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gradius2: MAME ROM Information.

History:

Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou (c) 1988 Konami.

The third game in Konami's renowned "Gradius" series; the prequel being "Gradius" (known as "Nemesis" in Europe) and a spinoff called "Salamander" (also known as "Life Force"). Gradius II strictly adheres to the shoot-em-up template set out by its hugely successful predecessor, the game eschews the sideways/vertical scrolling alternate levels of "Salamander" and opts instead for "Gradius" sideways scrolling-only mechanic. This game is rightly considered to be one of the most demanding and difficult shoot-em-ups ever released.

- TECHNICAL -

Game ID : GX785

Main CPU : (2x) 68000 (@ 10 Mhz)

Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)

Sound Chips : YM2151 (@ 3.57958 Mhz), K007232 (@ 3.579545 Mhz), UPD7759 (@ 640 Khz)

Screen orientation : Horizontal

Video resolution : 320 x 224 pixels

Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz

Palette colors : 1024

Players : 2

Control : 8-way joystick

Buttons : 3

- TRIVIA -

Released in March 1988.

The title of this game translates from Japanese as 'Gradius II - GOFER's Ambition'.

This game is known outside Japan as "Vulcan Venture".

A three-part Ova anime based on the Gradius series was released in Japan within a year after the release of Gradius II. It follows the adventures of Dan, Stephanie, and Eddie - Three ace pilots who hope to save their planet from the forces of the Bacterion empire. Later on in the series, they are joined by Lord British, the Prince of Latis.

Apollon Music released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Space Odyssey, Gradius II - Gofer no yabou - BY30-5202) on 21/07/1988.

- UPDATES -

The main differences between Vulcan Venture and Gradius II are :

* Continue available in Vulcan Venture.

* Different title screen.

* Option is called Multiple in Vulcan Venture.

* Ripple Laser is called Pulse Laser in Vulcan Venture.

- SERIES -

1. Gradius [Model GX400] (1985)

2. Salamander [Model GX587] (1986)

3. Lifeforce [Model GX587] (1987)

4. Gradius 2 [Model RC751] (1987, MSX)

5. Gradius II - Gofer no Yabou (1988)

6. Nemesis 3 - The Eve of Destruction (1988, MSX)

7. Gradius III - Densetsu Kara Shinwa-e (1989)

8. Nemesis '90 Kai (1993, Sharp X68000)

9. Salamander 2 (1996)

10. Solar Assault - Gradius (1997)

11. Solar Assault - Revised (1997)

12. Gradius Gaiden (1997, Sony PlayStation)

13. Gradius IV - Fukkatsu (1998)

14. Gradius Generation (2001, Nintendo Game Boy Advance)

15. Gradius V (2004, Sony PlayStation 2)

16. Gradius Neo (2004, NTT DoCoMo i-mode Phones)

17. Gradius Neo Imperial (2005, NTT DoCoMo i-mode Phones)

18. Gradius Wide (2007, NTT DoCoMo i-mode Phones)

19. Gradius Rebirth (2008, Nintendo Wii)

- STAFF -

Game programmers : Toshiaki Takatori, K. Tsutsui, T. Horimoto, A. Suzuki, Takehiko Fujii

Graphic designers : Miki Yoshikata, H. Ashida, Michiko Iwamoto, A. Nonami, Kuniaki Kakuwa

Sound editors : S. Tasaka, Motoaki Furukawa, K. Matsubara, S. Hukami

Engineer : K. Hashima

Title designers : F. Shinuya, J. Tanaka

- PORTS -

* Consoles :

Nintendo Famicom (1988)

Nintendo Game Boy (1991)

NEC PC-Engine Super CD-ROM2 (1992)

Sega Saturn (1996, "Gradius Deluxe Pack")

Sony PlayStation (1996, "Gradius Deluxe Pack")

Sony PSP (2006, "Gradius Collection")

* Computers :

Sharp X68000 (1992)

PC [MS Windows] ("Gradius Deluxe Pack")

- SOURCES -

Game's rom.

MAME Info:

0.36b8 [Phil Stroffolino, Nao, Dave Spicer]

0.36b5 [Phil Stroffolino]

Artwork available

Bugs:

- gradius2, gradius2a, gradius2b, vulcan, vulcana, vulcanb: Title screen demo plays the stages in the wrong order. gamestone (ID 03759)

- vulcan, gradius2, gradius2a, gradius2b: Sprite-background priority is wrong. Kanikani (ID 02523)

WIP:

- 0.143u8: Kanikani fixed DIPSW and added DIP locations to clones Gradius II.

