire off screen-filling burst bombs, complete with anime flourishes that are played on-screen before the move is executed. Your weapons selection has also been vastly expanded to include several unlockable armaments like piercing missiles (that instantly tear through a straight row of enemies), a Contra-style spread shot and tri-fanning projectiles that shoot above, below and forward simultaneously, to name a few. Longtime fans may even recognize some boss and enemy types that tie Otomedius to its forebears. They may be thrown off by the chunkier character and enemy ship models, though - whereas old Gradius games had you threading your way through passages increasingly fraught with enemy fire, Otomedius gives you less room to maneuver in general, creating a different kind of claustrophobia. (The slowdown this causes in-game may or may not be an homage to Gradius’ chugging 8- and 16-bit console incarnations.)
Frankly we’re amazed that Otomedius Excellent is being brought to the US at all, since the brand is so unknown in the states that Konami branded the box with the Gradius logo. Otherwise it’s likely no one would get it. From the few levelswe played, which ranged from a Yokohoma-esque harbor area to underground caves, Otomedius is looking pretty good. The difficulty ramped up quickly and some of the boss battles we saw - including a crafty, tentacled mech that could very be well a tongue-in-cheek rendition of MGS4’s Gekkos - were genuinely interesting. For better or for worse, Otomedius is still Gradius. Just try not to get too distracted by all the boobs when the game hits the 360 next month.
Jun 10, 2011
