Gradius

Overview

Gradius didn’t invent the side-scrolling shooter—Scramble and Defender came first—but it defined the genre’s vocabulary. The power-up selection bar. The options that shadow your ship. The difficulty that demands memorisation. And, unintentionally, the Konami Code. When programmer Kazuhisa Hashimoto needed to test the NES port, he added a cheat that made history.

Fast facts

• Developer: Konami.
• Release: May 1985 (arcade), April 1986 (NES).
• Original title: Nemesis in Europe.
• Innovation: player-controlled power-up selection system.
• The Code: ↑↑↓↓←→←→BA originated here, granting full power-ups.
• Series: spawned numerous sequels and spin-offs including Salamander/Life Force.

The power-up bar

Gradius let players choose their upgrades:

1. Speed Up: increase ship velocity.
2. Missile: ground-hugging projectiles.
3. Double: fire forward and diagonally.
4. Laser: powerful beam replacing standard shot.
5. Option: shadow orbs that duplicate your fire.
6. Shield: front-facing protection (or force field).

Collect orange capsules to move the selection bar; press B to activate. Players developed personal upgrade paths—some rushed for Options, others prioritised shields.

The Options

The “Option” power-up became Gradius’s signature:

• Up to four glowing orbs following your ship
• Each duplicates your weapon fire
• Multiplicative firepower when positioned well
• Lost on death, devastating your effectiveness

The psychological impact of losing fully-powered Options fueled many rage-quits.

The origin of the Code

Kazuhisa Hashimoto was testing the NES port:

• The game was too hard to reach later stages during debugging
• He added ↑↑↓↓←→←→BA to grant full power-ups instantly
• The code was never removed before release
• Players discovered it, shared it, immortalised it

The sequence later appeared in Contra (granting 30 lives) and hundreds of other games—a cultural phenomenon born from debugging convenience.

The Moai heads

Gradius featured iconic stone head enemies that became series mascots:

• Easter Island-style statues
• Fire ring projectiles from their mouths
• Appear throughout the series
• Symbolise Gradius as much as the Vic Viper ship

Legacy

Gradius established conventions the shooter genre still uses: power-up selection, organic level design (volcanos, cells, fortresses), memorisation-based difficulty. The series continued through numerous sequels. And that debugging cheat became gaming’s most recognisable secret code.

See also

• Konami
• Nintendo Entertainment System
• Contra
• Castlevania