Games of the 8-, 16- & 32-bit era

Gradius

Title	Gradius
First release	1985
Developer	Konami
Publisher	Konami
Platforms	Amstrad CPC, Arcade, Commodore 64, MSX, NES / Famicom, PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16, Sharp X68000, ZX Spectrum
Genre	shoot 'em up
Also known as	Nemesis · グラディウス · Guradiusu · Nemesis - The Final Challenge
Players	1–2 players
Co-op	No
ESRB rating	E Everyone
Releases	Arcade: 1985-05-29 (NTSC-J), 1985-12-01 (NTSC-U) Commodore 64: 1986-01-01 (PAL) NES / Famicom: 1986-04-25 (NTSC-J), 1986-12-01 (NTSC-U), 1986-12-01 (NTSC)
Wikidata ID	Q1324646

The Xaerous Superfortress serves as the final destination for pilots navigating through enemy territory. Players pilot a hyper-space fighter to deploy air-to-surface cannons, double beam lasers, and force fields for protection. Utilizing time and space warps allows for fleeing dangerous dimensions while attempting to dismantle the amoeboid Bacterions.

Description: REG-Vault, CC BY-SA 4.0

View on Wikidata Read on Wikipedia

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), gaps filled from REG-Vault and TheGamesDB and Arcade Database (ADB). Only retro platforms tracked by this site are listed; the year is the earliest release date recorded on Wikidata.

Sources

Wikidata (Q1324646) · last updated 2026-09-27 · CC0

REG-Vault (c64/gradius) · last updated 2026-09-30 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

TheGamesDB (1297,86606,111866) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (25780,33192) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (27116,112089) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

Arcade Database (ADB) (gradius) · last updated 2026-10-03 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · internal use only

Arcade Database ADB

MAME romset	`gradius` · clone of `nemesis`
Title at ADB	Gradius (Japan, ROM version)
Manufacturer	Konami
Year	1985
Genre	Shooter / Flying Horizontal
Players	2
MAME driver status	GOOD

Artwork: ADB (Arcade Database); artwork © original manufacturer (Konami); snaps by ProgettoSnaps via ADB. Non-free, internal use only (hotlinked, not downloaded).

Scraping using Arcade Database by motoschifo · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · romset via Wikidata P2451 (wikidata-qid) · fetched 2026-10-03 17:12 UTC · no fields filled (other sources take precedence)

Source: REG-Vault (upstream not stated) · © Konami · internal use only

1 / 16 Box art Box art (front) 1

Image credits

Box art, Screenshots, Logos, Artwork (6): Source: REG-Vault (upstream not stated) · © Konami · internal use only. REG-Vault page

Box art (1): Source: TheGamesDB (user-uploaded, NTSC-U release) · © Konami · internal use only. TheGamesDB page

Box art, Screenshots, Logos, Artwork (6): Source: TheGamesDB (user-uploaded) · © Konami · internal use only. TheGamesDB page

Screenshots (3): Source: libretro-thumbnails (upstream libretro-thumbnails (art by developers/publishers; see repo README)) · © Konami · internal use only.

Sprites

No sprite sheets yet. Find sprites on The Spriters Resource ↗ /

Videos

PC Engine Longplay [047] Gradius (JP)

World-of-Longplays · PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 version · longplay · 31:37auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:41 UTC

Arcade Longplay [119] Nemesis

By Urien84 Longplays · Arcade version · longplay · 14:20auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:42 UTC

"Auto-matched" videos were found automatically (title + platform match via the YouTube Data API) and may occasionally be wrong. Videos are hosted by YouTube (embedded via youtube-nocookie.com; nothing loads from YouTube until you press play) and belong to their channels.