JTTWIN16: Cue Brick Support

History

Puzzle game released by Konami in 1989. The stage is cleared by moving the blocks on the board and connecting the rails so that your ship can pass through all the rails. (Don't worry, the rails disappear once you pass through them.

There were 100 stages in total, but the game board was equipped with the arcade industry's first save game function, so the last stage you played could be saved by registering a four-character password at the end of the game. However, this password could only be used on that machine. To ensure that you did not forget which machine you played on, each machine was named in the bottom right-hand corner of the title screen as ‘JOHNSON’, ‘ LUIS’, ‘GEORGE’ and ‘nameless’. Each machine could register 3000 passwords, and even if the machine was switched off, the password was always available.

Earlier versions of this game were based on a residual plane system, but this has been improved to a timed system, allowing you to play to your heart's content without fear of failure, which is great! The challenge is to see how many stages you can clear within the time limit by using the three different buttons: move block, speed up and stop.

PepAlacant helped testing the game on the core up to stage 7. No issues were found.

Look for the game in the alternatives folder!

Multi-way Joystick Emulation

From this release, all JT cores will emulate a 32-way joystick with variable speed when using an analog stick on non-analog games. For instance, if you play to a shooter like Gradius 2 using a gamepad with an analog stick, you will be able to move your ship smoothly in diagonals not available in the original game. You will also be able to move slowly if you push the stick gently.

This works in all games but it makes sense for shooters or vertical games such as Avengers or Labyrinth Runner.

When using a regular arcade joystick or a D-pad, the movement is the same as usual. You can only see the change with analog sticks.

Gradius II Boss strategies for each stage

• Stage 1: Align your ship's position with the 10,000 digit on the on-screen score display and aim at the Phoenix's head to attack.

• Stage 2: First, attack as much as possible before the eyeball open. The eyeball will open and rocks will appear, but only if you avoid them. Your ship can enter the space between the on-screen wall and the boss's arm, from where you can attack six or seven times and then escape before the boss self-destructs.

• Stage 3: Attach your ship to the twin-laser launch port, being careful of the timing of the twin lasers fired by the boss, so that the boss becomes one with your ship and does not move up and down, making it easier to defeat.

• Stage 4: Hold your ship at the bottom of the screen and attack at once, taking care not to be hit by the boss's bullets and lasers.

• Stage 5: The moai statue looking up at the bottom of the screen is one of the bosses. If you put your ship's head in this moai's nostrils, you enter a safe zone and are no longer subject to enemy attacks.

• Stage 6: Before the boss's scissors open, align your ship's axis with one of the two red lines on the scissors, wait without moving, and if you can enter the small gap between the lasers fired by the boss, you can defeat the boss simply by firing a shot.

Stage 7: Boss rush stage

• Shoot at Boss 1 Big Core while shifting your ship's axis up slightly, then shoot while shifting your ship's axis down slightly.

• For boss 2 Golem, raise your ship from the bottom right of the screen to the top right, move it to the bottom right when the boss's arm appears, and gradually guide the boss around the perimeter and attack its weak point, the eyeball.

• For boss 3 Tetran, it is a good idea to run away on the outer perimeter and stay there until time runs out.

• For boss 4 Gau, avoid the eyeballs and lasers, shift your ship's axis and fire while matching the boss's movement.

• For boss 5 Fire Dragon, your ship first waits in the centre of the screen and then moves so that the dragon surrounds your ship. When the dragon surrounds your ship, launch a continuous attack.

• For boss 6 Covered Core, maintain a distance from behind the screen and keep attacking. Behind the missile port above is a safe zone.

Stage 8:

• The mid-boss Fortress does not fire lasers at your ship when you get somewhat close. If you are near the top or bottom front and shoot at one of the duckers, you will not be hit by the other ducker's bullets. Alternatively, if you get your ship inside the fortress, it is a safe zone.

• You cannot beat the Club, you can only escape through the legs of the club. Alternatively, place the ship close to the Club's torso, being careful not to touch it, and continue moving in the same direction as it until it passes.

• The last boss Gofer will not attack you, so you just have to break the blood vessels connecting the brain to the fortress.

Other Updates

• JTPARODA: fixed sound problem after reset in Parodius Da!

• JTALIENS: fixed game crashing when pressing up and down buttons at the same time in Crime Fighters.

• Support for multi-way joystick emulation

Legal Disclaimer

This content is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Konami or its parent company, subsidiaries, or affiliates. All trademarks, registered trademarks, and game-related content referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of the names Gradius, Gradius 2, Cue Brick is solely for informational and descriptive purposes and does not imply any official connection or endorsement.