I remember as a kid growing up, my Dad used to play this game all the time. Absolute technophobe he was, wouldn't go on the internet, wouldn't play any other game, but he would always break out Gradius every now and then. Never managed to beat the game, never could get past level 7. He always used to say to me "I'm sure that level 7 is the last level, there's no way that it could get any harder." Sure enough he was right. Seeing this video I think what he was doing wrong is that he never thought to switch the laser for the double for the final level. 30 years he played that game, never occurred to him to try that. He's gone now though, before his time :( Would have loved to have seen his face if he ever beat the game, think he would have done eventually

Used to play Gradius with my older brother in the 80s. He was great with all the games. Recently found an original Nintendo NES and bought him and me a console each. He played Gradius like he never stopped all those years in between, still good at it! Sadly Bro passed from cancer last August2021. Will share this video with his two young sons. When I watch this video it’s like I was watching how my bro used to play. Thank you for this! I’ll have to play it once again in his honor and maybe challenge his boys to a game too. Like we used to do during our childhood.

Thank goodness for KZfaq because I would’ve never in my life seen the ending to this. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow!! One of my favorite NES games of all time! I beat this game like 3 times! As a girl I thought I could NEVER do it! My parents and siblings would sit around me and watch me play it..the key was to choose the correct fire power for each level. This game took me on a journey that I'll never forget and it's 40 years later...The good Memories are too many to count!

AFTER ALMOST 30 YEARS OF NOT SEEING THIS GAME I REMEMBER THE LEVEL 1 TUNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man, everyone here playing this game in their childhood. I just discovered it and I'm obsessed. Im glad it gets to be part of my childhood as well.

Hahaha. I used to play this game all the time on our NES in the 80s. Most memorable moment - my dad was the first of us to reach the final stage, and we didn't know about the gate at the end, so it closed on him and he had to play again. =D

Beating this game when I was 10 years is still the greatest achievement in my life. The only way to beat this game is with no deaths. If you die in a later level you're never going to power up again.

I remember this game being so f'ing hard. I felt so accomplished when I finally made it to those asshole bubble shooting statues and never made it past

I still remember, when i played this the very first time back in 1990.

never finished this game as a kid. did it last night on my nes mini. so satisfied

My dad used to blaze through this and R-Type, and to this day I've never beaten either one. I get anxious just watching this. 😂

Beautiful game. And you are a beautiful person with a beautiful playthrough. PERFECT

Whoever did this, absolute legend

You earned my respect. I never got to experience it past the 4th stage. Awesome work.

At 1:40, if you back your spaceship into the right corner of the giant rock, you'll score some hidden bonus points. There are lots of hidden surprises like that in Gradius.

Opening tune is so cosmic man... One of the best things 8 bit has ever created...

This Game was hard. Thanks for the memories. For a second I went back to 1989.

I play this game when I was 6 and I finished Gradius using UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A B A.. and I am 38. Solomon's key, Galaga, Satanden, I think my father buys 100+ famcom games since 1982. . And he also like and a fan of Solomon's key. :) Great video and I love Family Computer..

This and Life Force were awesome.

My teenage years playing Nintendo Family Computer... lots of memories... and its confirmed that playing these games can help & maintain good mental health, on average/moderate playtime. Just balance it.

My god I remember this game back in my youth! Those Easter Island heads shooting out blue rings instantly gave me a nostalgia rush! Bought this game on eBay just this second! Can't wait to play again and relive some memories! :-)

This is the first time I’ve Seen somebody beat this

Wow this game is unbreakable like a diamond. Truly a shining experience. If just echoes through my head over and over

Highest level I got to was 3 ur a legend my friend

This is my first time seeing Gradius 1 and I’m surprised there isn’t more variety among the stage bosses. But still fun to watch, good playthrough.

Ahh, Gradius! So many memories!

In gradius 3 i really love the soundtrack of the Moai stage😊

This game is so nostalgic of my chidhood. The sounds, the colors, whew!! My most favorite game of all though I've played computer games with superb graphics years after to this day.

