![]() Then I have to zoom in and align all my lines manually by taking each anchor point and reshuffling it. I’m freehand drawing a turn-off snapping because it wreaks havoc. It’s just really nice usually in Adobe Illustrator. Download Size: 598. You can go from one end of an element to another end of the element and draw lines between them. It’s doing anything special or new or cool. The freehand drawing tool becomes really cool. It is not an amazing vector act that can also happen to do layouts. ![]() You can do with the app and ultimately affinity to me feels like a layout app that has some really amazing vector tools. It is a pro-level app but you only pay once and if you’re only going to use it occasionally it fits that bill well especially when you get into how well it opens Photoshop documents. This app is really kind of awesome and that’s those are the people who I think will really love something like this because it is good enough. So many apps screw up fonts when you open up a Photoshop look. Just forgets your layer folders and fonts. It is a smooth & most precise vector graphic design software. It renames the layers for you or forgets the layer names. Free Download Serif Affinity Designer full version standalone offline installer for macOS. This is really good at opening Photoshop files. Because the hit area on those anchor points is bigger and easier to touch. It is a little bit better than Illustrators. The tool helps you edit and retouch pictures, create multi-layered full-blown compositions, and get loads more stuff done. Affinity Photo is a professional image editing software comprising a large tool-set specifically designed for photography and creative professionals. You’re familiar with Illustrator looking at the pen tool. A Feature-Packed Photo Editing Software for Professionals. Free Download Serif Affinity Photo full version standalone offline installer for Windows redefines professional photo editing software boundaries. There’s the pen tool, drawing tool, arrow tool black and white selection arrow tool, etc. If you’re into that sort of thing so let’s take a look at some of the tools in the draw persona. There’s one for a pixel which is for rendering pixels and there’s another one built for exporting assets which is kind of nice. You can easily draw a persona by using many interactive tools. The Windows beta version is now available for download, but there is no information about Affinity companion apps for mobile devices. It has different workspaces that refer to personas now. I’m going to be focusing mainly on the vector aspect of it and drawing and illustrating it. It shows them creating layouts and manipulating drawing textures and doing all sorts of different things. Now the Mac app costs about 50 dollars but the Windows beta is completely free. Latest Version OverviewĪffinity Designer full version is a professional graphic designer for concept art, poster, print projects, UI designs, logos, icons, mock-ups, and more.Īt first, it started as a Mac app but recently it released its Windows beta. Free download Affinity Designer latest version 2023 for Windows 11/10/8/7 (32-bit/64-bit). The editor can also work with hot keys and their combinations.Good vector drawing app. By the way, these very toolbars can be customized: select the number of items in a row and adjust their position. The graphical shell supports independent tabs with documents and allows you to freely manage toolbars. When creating an interface for the editor, the developers implemented all the modern conveniences in it. In addition to the standard graphic tools, Affinity Designer offers edge rounding, shape geometry editing and curve management tools. The main advantages of the editor include the ability to work with layers, adapt to touch screens, edit the 16-bit channel, make changes to pixel accuracy, work with large gigapixel images, adjust the smooth gradient and much more. Affinity Designer provides a wide range of vector brushes and palettes with professional color support for drawing. You can also switch to drawing mode and export mode. By default, the editor works in the vector graphics editing mode, offering additional tools for this purpose. It is currently in beta testing and may contain errors.īefore you start working with the program, you must select the appropriate mode. Originally the program was created for MacOS, but later the developers released a version for Windows. Affinity Designer is a graphical editor that allows you to retouch and edit photos using advanced color and lighting tools.
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![]() The tool had not been updated in some time but more recently there has been a wave of excellent updates that have ensured AdWords Editor is still a premier tool in your PPC management. Only a couple of years ago, industry insiders genuinely believed Google would abandon AdWords Editor until it was obsolete. ![]() You will, therefore, have more time to focus on your strategies and experiments to produce positive results, instead of getting bogged down with time-consuming admin.ĪdWords Editor also makes it easier to analyse your KPIs, make decisions as a team and produce great reporting. ![]() You can just use the copy and paste function in AdWords Editor to select multiple terms then paste them into a new draft campaign.