was presented, which could be uploaded to the company's website for a chance to win prizes up until August 27, 1999. Reception In Japan, Game Machine listed Gradius IV on their April 1, 1999 issue as being the second most-successful arcade game at the time. Home versions of Gradius IV were mostly positive. In their review for Gradius III & IV, IGN called its graphics colorful and its backgrounds detailed, although said it was "still a bit behind the curve back then". Gamers' Republic agreed, going further to say that the PlayStation 2 port was superior than the arcade version through its vibrant backgrounds, fast-paced gameplay and impressive boss fights. Retro Gamer magazine was much more negative towards the game in their 2007 retrospective, saying that its ugly graphics and "hideously" unfair stage designs made Gradius IV an "utter catastrophe of a game". They stated the PlayStation 2 conversion was slightly improved thanks to its save-state feature, but that overall it was a major disappointment compared to previous Gradius game. In a 2017 retrospective coverage of the Gradius series, Hardcore Gaming 101 said that IV felt more like a "best-of" remake of the first four games instead of a full-new game, disliking its graphics for being poor and its mechanics for sometimes being unfinished and not well-implemented. They also said that the game was more of a step back compared to the critically acclaimed Gradius Gaiden for not using many of its ideas and features that proved to fix and improve upon the core Gradius gameplay, writing: "Since it feels like such a redux, with very little added to the formula and almost nothing carried over from Gaiden, Gradius IV just seems redundant. It’s not terrible, but it’s really only worth investigating for hardcore fans and completionists." Notes References External links 1999 video games Arcade video games Gradius video games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Video game sequels Video games developed in Japan Video games set on fictional planets Video games set in outer space