Hello all, I know Gradius (especailly the NES version) has probably been talked about to death. Not to mention it's not the hardest SHMUP in the world to beat with 1 life. But something that hasn't been done with the game, or really any other SHMUPS that I can find, is a side by side 1cc run of the game by two different people. Sort of a VS comparison video. Here's an example of what it looks like:


Basically I created an overlay based on the sprites of each level (it switches whenever you progress to a new area). I paused the footage at the end of each stage to let the other run "catch up" and then unpaused it when it did. That way the runs stay almost perfectly in sync the entire time. We both also recorded commentary in real time while watching both runs together, so it's relevant to what you see in the video.

I also scanned the Gradius manual in super high rez and used it at the beginning during the intro and did some animations with the sprites of the game. Either way I think it turned out alright and gives a somewhat unique take on the typical gameplay video.

Any thoughts and feedback is always apprecaited. Also, what was your first experience with Gradius? Was it in the arcade? The NES? Can you beat the game using only 1 life? I'd like to hear some stories!