The player returns as the role of the pilot of the Vic Viper spaceship to battle the second onslaughts of the Bacterion Empire, under the new leadership of Gofer, the giant head. Gradius II has kept the gameplay from the original game, but infused it with enhancements brought from the spin-off, Salamander (Life Force). This is primarily evident in two of the weapons configurations that are selectable. Another first in the series was the inclusion of the "boss rush" (also known as "boss parade" or "boss alley"), a level designed entirely with only boss confrontations. Gradius II retains the selection bar from Gradius, but now the player can choose between four different weapon configurations and progressions. All schemes have speed-up and multiples (Options), but have differing 'Missile', 'Double' (laser), and 'Laser' weapons. The player can have at most four multiples. Additionally, there are also two types of shielding to choose from: shield and forcefield. The shield option adds more durability, but only for the front of the Vic Viper, while the forcefield adds protection for the entire spacecraft, albeit only against three hits. In the Famicom version, choosing another multiple after four will make the four multiples to move around the spacecraft for 16 seconds; force field is the only shielding available for protection of the entire spacecraft, withstanding three hits and it is included in four different weapon configurations and progressions; and 'Double' and 'Laser' have to be activated twice to achieve full performance.
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I played through the Japanese arcade version on Konami Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection which was pretty managable until the last few levels. The last level is a true gauntlet. Besides flying through a cramped spaceship (that honestly reminded me a lot of the final level of Scramble), there's a section where you have to dive between the legs of a giant walking insect robot as it steps forward, then back, across the screen, and it was incredibly difficult. After you make it through all this, the game ends with a nastily rendered reward not-boss that looked really cool.
Gradius II notably has a pretty good boss rush level, but it also disappointingly drops the vertical sections, and I liked that variety and the sleek transitions from the prior two games.