ĪdWords Editor speeds up the process of creating your campaigns and the day to day management of tasks. you may want to use all the same keywords in a new campaign but tweak them to be location specific. You can easily make mass changes to keywords, bids, ad copy and more, e.g. While AdWords scripts are also a great way to make multiple changes quickly, AdWords Editor is much simpler and perfect for those who are accustomed to Excel. AdWords Editor is perfect if you’re confident with AdWords but not quite to the level of an AdWords expert who is used to handling AdWords scripts. Make bulk edits – Easily the best reason to use AdWords Editor is the ability to make bulk edits with greater speed. You can also create entire campaigns from scratch as a draft before ever going live. ![]() If you remember to export and copy the data into Excel it makes it easy to keep track of all your major alterations for reporting purposes. You can export all your data from AdWords, make changes without affecting your live campaign in AdWords and send your proposals as exported files to colleagues to review and add their own tweaks, before uploading to the live interface. Improve collaboration – If you have multiple people involved with the management of an AdWords campaign then AdWords Editor will make life a lot easier. You can make edits offline – Need to do lots of management on your campaign but suffer from a poor internet connection? This is not a problem because with AdWords Editor you can make all your detailed edits and changes offline and simple export them to the AdWords interface later with a couple of clicks. AdWords Editor means you don’t have to log in and out of different accounts and you can even view your data for multiple accounts side by side in the same view. You can review multiple campaigns at once – This is very useful for agencies managing multiple accounts. Some of the best reasons to start using AdWords Editor are: If you have a large variety of AdGroups, ads or keywords AdWords Editor makes managing and analyzing campaigns much faster. Yes, that’s right, 100% free and it’s no longer just for PPC pros because recent updates over the past few years have made AdWords Editor very straightforward to use.Īnyone can use AdWords Editor but it is especially useful to those managing multiple accounts and/or very large accounts. What is AdWords Editorįor those unfamiliar with this fabulous tool, AdWords Editor is a free application for managing AdWords campaigns. By using AdWords Editor, you could vastly improve the management of your AdWords accounts with very little effort. When it comes to managing large AdWords accounts, one of the biggest mistakes PPC marketers commit is failing to take advantage of the AdWords Editor tool.Įvery AdWords expert knows time is valuable and any tool that can speed up your campaign building and monitoring process is a must have. Excellent organization and productivity are key skills when Optimising your PPC campaigns for best results. ![]() These words are relevant to the matter of this epistle. Sicut enim supra ostendit qualiter spirituales praelati habeant se ad subditos: sic hic qualiter temporales domini ad temporales servos, et quomodo servus fidelis quoad dominum eius. Haec autem verba conveniunt materiae huius epistolae. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ Matthew 23:8: ‘And all you are brothers.’ There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor freeman there is neither male nor female. Galatians 3:27: ‘For all you who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. As for his use, he should be treated like a brother, for he is a brother, both with respect to generation of nature, because they have the same author -Job 31.13: ‘If I have despised to abide judgement with my man-servant’ Malachi 2:10: ‘Have we not all one father? Did not one God created us?’ -and with respect to the generation of grace, which is the same for both. Acts 4.32: ‘Now the multitude of the believers were of one heart and one soul.’ By which we are given to understand that there is a consensus of master and servant, when the faithful servant becomes a friend. For this is proper to friends, that they are of one mind in what they will and what they do not will. Proverbs 20:6: ‘But who shall find a faithful man?’ The master ought to feel towards his servant as a friend, hence it is said, ‘as his own soul’. Matthew 24-45: ‘Who, do you think, is the faithful and prudent servant.’ And he says, ‘if he is faithful’, because fidelity is found in few. From the servant fidelity is asked, for in this he is a good servant, because what he is and all that he has he ought to give to the master. ![]() ![]() ![]() The wise man shows three things concerning master and slave, namely, what is required on the side of the servant what ought to be the feeling of the master towards the servant and what is the use of the servant. III, 27 s.: quicumque enim in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis non est Iudaeus, neque Graecus, non est servus, neque liber, non est masculus, neque foemina, omnes enim vos unum estis in Christo Iesu. II, 10: numquid non unus pater omnium nostrum? Numquid non Deus unus? Et quantum ad generationem gratiae, quae est eadem. Iob XXXI, 13: si contempsi subire iudicium cum servo meo. Usus eius est, ut tractetur ut frater nam frater est, et quantum ad generationem naturae, quia eodem