<s>
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
(	O
known	O
as	O
in	O
Japan	O
)	O
is	O
the	O
fourth	O
arcade	O
installment	O
in	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
scrolling	O
shooter	O
video	O
games	O
developed	O
by	O
Konami	O
Computer	O
Entertainment	O
Tokyo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
preceded	O
by	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
,	O
released	O
in	O
1989	B-Application
,	O
although	O
spinoffs	O
had	O
been	O
released	O
prior	O
to	O
it	O
such	O
as	O
Gradius	B-Application
Gaiden	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
core	O
gameplay	O
of	O
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
remains	O
relatively	O
unchanged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
several	O
changes	O
were	O
made	O
on	O
the	O
weapons	O
system	O
in	O
the	O
transition	O
from	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
game	O
there	O
are	O
a	O
total	O
of	O
six	O
configurations	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
four	O
of	O
which	O
are	O
migrated	O
from	O
Gradius	B-Application
II	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
laser	O
is	O
the	O
twin	O
laser	O
seen	O
in	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
was	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
Konami	O
designers	O
Ashida	O
Hiroyuki	O
,	O
known	O
for	O
his	O
work	O
on	O
Gradius	B-Application
II	I-Application
and	O
Detana	O
!!	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
was	O
pressured	O
as	O
the	O
team	O
wanted	O
to	O
make	O
a	O
Gradius	B-Application
game	O
worthy	O
of	O
having	O
the	O
name	O
"	O
IV	O
"	O
;	O
Yoro	O
recalls	O
that	O
the	O
production	O
staff	O
felt	O
indifferent	O
with	O
many	O
of	O
its	O
mechanics	O
,	O
with	O
some	O
having	O
pride	O
in	O
them	O
and	O
others	O
wishing	O
they	O
had	O
been	O
done	O
differently	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
team	O
's	O
biggest	O
ideas	O
was	O
the	O
stage	O
designs	O
,	O
as	O
they	O
wanted	O
them	O
to	O
feel	O
fresh	O
and	O
new	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
being	O
distinct	O
from	O
previous	O
Gradius	B-Application
titles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
stage	O
,	O
featuring	O
large	O
,	O
reflective	O
metal	O
planetoids	O
,	O
was	O
a	O
sort-of	O
homage	O
to	O
Gradius	B-Application
II	I-Application
and	O
its	O
first	O
level	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
fire-coated	O
planets	O
with	O
large	O
dragon-like	O
enemies	O
bursting	O
out	O
of	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
stage	O
ideas	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
"	O
volcano	O
"	O
theme	O
in	O
the	O
fourth	O
level	O
,	O
were	O
incorporated	O
from	O
other	O
Gradius	B-Application
games	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
majority	O
being	O
original	O
ideas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
of	O
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
lasted	O
for	O
roughly	O
ten	O
months	O
—	O
midway	O
through	O
development	O
it	O
was	O
put	O
on	O
hold	O
while	O
staff	O
was	O
shuffled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
subtitle	O
"	O
Fukkatsu	O
"	O
,	O
translating	O
to	O
"	O
Resurrection	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
Revival	O
"	O
,	O
was	O
added	O
to	O
represent	O
three	O
different	O
ideas	O
:	O
the	O
revival	O
of	O
Gradius	B-Application
series	O
antagonist	O
GOFER	O
,	O
the	O
revival	O
of	O
arcade	O
games	O
in	O
general	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
revival	O
of	O
more	O
"	O
stoic	O
"	O
shooting	O
games	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
staff	O
was	O
displeased	O
with	O
how	O
the	O
shooter	O
genre	O
was	O
mainly	O
relegated	O
to	O
bullet-hell	O
,	O
"	O
daimaku	O
"	O
games	O
for	O
more	O
hardcore	O
fans	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
edit	O
mode	O
"	O
from	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
cut	O
from	O
IV	O
as	O
the	O
team	O
felt	O
it	O
made	O
the	O
game	O
unbalanced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
was	O
presented	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
at	O
the	O
39th	O
JAMMA	O
tradeshow	O
in	O
Japan	O
in	O
November	O
1998	O
,	O
shown	O
alongside	O
Konami	O
's	O
own	O
Evil	O
Night	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Japan	O
,	O
Game	O
Machine	O
listed	O
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
on	O
their	O
April	O
1	O
,	O
1999	O
issue	O
as	O
being	O
the	O
second	O
most-successful	O
arcade	O
game	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Home	O
versions	O
of	O
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
were	O
mostly	O
positive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
their	O
review	O
for	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
&	O
IV	O
,	O
IGN	O
called	O
its	O
graphics	O
colorful	O
and	O
its	O
backgrounds	O
detailed	O
,	O
although	O
said	O
it	O
was	O
"	O
still	O
a	O
bit	O
behind	O
the	O
curve	O
back	O
then	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Retro	O
Gamer	O
magazine	O
was	O
much	O
more	O
negative	O
towards	O
the	O
game	O
in	O
their	O
2007	O
retrospective	O
,	O
saying	O
that	O
its	O
ugly	O
graphics	O
and	O
"	O
hideously	O
"	O
unfair	O
stage	O
designs	O
made	O
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
an	O
"	O
utter	O
catastrophe	O
of	O
a	O
game	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
stated	O
the	O
PlayStation	O
2	O
conversion	O
was	O
slightly	O
improved	O
thanks	O
to	O
its	O
save-state	O
feature	O
,	O
but	O
that	O
overall	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
major	O
disappointment	O
compared	O
to	O
previous	O
Gradius	B-Application
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
2017	O
retrospective	O
coverage	O
of	O
the	O
Gradius	B-Application
series	O
,	O
Hardcore	O
Gaming	O
101	O
said	O
that	O
IV	O
felt	O
more	O
like	O
a	O
"	O
best-of	O
"	O
remake	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
four	O
games	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
full-new	O
game	O
,	O
disliking	O
its	O
graphics	O
for	O
being	O
poor	O
and	O
its	O
mechanics	O
for	O
sometimes	O
being	O
unfinished	O
and	O
not	O
well-implemented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
said	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
more	O
of	O
a	O
step	O
back	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
critically	O
acclaimed	O
Gradius	B-Application
Gaiden	I-Application
for	O
not	O
using	O
many	O
of	O
its	O
ideas	O
and	O
features	O
that	O
proved	O
to	O
fix	O
and	O
improve	O
upon	O
the	O
core	O
Gradius	B-Application
gameplay	O
,	O
writing	O
:	O
"	O
Since	O
it	O
feels	O
like	O
such	O
a	O
redux	O
,	O
with	O
very	O
little	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
formula	O
and	O
almost	O
nothing	O
carried	O
over	O
from	O
Gaiden	O
,	O
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
just	O
seems	O
redundant	O
.	O
</s>
