gradius

The Option Hunter (オプションハンター?) is a recurring enemy in the Gradius series. It is a drone that steals the player's Options.

Description

As its name suggests, the Option Hunter is known for stealing Options from the player. It usually appears when the Vic Viper has a lot, if not all, of the Options. They first appeared in Gradius II, although the concept of an Option-stealing enemy was first seen in the MSX version of Salamander with the Option Eater, and have since then become recurring in the series and its spin-offs.

Attack patterns

When an Option Hunter appears, its presence is announced by a siren while it tries to line up with the Vic Viper (although some have reported that in some games the siren sound does not play when it appears). After a few seconds, it charges forward and any Options that it reaches, as well as those following them (e.g.: if it grabs the second option nearest to the Vic Viper, it also grabs the ones behind it, leaving the Vic Viper with only one Option) are stolen from the player. If it fails, it merely continues on forward. The player's ship cannot be damaged by colliding with an Option Hunter. Sometimes, the Option Hunter will respawn for another run if it didn't manage to grab any Options the first time.

In some cases, Option Hunters won't leave the screen until all the Options the player had are gone. This is usually during the final boss in games such as Gradius ReBirth and Gradius Gaiden. They also home toward players with more skill.

While the Option Hunter itself is invulnerable, in Gradius III AC, it is completely vulnerable to Mega Crush; moreover in Otomedius, it can be crushed by hitting it with a P-Burst charge.

Variants

Gradius II and Gradius Gaiden

Option Hunters appear on a usual basis. In Gradius II, if all four Options are activated in the first stage, its pursuit begins in the middle of Stage 3. Depending on how long you take, it will either appear during the battle with Crystal Core, or early in Stage 4. On the "Very Difficult" difficulty setting, it will appear when destroying the Covered Core. In Gradius Gaiden, they tend to first appear in the third or fourth stage.

This version's behavior is simple: it stops in the same row you stop. If you stay still with your Options away from you, it misses. A timer is set for when it appears after the fourth Option is activated. In Gradius II, this timer is paused during the High Speed Maze (if all four Options are active during said stage).

In Gradius Gaiden, a group of nine appear hidden in a small tunnel before the final boss. As described above, they leave only after all four Options are taken (you can activate another one, though).

Gradius III

There are three types:

All three can be destroyed with one Mega Crush.

If at least one Option is activated by Stage 5, the Buster-type Option Hunter appears in the pre-stage. If you stay alive long enough, the Option Hunters will appear in a set pattern afterwards.

The timer is disabled in the first four stages, and is paused partway through Stages 5, 7, and 10. The timer is also paused during all boss fights (with the exceptions of Disrupt and Shadow Gear).

However, on the SNES version of Gradius III, the Option Hunter does not appear on the EASY difficulty setting, making it very easy to keep the player's options safe. It only appears on the difficulties NORMAL, HARD and ARCADE.

Gradius IV

This Option Hunter homes in on the player's inner-most Option. It's not an easy Option Hunter to avoid, so if you don't have enough room to get out of its path, then you won't be able to get your options safe.

Parodius Da!

Parody of Option Hunters also appear in Parodius Da! in the Omake Stage exclusive to the SNES version of the game. They have similar look and patterns than their Gradius counterparts, appearing behind the player and then moving toward them. However, they don't produce any sounds to announce their arrival and don't even appear to steal any Options.

Gokujō Parodius!

They also appear in Gokujō Parodius!, in this version same as the Gradius versions, they appear from behind, emit a sound and rush toward the player to steal the options. They appear if at least one or more Option (or what replace it on the Power Meter) is activated by the player, and are found in stage 5 and in the last stage. In the snes version, they seems to appear only in the highest difficulty levels. Michael and Gabriel and Koitsu and Aitsu who both don't carry any options, are completely immune to them.

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See also