auctore. In quo datur intelligi, quod est quidam consensus inter dominum et servum, quia servus fidelis transit in amicum. IV, 32: multitudinis credentium erat cor unum et anima una. Hoc enim est proprium amicorum, ut eorum anima una sit in nolendo et volendo. XX, 6: virum fidelem quis inveniet? Talis ergo servus debet haberi a domino, sicut amicus in affectu. Et dicit si est fidelis, quia fidelitas apud paucos est. XXIV, 45: fidelis servus et prudens, et cetera. Ex parte servi requiritur fidelitas, in qua est bonum servi, quia et quod est et omnia sua debet dare domino. Ostendit sapiens tria circa dominum et servum, scilicet quid requiratur ex parte servi item qualis debet esse affectus domini ad servum item qualis usus servi. ‘If you have a faithful servant, let him be to you as your own soul’ (Sirach 33:31). Heb 1:1-2 Proeomium PROLOGUE Servus si est tibi fidelis, sit tibi quasi anima tua, et cetera. Revised and html-edited by Joseph Kenny, O.P. Thomas Aquinas, Selected Writings (Penguin, 1998) Thomas Aquinas translated by Ralph McInterny ![]() Clifford Hallam Healthcare – Australia’s only fully integrated, nationwide pharmaceutical and medical consumables distributor.Announced representative new clients who switched to, or existing clients who expanded their agreements with, Rimini Street, including:.Cash and short-term investments of $135.0 million at March 31, 2023, a decrease of 14.6% compared to $158.0 million at March 31, 2022.Basic and diluted net income per share attributable to common stockholders was a per share result of $0.06 for the 2023 first quarter compared to net income per basic share of $0.04 and net income per diluted share of $0.03 for the same period last year. ![]() Adjusted EBITDA for the 2023 first quarter was $16.6 million compared to $12.9 million for the same period last year.Non-GAAP Net Income was $10.4 million for the 2023 first quarter compared to $9.2 million for the same period last year.Net income was $5.6 million for the 2023 first quarter compared to net income of $3.1 million for the same period last year.Non-GAAP Operating Income was $15.4 million for the 2023 first quarter compared to $12.1 million for the same period last year.Operating income was $10.7 million for the 2023 first quarter compared to $5.9 million for the same period last year.Gross margin was 62.7% for the 2023 first quarter compared to 62.0% for the same period last year.Subscription revenue of $102.1 million, which accounted for 96.8% of total revenue for the 2023 first quarter compared to subscription revenue of $96.2 million, which accounted for 98.3% of total revenue for the same period last year.Revenue Retention Rate was 92% for the trailing twelve months ended Maand 94% for the comparable period ended March 31, 2022.Annualized Recurring Revenue was $408.3 million for the 2023 first quarter, an increase of 6.1% compared to $384.9 million for the same period last year.International revenue was $52.1 million, an increase of 14.1% compared to $45.6 million for the same period last year.revenue was $53.4 million, an increase of 2.2% compared to $52.3 million for the same period last year. Revenue was $105.5 million for the 2023 first quarter, an increase of 7.8% compared to $97.9 million for the same period last year.Select First Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights We are also issuing guidance today for the second quarter and reaffirming full year 2023 guidance and our continued commitment to increasing profitability and re-accelerating revenue growth.” government-backed securities of $135 million and reduced debt $10 million year over year from $87 million to $77 million, resulting in net cash at quarter end of $58 million. “Additionally, we maintained a strong balance sheet with cash and U.S. Perica, Rimini Street chief financial officer. “We were pleased with our first quarter performance in revenue, gross margin, net income, Adjusted EBITDA, and Revenue Retention Rate on subscription revenue and exceeded first quarter 2023 guidance,” stated Michael L. We have already signed more than 100 Rimini ONE clients and believe our significantly expanded solutions portfolio will increase sales to new and existing clients, improve subscription renewals and extensions and expand client lifetime value.” “One of the new premier solutions launched in the first quarter was our end-to-end, ‘turnkey’ outsourcing offering – Rimini ONE™ – which provides organizations a one-vendor solution for their current and evolving enterprise software needs and leverages Rimini Street’s unique, industry-leading value, reliability, responsiveness and engineering capability. Ravin, Rimini Street co-founder, president, CEO and chairman of the board. ![]() This expanded portfolio will allow us to meet the needs of a significantly larger market of organizations with $200 million or more in annual revenue or budget,” stated Seth A. “For the first quarter of 2023, we were pleased to both complete the launch of our expanded solutions portfolio and sell the full portfolio to name-brand organizations globally. The next issue of Financial Post Top Stories will soon be in your inbox. