This one's for you.
You know who you are. Mr. Gameplay-over-graphics. Mr. Hardcore Gamer. You're always lamenting the decline of 2D, claiming the level of realism in a game is inversely proportional to the level of fun. You still have that Electronic Gaming Monthly where the editors picked Tetris as the best game of all time. And you pride yourself on actually playing all the emulated games you download.
I see you posting on our high-score board and I hear you bragging that you memorized every R-Type stage there is. Well, now I'm about to do you a favor. I'm about to show you where you can find the gameplay you crave - for free - and I'm even going to throw in a chance to win Gradius V (scheduled release: September 14, 2004).
First thing to do is read through our review of DUO for the PC. At the bottom you'll see a couple of links to download the game. (DirectX 9 is required to play DUO.) Spend some time with it, enjoy yourself, post your scores on the Score Attack forum if you'd like. Then, beat Level 50 on Challenge and save your game.
All you have to do to be entered into the Gradius V PS2 giveaway is send an e-mail to contests@the-nextlevel.com, subject line "Gradius Contest," with your score and the in-game name of Level 51. You'll see the name when Level 51 loads, and you'll have plenty of time to write it and your score down. You don't have to worry about how your score stacks up, because the winner will be chosen at random from among all eligible entries. The drawing will be held around 7 P.M. Eastern Time on Wednesday, September 15, 2004, and the winner contacted via e-mail.
Only one entry per person. TNL will only ship the prize to an address in the United States or Canada. And most importantly, The Next Level reserves the right to change any rule or any other aspect of this contest or disqualify any entrant at any time. Entries will be accepted through 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time September 14. Your e-mail address will not be used for anything other than this contest.
Let's go! You have less than two weeks!
