I have played some Gradius games, but Konami also did Shoot 'em Ups before the Gradius series. So before I get to that series, I'll take a quick look at a few of their previous games of the same genre. So, Konami, I heard Super Bomberman R is good, and that Castlevania anime was great too...but you still treat your employees like shit so fuck you.
The first one is Scramble (スクランブル, Sukuranburu), released in February 1981 in Japan and was released in the US and Europe that same year.
The game is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up. You play as an aircraft as you shoot and bomb many obstacles like rockets and other alien oddities. But it ain't going to be easy as the terrain can get cramped and the auto-scrolling can make it difficult to dodge. You also have fuel that will decrease during the game, and the only way to refill is to...bomb fuel tanks? It's a video game from the early 80's, just go with it.
The gameplay is really dated, shooting with bullets is OK but bombing bottom targets is just poor, because you have a target you want to bomb but when the bomb drops, it still moves with you, meaning that they will miss their target, so you have to time your bomb drops.
The graphics are OK, it was 1981 and considering that previous games of this genre has primitive graphics, this isn't that bad. There barely is any music...so there.
Overall, Scrambled is a simple but tough Shoot 'em Up, but I never had any fun with it's much dated game mechanics, especially the bomb drops.
Nevertheless, the game got a sequel a...month later?
Super Cobra (スーパーコブラ, Sūpā Kobura), released in 1981.
The game...is near enough Scramble again, only this time, YOU PLAY AS A HELICOPTER! And at the end of the game, you must reach the enemy base to collect the Booty and carry it safely out. So I'm playing as a rapper?
I mean at least the level design is different but is just as hard as the first game...I still don't like it.
How about some time travel?
Time Pilot (夕イム・パイ口ツ卜), released in 1982.
So you control a fighter jet as you travel through time, shooting enemy crafts.
There are five levels based on different time periods:
1910 World War I
1940 World War II
1970...possibly Vietnam War
1982...possibly Cold War
2001 EVERYTHING IS DEAD, THE ALIENS HAVE KILLED US ALL...wait, what year is this?
The objective of the game is to shoot enough enemy crafts based on time periods in each level until you got to shoot down the boss. If you can do that, you'll go forward in time. You do this for every level and once you do 2001, you go back to 1910 where the game gets harder, an infinite loophole of which the pilot can never return to his own time.
Scary theory aside, the game is quite fun if again, difficult. You can move in eight directions but you will always remain in the centre of the screen. So you'll spend the entire time just shooting enemies and dodging enemy fire. The time travel aspect is an interesting idea but the graphics don't really give out the fact that you're time travelling since the backgrounds remain the same apart from a different colour palette, so the atmosphere of time travel is completely lost in me.
Nevertheless, Time Pilot is a decent game. It's simple, it controls great but the time travel aspect isn't done too well.
But it's not over yet, as Time Pilot got a sequel, Time Pilot '84: Further Into Unknown World, released in, of course, 1984. The game's time travelling is...not really a thing, as it's mostly set in the future. The gameplay remains the same though, but now you have a homing missile to hit white ships.
The game is much harder, but less interesting, I mean, the first game had a balance of difficulty and fun gameplay, this somehow feels restricted and boring, this is mostly a below decent game but a disappointment of a sequel.
Next up is Gyruss (ジャイラス Jairasu), released in 1983 worldwide.
The game is a tube shooter in a similar vain to Atari's Tempest, you simply shoot enemies in a circle whilst avoiding enemy fire when they arrive. There's nothing much to it and it's rather easy as I was able to get pass a few stages before I got a game over. The gameplay is very simple, but not as fulfilling as other Konami Shoot 'em Ups. And this is somehow the popular Shoot 'em Up from Konami. I don't know.
Finalizer: Super Transformation (ファイナライザ：スーパートランスフォーメーション Fainaraiza: Sūpātoransufōmēshon), released in 1985.
So this is a top-down shooter where you control a ship and shoot futuristic crafts. Oh, and you can also turn into a robot for extra firepower, but if you get killed, it's back to normal until you can get the power-up again. This is another basic game of this genre, it's difficult, it's quite forgettable, has decent graphics, NEXT!
And finally, Scooter Shooter (スクーターシューター Sukūtāshūtā), also released in 1985.
This game is a multiplayer game where one player plays as Ms., and the other plays as Mr.
So in this game, the objective is to fly your hover scooter and make your way through enemies to get to the exit. However, the CPU or second player has to do the same but on the opposite side. You'll collect power-ups to help you along the way. After getting to the exit, Ms. and Mr. must battle each other to the death...I guess. Do this three more times and the victor goes to whoever is good at the game.
The game is just...below average, the multiplayer mechanics are rather odd, I think it's because the game feels absolutely empty despite a lot going on like shooting enemies. It's one of those games where you need a friend to see if you think this is a worthwhile experience. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.
And that's about it, because after that, we have Gradius and that's a separate thing, so keep watch on that whenever I publish that.