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. ![]() If you are sensitive to energy or have a hard time sleeping, try removing all crystals and adding them back one at a time. Crystals are amplifiers, so for some people, the buzz of energy that they carry can prevent restful sleep. ![]() When it comes to crystals in the bedroom, less is more. It should be tranquil, calm, and peaceful. Crystals for the Bedroom: Rest, Recharge, and Revamp the Romance It also connects with the root chakra, which will benefit your work by keeping you grounded and helping you to harness courage and resourcefulness. If your desk is covered with a computer, tablet, phone or other electronic devices, this stone can be useful in combating that energy. Unlike any other stone on Earth, this stone, found only in Russia, can absorb and neutralize the electromagnetic radiation (EMF) put out by electronic devices. SHUNGITE - An important stone for the work desk or home office, Shungite is one of the natural antioxidants found in the stone’s fullerenes. Tiger’s Eye maximizes your productivity, gives you the courage to take calculated risks, and motivates you to work hard. TIGER’S EYE - Place it on your desk to help you stay focused. The courage, motivation and overall sense of abundance you feel when connected with Pyrite’s energy will drive you to take those necessary risks or capitalize on opportunities for growth. Set the Pyrite on top of your business card to manifest abundance. Bring in the energy of a Pyrite Crystal to promote a wealth of ideas, opportunities and confidence in the office. Pyrite clears the way for wealth and acts as a money magnet. PYRITE - Place it over your business card, proposal, or pending contract. Once you address them head on, this crystal helps you break through to a solution. PHANTOM QUARTZ - Place it on top of your desk to assist you in bringing stressful work situations to the surface. Malachite helps to transform finances and encourages you to approach challenging situations with new ideas and creative solutions. MALACHITE - Place it over your business deals that are heading in the wrong direction, bills you’ve been stressing over, and business transactions that you need clarity on. Carnelian will also bring you confidence in your decisions. Black Tourmaline will also energetically shield you from office tension.ĬARNELIAN - Keep it somewhere you can easily hold when you need creative inspiration and new ideas. ![]() These crystals will keep the energy of your office in tune with financial abundance, business savvy, and mental focus.ĪVENTURINE - Place it on your desk for luck, prosperity, and a competitive edge.īLACK TOURMALINE - Place it on your desk near your computer, phone, and any other electronic devices to help protect you from electromagnetic fields (EMFs). It’s best to keep this space uncluttered and organized, so you can work without distraction. Your office is a place where you can concentrate and be productive. An Insider Guide to Crystals for the Home Crystals for the Office: Boost Creativity, Drive, and Productivity!Īventurine, Black Tourmaline, Carnelian, Malachite, Phantom Quartz, Pyrite, Tiger’s Eye, Shungite ![]() Explore the endless possibilities of these healing tools with this quick guide to crystals for the home! We’re taking you room-by-room to help you remove the guesswork from choosing crystals for the home. Need to calm anxious thoughts? There is most definitely a stone for that. Want a little more romance in the bedroom ? There’s a stone for that. So whether you’re feeling creatively, romantically or financially blocked, there is a stone that can help you to tap into the energy you need for a breakthrough. Crystals for the home help you to set the tone for your space and spirit. The more you transform the home into a space of radiant positivity, the more you will inspire your spirit to vibrate at the same level. That’s why it’s so important to not only cleanse the energy of the home regularly, but also fill it back up with love and light. And when your mind is cluttered with chaotic thoughts, disarray will often manifest within the home as well. When you’re sad or grieving, the home holds the space of that darkness. When there’s tension between people in the home, the home energy feels tense. Because of this, it shouldn’t be surprising that they reflect our energy as well. They can act as mirrors: they reflect our personality and our interests. Our homes are hands-down one of the most important spaces in our lives. “Home base” may be a term that comes from baseball, but it’s so fitting! Nothing’s more important than your home base: where you go to recharge, to renew, to rest, be at peace, create meals and spend quality time with your family and - of course - with yourself. THE BEST CRYSTALS FOR YOUR HOME: A ROOM-BY-ROOM GUIDE ![]() Make your own Stationary Products and Greeting Cards Orange Card Stock Orange Card Stock great for school supplies and personal and office use.Green Paper Green Color Paper great for school supplies and personal and office use. ![]() Green Card Stock Green Card Stock great for school supplies and personal and office use.Red Paper Red Color Paper great for school supplies and personal and office use.Red Card Stock Red Card Stock great for school supplies and personal and office use.Blue Paper Blue Color Paper great for school supplies and personal and office use.Blue Card Stock Blue Card Stock great for school supplies and personal and office use.Black Paper Black Color Paper great for school supplies and personal and office use.Black Card Stock Black Card Stock great for school