An early look at Konami's Gradius III and IV shows Konami's dedication to Sony's new platform

Aside from the fancy, blinking dance coin-ops that are all the rage in Japan, Konami's other PlayStation2 products showed great potential, as well as mind-blowing graphics. The three games that impressed us most were Gradius III and IV, Reisilied and International Superstar Soccer, all scheduled for PlayStation2.

The most phenomenal showing of them all was the movie of Gradius - it's astounding. The CG video looks breathtaking and better than any quality movies on previous systems by a long shot. This is the stuff of the cinema, the kind of graphic CG only seen in movies up to this point in time. Of course, movies should do just that - instantly immerse you with visuals to set the mood for the game, and the movies of Gradius succeeded wildly at it.

Monolithic spaceships drifting through space are suddenly attacked by tiny but ferocious fighters, causing all sorts of damage and destruction. Organic sheaths on frighteningly detailed motherships open like cat's eyes to let out new spacecraft and land their battleworn vessels. Immense shows of energy and light issue from the cannons of deadly warships, wreaking havoc on enemy craft. We watched the intro movie to Gradius several times out of amazement.

Unfortunately, no representatives from Konami were available to explain whether Gradius III and IV was two games or one game with two parts, as it appears to be listed in Konami's catalogue. No release date was given.


Courtesy of IGN.com