Weapons system customization is the most notable of those elements, as Gradius II gives you the chance to choose what configuration of power-ups the Vic Viper will have access to before you launch into the first stage. And its arrival is sure to please longtime fans, because this is the game that established many of the conventions that later carried over into the sequels that did show up here, later on.
Its debut in the Wii Shop as a downloadable Virtual Console title marks the first time it's been officially marketed to an American audience on its own, outside of the various different compilations over the years.
Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou is the long-lost Gradius series sequel that came to the TurboGrafx-CD in Japan, but, for whatever reason, never made the leap across the Pacific to arrive on our shores.