Gradius II on the PC Engine pushes the concept of this horizontally-scrolling shooter to new limits, with stunning new levels and an insane amount of challenge.

In this second Gradius, you can choose your “Power Meter Select” (which is basically your weapons as your progress – deciding which branches to go with), before you begin.

The first level features the infamous fire dragons, coming out of burning stars. Which are very memorable. And then the game just goes on… and on, and on… I don’t know how many levels there are, because I lost count after a while. But there are a bloody lot of them!

The bosses are all spectacular, although dealing with them is usually the same: aim for the weak spot.

Gradius II, I believe, was only released for PC Engine CD-ROM in 1992. It was not made available as a Hucard.

I’d say that it’s one of the best shooters on the PC Engine CD/Turbografx-CD. If not the best.

More: Gradius II on Wikipedia