- 0.134u2: Irongiant added clone Vulcan Venture (Old). Changed description to 'Vulcan Venture (New)' and clone 'Vulcan Venture (Older Ver.)' to 'Vulcan Venture (Oldest)'. Renamed (vulcana) to (vulcanb).

- 0.134u1: Brian Troha and Dumping Union added clone Vulcan Venture (Older Ver.).

- 0.133u2: hap fixed sprite lag in clone Gradius II. Reverted Gradius II sprite-background priority hack, this fixes severe priority problems in Devil World, but reintroduces bugs on gradius2 level 7 and ending. Also lowered the K007232 volume, this fixed defective sound in Vulcan Venture.

- 0.133u1: Renamed (grdius2a) to (gradius2a) and (grdius2b) to (gradius2b).

- 0.128u6: Robiza updated clone Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou (Japan New Ver.) to use proper gfx2 roms (same values of vulcan but byteswapped).

- 29th July 2008: Corrado Tomaselli dumped Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou (Japan New Ver.).

- 0.124u2: Changed clock speed of the 2x 68000 to 9216000 Hz.

- 0.110u2: Robiza and Mamesick fixed video hardware (draw_sprites, tilemap_draw etc.) in Vulcan Venture.

- 3rd September 2006: Mr. Do - Added instruction cards for Gradius II.

- 0.102u5: Pierpaolo Prazzoli fixed sprite drawing in Vulcan Venture.

- 0.99u4: Pierpaolo Prazzoli fixed background/sprites priority in the stage 7 of Vulcan Venture.

- 0.76u2: Changed description of the clones to 'Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou'.

- 0.62: Bryan McPhail fixed priority problems in Vulcan Venture.

- 0.56: Changed description of clones '(Japan set 1)' to '(Japan New Ver.)', '(Japan set 2)' to '(Japan Old Ver.)' and '(Japan set 3)' to '(Japan Older Ver.)'. Fixed rom names.

- 6th October 2001: Chack'n fixed the dipswitch settings in clone Gradius 2.

- 0.36b10: Changed Z80 CPU1 clock speed to 3579545 Hz.

- 0.36b8: Phil Stroffolino, Nao and Dave Spicer added Vulcan Venture (Konami 1988) and clones 'Gradius II - Gofer no Yabou (Japan set 1)', (Japan set 2) and (Japan set 3).

- 27th October 1999: Takahiro Nogi fixed UPD7759 problems in Vulcan Venture.

- 26th October 1999: Phil Stroffolino got collision detection working in Vulcan Venture with help from Dave Spicer and Nao.

- 21st October 1999: Phil Stroffolino sent in a Twin16 update, with Hard Puncher / Final Round being completely playable, but Vulcan Venture is still missing the collisions.

- 0.36b6: Phil Stroffolino added clone Gradius II - Gofer no Yabou (Japan) (Testdriver).

- 0.36b5: Phil Stroffolino added Vulcan Venture (Testdriver).

- 9th October 1999: Phil Stroffolino sent in a Twin16 update with working sprites in Vulcan Venture (but collisions are missing), and Final Round is also playable now.

- 8th September 1999: Phil Stroffolino sent in a very preliminary Konami Twin16 driver (Vulcan Venture for example), but nothing works yet.

ARCADE RELEASE: Gradius II (Konami) - 1988/Mar/24

LEVELS: 7 (gradius2)

Other Emulators:

* FB Alpha

* Sparcade

Recommended Games (R-Type):

Gradius / Nemesis

Gradius (PlayChoice-10)

Vs. Gradius

Gradius II / Vulcan Venture

Gradius III

Gradius 4: Fukkatsu

Salamander

Salamander 2

R-Type

R-Type II

R-Type Leo

Heavy Unit

Turtle Ship

Hellfire

X Multiply

Zero Wing

Raiga - Strato Fighter

Rezon

Blaze On

Hyper Duel

Super Spacefortress Macross II

Romset: 2864 kb / 16 files / 854.9 zip

MAME XML Output:

<description>Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou (Japan New Ver.)</description>

<manufacturer>Konami</manufacturer>