Editing Gradius (video game) (section)

==Gameplay==
[[File:gradius 04.png|thumb|left|The player's ship, the Vic Viper, exchanging shots with enemy Moai in the game's third stage. The player's power meter is towards the bottom of the screen.]]

The player controls the trans-dimensional [[Spacecraft|spaceship]] [[Vic Viper]] and must battle waves of enemies through various environments.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gradius – Hardcore Gaming 101|url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gradius/|access-date=2021-12-08|language=en-US}}</ref> The game became synonymous with the phrase, "Destroy the core!", as the standard of boss battles in the ''Gradius'' series involved combat with a giant craft, in the center of which would be situated one to several blue colored spheres. These bosses were designed in such a way that there was a straight passage from the exterior of the giant craft leading directly to one of these cores. The player must fire shots into this passage while avoiding attack patterns from weapon emplacements on the body of the boss. However, small but destructible walls are situated in this passage, impeding the bullet shots from damaging the core, and must be whittled away by repeated well-placed shots. In a way, these tiny walls represent the boss' shielding gauge until its core is finally vulnerable to attack. Some bosses can regenerate these walls. When the core has sustained enough hits, it usually changes color from blue to red, indicating that it is in critical condition and its destruction is imminent. Upon the destruction of a core, a piece of the boss may be put out of commission, seeing that it is no longer powered by a core, or if all of the cores are destroyed, the entire boss is defeated and explodes satisfyingly. Note that these cores are not present on the more organic bosses of ''Gradius''. Such bosses have weak spots in places such as a mouth, head or eye.

When [[gameplay]] begins, the Vic Viper is relatively slow and has only a weak gun. This level of capability is generally insufficient for engaging enemies, but the Vic Viper can gain greater capabilities by collecting and using [[power-up]] items. While most arcade games utilize distinct power up-items that each correspond to a specific effect on the [[player character]], ''Gradius'' has a single power-up item. The effect of this power-up item is to advance the currently selected item in a power-up menu that appears at the bottom of the screen. When the desired power-up is highlighted, the player can obtain it by pressing the power-up button, returning the menu to its initial state in which no power-up is highlighted.