The most difficult and fascinating computer game to win up to the last stage of the game.

I grew up its sad 😭 I remember playing this game when I was young

I still have PTSD from the sound of the ship blowing up when I used to play. Because once that happens you're done.

man this was my old jam game! thanks for playing it! i cant seem to find the name till i saw ur vid!! 😁

I got addicted to this game when i was in 4th year high school. It took me more than a week to figure out how to survive the last stage. my favorite game way back in the 80’s.

Now that's impressive

Man when I was a kid I always died on the stone place. You're an excellent pilot!

He missed the 1up by touching the boulder by tail

Wow this is crasy skills..!! Awesome video Mr PEG!! =)

The early age of bullet hells. Laser HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

When it came to the talisman statue level, I didn't spare those talisman statues because I would obliterate many as possible when I first played this game.

Wow!!!! you are amazing for finishing the game.....thumbs up!!!

I played this game a lot in the 80's when I was a kid, it gave me anxiety as an adult.

Played the Hell out of this growing up. I have it on an emulator still.

That's a decent run. At the end of level 2, you don't have to move at all if you sit just off the bottom left corner with the options above you. Also, you can position yourself to sit between the missiles from the ships at the end of the levels without having to move. And also, this game can be completed like you did WITHOUT a shield.

Just played this game on an emulator for first time since playing it on console about 15 years ago. I think I made it to the second level on console. Used state save abuse like crazy in order to beat this game on the emulator and it was very fun. Ended up with a score of 256,200. Quite short of yours as you are obviously a complete master at this game. I eventually figured out I couldn't have all the upgrades and had to leave one by the wayside. I got the 3 speedups as you did. I decided any more than that was too fast. For the majority of the game, however, I chose the double instead of the laser and now see that is not the smartest choice except for that last level. Lots of those rock arm monsters on level 5 I simply evaded rather than destroyed, for instance. You only needed 2 shield replacements whereas I needed about 7 or 8. Major props to you! Oh! and the music from the 2nd part of level 4 here is some of the best video game music I have ever heard! And I have played about 100 NES/SNES games. Rivals much of the music Capcom came up with for their Mega Man series. The chord progression in this Gradius 4-2 is a little similar to "Elecman" in the first Mega Man for NES.

This and Lifeforce on the NES, loved these games

16:44 That wall at the end is evil.

Love this game.. played it back in the day! Arcade 1 up get it on one of your cabs!!

This is by far my most favourite NES game. I used to play all night and day at the end of the 80s, beginning of the 90s. Although my dad would beat me all the time😂

thank you, this is amazing. I stumbled over this by accident

Josuke likes this

14:43 I would always look forward to this, favorite bit in the whole game! 💙💙💙

WOW!! This takes me back!

I'm playing this on the switch..I had no idea I'm about to beat the game...I thought it was just an unforgiving game with mega levels. I figured games from the 80's don't mess around, get good is the only option.

Thanks this was one of the first game o got when I got my nes for my 13th birthday thanks grandma😁😁😁

I've only arrived to that Moai level, finally I know how hard the next levels are 😭

my freaking childhood man.

Broke my first controller playing this game back in 87 … I was 7 . Extremely hard game

I never finished this Gradius when I was a Kid but I finished Gradius II many times because I had memorized the game and it had the famous Konami Cheat 30 lives. Gradius was so hard for me as a kid. What the game made even harder is that when your ship explodes, you will move back two steps backwards where you came from. I do not know how many stages this game have but I think the farthest I reached was half of stage 7 and if I remember correctly I only reached it as a kid twice or two times! Stage three the Moai Stage was always the stage where I end my campaign trying to finish the game. I played this game on my Family Computer the original first version of the Family Computer where the two controllers is attached at the back of the computer, cannot be removed and the controllers are put at the side of the computer. I still my fake tape of this game. I wish I had the second and third game Salamander III the last game for the Family Computer. When said I finished Gradius II I only borrowed the tape from my Aunt to my Papa's side. One of these days, I will play this game again through emulator.

