Lost In Translation/Vulcan Venture

About The Game
Vulcan Venture is an horizontally scrolling arcade video game shoot-em-up.

The third game in Konami's renowned "Gradius" series; the prequel being "Gradius" (known as "Nemesis" in Europe) and a spin-off called "Salamander" (also known as "Life Force"). Vulcan Venture strictly adheres to the shoot-em-up template set out by its hugely successful predecessor, the game eschews the sideways/vertical scrolling alternate levels of "Salamander" and opts instead for "Gradius" sideways scrolling-only mechanic. Vulcan Venture is rightly considered to be one of the most demanding and difficult shoot-em-ups ever released.

Trivia
This game is known in Japan as "Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou".

The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed to 'ASO'.

Apollon Music released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Space Odyssey, Gradius II - Gofer no yabou - BY30-5202) on 21/07/1988.

Updates
The main differences between Vulcan Venture and "Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou" are :
 * Different title screen.
 * Multiple is called Option in "Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou".
 * No continue available in "Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou".
 * Pulse Laser is called Ripple Laser in "Gradius II - GOFER no Yabou".

Series

 * 1) Nemesis (1985)
 * 2) Salamander (1986)
 * 3) Gradius 2 (1987, MSX)
 * 4) Vulcan Venture (1988)
 * 5) Nemesis 3 - The Eve of Destruction (1988, MSX)
 * 6) Gradius III - Densetsu Kara Shinwa-e (1989)
 * 7) Gradius - The Interstellar Assault (1991, Nintendo Game Boy)
 * 8) Nemesis '90 Kai (1993, Sharp X68000)
 * 9) Salamander 2 (1996)
 * 10) Solar Assault - Gradius (1997)
 * 11) Solar Assault - Revisited (1997)
 * 12) Gradius Gaiden (1997, Sony PlayStation)
 * 13) Gradius IV - Fukkatsu (1999)
 * 14) Gradius Generation (2002, Nintendo Game Boy Advance)
 * 15) Gradius V (2003, Sony PlayStation 2)

Staff

 * Game Programmers:
 * Toshiaki Takatori
 * K. Tsutsui
 * T. Horimoto
 * A. Suzuki
 * Takehiko Fujii


 * Graphic Designers:
 * Miki Yoshikata
 * H. Ashida
 * Michiko Iwamoto
 * A. Nonami
 * Kuniaki Kakuwa


 * Sound Editors:
 * S. Tasaka
 * Motoaki Furukawa
 * K. Matsubara
 * S. Hukami


 * Engineer:
 * K. Hashima


 * Title Designers:
 * F. Shinuya
 * J. Tanaka

Ports

 * Consoles :
 * Nintendo Famicom (1988)
 * Nintendo Game Boy (1991)
 * NEC PC-Engine Super CD-ROM2 (1992)
 * Sega Saturn (1996, "Gradius Deluxe Pack")
 * Sony PlayStation (1996, "Gradius Deluxe Pack")
 * Sony PSP (2006, "Gradius Collection")


 * Computers :
 * Sharp X68000 (1992)
 * PC [MS Windows] ("Gradius Deluxe Pack")