So yeah, if you're a shmup lover and you don't own a Wii yet, you're missing out. The TG16 backlog of classic shooters (especially Star Parodier), Ultimate Shooting Collection, Blast Works, Castle Shikigami III, Geometry Wars Galaxies, and now Gradius Rebirth, are all must haves for fans of the genre.

Not only that, but Gradius Rebirth has just as much "retro charm" as even the great Mega Man 9, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I haven't beaten the game yet, because it's hard as hell, but here are my impressions so far.

Beware, their may be a few spoilers.

* The opening cinema totally nails the kind of 16 bit gaming, sci-fi narrative style that you never, ever see anymore. Even if you grew up playing games like this, chances are you've forgotten about what cinemas like this were like, but the instant you start Gradius Rebirth, you'll be flooded with that special "You can't do THAT on the NES!" feeling that came from starting up games like Military Madness, Metal Warriors, and of course Zero Wing.

You will see a man wearing a space helmet taking to an alien, both rendered with way more colors than the an 8 bit console could ever pull off. You will marvel at a "futuristic news broadcast" that truly transports you to THE FUTURE. You will watch with bated breath as the Vic Viper leaves its mother ship's docking bay, and you will love it.

* Like Contra 4 did for Contra 1-3, Gradius Rebirth pays direct tribute to levels from past Gradius games. The first level is basically a 16 bit retelling of the the first level of Gradius 1, the second level features all that weird, growing, brainy pink stuff from the first level of Lifeforce, and the Moa heads show up in a familiar, but all together new way on level three. I'd tell you more about that, but that giant Moa head at the end of level three keeps killing me...immediately.



* There are five difficulty settings. I'm playing on Normal, and I have died many, many times.

* Just like in most classic Konami games, you will need to deck yourself out in power-ups, then keep those power-ups on your ship by not dying, or else you will find yourself totally screwed.

* You have unlimited continues, and can start from any of four preselected start points on any level, given you've gotten to the level at least once.

*There are online leaderboards for the game's "Score Attack" mode, which doesn't allow for any continues. I'm currently ranked 18th on the "Normal" difficulty leaderboard. IGN is currently ranked 12th.

* Damn you, IGN!

* You can record replays of your games. I don't think you can send them to people though, which sort of sucks.

* So far, there is no 2 player co-op.

* Depending on optional (and sometimes difficult) stuff you pull off in a given level, you can change the level's environment, and potentially open up secret levels. Reminds me of Star Fox and R-type Final.

* The music and sound effects are amazing.

* The graphics are totally 16 bit. There is even occasional slow down, which helps you to not to get killed.

* You can select from three types of ships, each with their own variation on the standard Gradius weapons.

* So far, the bosses have been totally "WOAH! That bastard just killed me in one second!" awesome. The all have cool intros and a lot of personality, while staying true to their Gradius roots.

* I really, really want to beat the game, just to see the ending.

* It will be a while before I do that.



In summation, if you like games from the 16bit era, like shmups, or like to die, buy this game.

[UPDATE: My hand is killing me from pressing the fire button so fast. There is no auto-fire, so you have to shoot fast as hell to stand a chance.]