One of the first video games I ever played aside from Super Mario Bros and Contra. I still remember the adrenaline from fighting and beating the first boss for the first time.

This game damages my brain with all those moving things

NES classic edition conformed

I played this game as a kid and never beat it but loved it. Bought it as an adult and still can't beat it lol

1:34 If you touch the right edge of that floating rock with the back of your ship, you'll get 1-up. But you can also blow up easily :) I still remember that.

Something about these games resembles a bad dream. They’re weirder than carrots playing a piano.

the nostalgia is real, i remember playing this game on the Atari

Hats off . You are the chosen one.

I used to play Gradius on my NES when I was a child and beat this awesome game so many times. Nowadays,I doubt I would still have the skills to beat it again ...ah well,who knows? :D

I liked games like gradius, but was not good at them, but enjoyed how other players played them, amazing ☺️.

I always remember games back then were very short, so to make the game to have the illusion of being very long and accomplishing they made it very difficult.

Very very awesome run! Definitely not a easy feat very sweet!

So much perfection in the game.

some nice and golden memories right here.... :')

Thank you for the notes. Here I wonder how can you fire so fast without turbo. My thumbs sore after playing this game. Also I'm not a big fan of laser weapon. I need a good reflex to deal with enemies and I'm really clumsy with shumps. Double is better for me as it covers more area, so I don't have to manuever too much.

Me and my uncle use to play this all the time

Gradius... Or Nemesis. I've been playing this for 30 yrs... Put many a 10p in the machine... Used have smoke and then go and zone out on it... It is a classic shooter up.. Always has a place in my heart along with Defender.. And Scramble!!!!! 😀

Idk why but i do remember playing this game

Loved this game as a kid! Nice run, too!

Awesome Gameplay!

This is so mesmerising 9:40

"No miss" in the title, but there were misses. On the other hand, I loved this game but before emulators I only managed to reach level 3, because my game was in Japanese and I did not know what different options do. Awesome times.

Damn the soundtrack.

I like that oldschool arcade gardious 1983 Nes nes games 1983 is very good year

You could beat the game in under 18 minutes ? Wow, kinda awesome in a way. I remember Robocop on the NES, I could finish that game in half hour in total. Kinda miss real quick games like that.

If you liked it, you should try Dominus Solaris. It's a new shoot em up game similar to this with pixel art graphics mixed with modern lighting

Played this game mid 90's and goddamn it was hard and it still look hard as hell. Every time i've managed to pass a lvl, the next one always full of surprises and more frustrating to pass. Todays generation keeps calling these games "rouge like". Show them this game and watch them try to beat it.

I play this game till this day. I have all of the parta for my psp, so called Gradius collection. My fav part is the one you play. Its funy how i always got to the last stage without knowing if there is more. I was always like "Cmon this hase to be the last stage its to hard to be harder". I guess i was right.

Finally I would be able to see what's beyond stage 3, haha

I tried thus game again when I was in my 20s. Couldn't beat it anymore

NES games difficulty are the equivalent of legendary difficult of todays machines... i beat this at the age of 7. its crazy. one of my proudest gaming moments.

Awesome game. I always felt like they forgot to put a final boss in though. You get to the brain and...nothing happens.

Full run with no deaths is redundant. If you die once, you're pretty much screwed.

Me, my kuya and bunso, together with our father, we used to play this game during the 90's! Grabe, the sound effects really is nostalgic! Besides, I don't remember anyone from us who finished this game 😂😂😂

This isn't the end guys!!! The Game Loops with a few different enemies.....

Esos sonidos te transportan ala infancia...

Gradius wasn’t perfected until Gradius III on SNES and Gradius V on PS2.

I remember my chilhood! I loved this game.

So did anyone else ever get this...I went into some kind of hyperdrive where the heads were spinning through space. Some secret level. Anyway it surprised me and I died. Then it went back to normal play. I only ever managed to get there once.

1:46 so good!

I remember playing this game. Couldn't get past the first stage. Konami has some bomb shooting games like this and Twinbee.