Gradius/Awesome Music

The bulk of Gradius's most crowning songs accurately convey some sort of cosmic wonder. Talk about what you consider Crowning Music in Gradius here.


 * "Tears Began Gushing", the bonus stage music from Gradius 2 on MSX. It always sounds like you flew to heaven or something, especially considering that most of the time, the entrances to these bonus rounds are welcome escapes from some very difficult levels.
 * Almost any fortress theme in the series. "Cosmic Heroes" (Nemesis 3 MSX), "Into Hostile Ship"(Gradius II AC), "Mechanical Base" of Gradius III are all great examples.
 * "Battleship" from Gradius V. It starts with the first few notes of the first stage theme from Gradius I, then kicks off into a high speed techno beat as you blast away enemy ships. The awesomeness level is taken Up to Eleven when it is Mickey Moused into the opening.
 * Maximum Speed (Fate...) from Gradius Gaiden. It starts out awesome, then gets more awesome as it picks up speed.
 * The final boss music from the same game is even more awesome. It starts out with warning sirens in a dark, depressing, and somehow scary and intimidating background. all of this while he's LAUGHING AT YOU.
 * Gradius. One of the best soundtracks to any arcade game.The NES port music isn't as great but it's still brilliant.
 * From Gradius V: Impregnable Fortress, the rave-like music to the second part of Stage 7.
 * Maximum Speed from Gradius II. It plays in the high speed level, and it's very fitting for a level that goes very fast.
 * Sensation, from Salamander 2 Stage 2, also featured in Keyboardmania 3rd Mix.
 * Also from Salamander 2, Fire Tripper, which to the dismay of this troper isn't used in the game. Fun fact: The Salamander 2 soundtracks are partially composed by Naoki Maeda, who would go on to become a major producer of Dance Dance Revolution songs.
 * Speaking of DDR, Burning Heat! (Full Option Mix) is a remix of Gradius II Stage 1's music first appearing in Beatmania IIDX 7th Style and DDR 7th Mix (as a shorter, "3 Option Mix" version).
 * Silvery Wings Again also deserves a mention, also includes a shout out to "Departure From Space" from Gradius III
 * Snowfield, from Gradius Gaiden Stage 1.
 * From the same game, stage 7's "On the Event Horizon". A jazzy techno beat that escalates as the very first stage from Gradius gets sucked into a black hole.
 * The first two tracks on the last stage: "Speed" (0'19"), "Inside Mission" (02'18"); and the final boss theme (06'37").
 * Sky 2, which is somewhat of a Leitmotif of Gradius Gaiden, having a heroic remix that plays in the some parts of the last stage's theme, and a Dark Reprise as the game over music, which is undeniably one of the darkest themes in the Gradius series.
 * Tetran & Death MK-III from Gradius V: The old Salamander boss music on steroids.
 * Intermezzo
 * The second-to-last stage music from the Famicom version of Gradius II.
 * Meteor and Something Green from V
 * Universe is one hell of a way to start off the game.
 * Departure From Space from the arcade version of Gradius III. The SNES version just isn't the same without the choir.
 * High Speed Dimension from the SNES version of Gradius III. Just like the stage, it starts out deceptively slow, then it Immediately kicks it to high gear, just like the stage.
 * What? We got this far without mentioning the immortal Aircraft Carrier aka Boss Rush theme? Especially its mix from V.
 * IV's jazzy rendition deserves mention
 * I can't believe no one has done what is essentially the most epic stage theme in Gradius, ever. The original Moonspin. The re makes are kinda epic too.
 * Pity that only one has mentioned the music from Nemesis yet. Here are some of the most kickass, with/as Rebirth remake (*original available):
 * From Nemesis II: A Journey To The Start*, A Dream of a Dreamer
 * Also from Nemesis II: Killer Corst Land
 * From Nemesis III: Position Light*, Cosmic Heroes
 * Historic Soldier, the music of the beginning animation of Nemesis I
 * The rocking intro music from PC Engine version of Gradius 2: Gofer no Yabou
 * Try to Star from the Arcade version of Gradius III, which is sadly absent in the SNES version. Even more awesome still is the S.S.H. remix.
 * Even fan games have their own CMOAs, an example would be this tune from Storm Assault.
 * "Pursuit", from the Game Boy Gradius II