Otomedius Excellent for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

This is a Gradius game made by the same company that made Gradius (Konami). Instead of starships and aliens, you got anime girls flying around and blowing things up on earth, for the most part. Its a weird story and setting, very Japanese, I wont even try to explain it. The game has a lot of elements of Gradius, like the power-up system and the end stage bosses, and even has some classic Gradius enemies. There are a lot of options to customize your ship. Its not in the same gameplay category as games like Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga, and its a lot more simple type of shooter. The graphics are colorful, but nothing that will push your xbox. Strangely, there is some slow-down, I dont know if this was intentional or not. Overall, its a fun light-hearted shooter, although I still cant decide if its supposed to be a parody or not. If you like Gradius type shooters, highly recommend it. Might not want to play it in front of your wife or girlfriend, though, you may get some awkward questions.

If you've ever played a Gradius game, then you'll be able to jump into this title with no explanation. If not, the upgrade system can be a bit confusing at first. Instead of merely picking up a "Spread Shot" power up, or a "Shield", you have a bar at the bottom of the screen listing all your possible upgrades.

If you collect one power up, the first item is highlighted. If you collect another, the second one lights up, and so on. All you have to do to activate an upgrade is hit a button. So if you want to upgrade your speed, you usually only have to collect one power up and hit the button. However, if you want a shield, you usually have to collect six power ups and then press the button. It's complicated, but once the player gets used to it, it's hard to deny its excellence.

Otomedius blends that classic upgrade scheme with the Magical Girl formula found in many animes like Sailor Moon to have what I think are a bunch of high school girls that use ships similar to other classic games like Gradius or Twin Bee to fight of the Bacterion forces. All of the voice work is in Japanese so the story is delegated to scrolling text on the bottom left of the screen, but let's be honest... who plays these games for the story?

If you like shooters, regardless of your skill, this is worth a try. It's easy enough for new players to jump in on, and interesting enough for experienced players to enjoy.