supplies and personal and office use.White Cardstock Art and craft: make your own arts and crafts * greeting cards * Invitations * Thank you cards * Holiday cards * Baby shower cards.8.5 x 14 Paper 8.5 x 14 Paper great for school supplies and personal and office use.8.5 x 14 Card Stock (Legal) 8.5 x 14 Card Stock great for school supplies and personal and office use.11 x 17 Paper 11 x 17 Paper great for school supplies and personal and office use.11 x 17 Card Stock 11 x 17 Card Stock great for school supplies and personal and office use.8.5 x 11 Paper 8.5 x 11 Paper great for school supplies and personal and office use.8.5 x 11 Card Stock 8.5 x 11 Card Stock great for school supplies and personal and office use. ![]() It’s a skeleton, and a broken, incomplete one at that - less song than confessional. “Wish My Kids Were Here” is the A side of this seven-inch single, the seventh in an annual holiday series for David Bazan, who has spoken openly of his struggles with Christianity. 14 at the Metropolitan Museum’s Medieval Sculpture Hall information: .)ĭAVID BAZAN: ‘WISH MY KIDS WERE HERE’ (Suicide Squeeze, $5.99).Ĭhristmas is a day to celebrate closeness and also a day to wrestle with consequences. ![]() (The group will perform a Christmas-related concert at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. The record presents triadic harmonies and the group’s immaculate handling of art-song polyphony, and then the song itself, sung by only one of the singers - Marsha Genensky - in Kentucky Appalachian style. Anonymous 4 has gone about it in wide focus: It includes medieval English and Irish precedents to the carol, and related American songs rooted in British caroling. Intelligently and responsibly, the American a cappella group Anonymous 4 has built an album around one 15th-century English song, “The Cherry Tree Carol,” on the subject of Joseph, Mary and the miracle pregnancy. Here, the pop and jazz critics of The New York Times look for meaning, and hidden presents, in this year’s crop of holiday releases.ĪNONYMOUS 4: ‘THE CHERRY TREE: SONGS, CAROLS & BALLADS FOR CHRISTMAS’ (Harmonia Mundi, $19.98). Or even more rarely, something not thrilling, but bracing not all holiday experiences are cheerful. And also like gifts, the ones worth receiving and embracing are those that in spite of the familiar structure, find new ways to deliver old thrills. Grinch Dr.Like gifts themselves, Christmas albums shouldn’t be obligations, though they all too often are.
In Canada’s 1988 single-issue federal election, a majority of the electorate voted for parties that promised to reject the North American Free Trade Agreement, but their jobs were sent to Mexico anyway and did not return even after the “ false majority” government responsible was kicked to the curb in the next election. In Canada, another pseudo-democracy, nobody has replicated Gilens & Page yet and I don’t think any political science student who wants to do so should expect encouragement from the academic establishment because I am certain the same results would emerge.Ī typical Canadian election involves turfing out a party who failed to deliver on their promises. It is also instructive to consider the specific policies which have caused the most severe economic harm to the poor and working class, like NAFTA. Perhaps the only reason voters get even 30% of what they want is to prevent them from building guillotines. Perhaps the big rats – the oligarchs – let voters win 30% of the time so we’ll continue to cling to the illusion of democracy, even though the little rats only ever win when the big rats let them. Of course, correlation is not causation, but perhaps this is the reason the average voter’s influence on public policy flatlines at 30% rather than 25%, or ten. ![]() If the little rat doesn’t play, the big rat can’t have fun. However, if the big rat doesn’t let the little rat win 30% of the time, the little rat won’t play. Adolescent rats love to wrestle, and Panksepp discovered that if one rat is at least 10% bigger than another, it will trounce the smaller rat every time. ![]() This figure may have a unique significance with respect the way our brains are wired. Oligarchy notes that the probability of a law passing is about 30% no matter what percentage of average voters approve of it. ![]() The Gilens & Page study (2014) that exposed the U.S. is a “democracy” has been stubbornly persistent for a number of reasons, including cultural saturation and cognitive dissonance, but there’s another factor that may contribute to maintaining the illusion of choice. However, plutocracy and oligarchy can be used interchangeably not just because the few who rule also happen to be rich, but because of the other feature both systems have in common: the average citizen has no say in public policy, so the ruling class does not have the consent of the governed. She's a really talented artist, who you can find on Twitter using where, among other artworks, you can get hold of the prints of some remarkable paintings of characters from Doctor Who.Oligarchy means rule by the few, but Plutocracy, which means rule by the wealthy, may be a more accurate term to describe U.S. Our cover art was designed for us by Bea Garrido. And also what makes a great workplace, how to turn things round when we're not enjoying our work and, in the end, how we can all make our work better. Richard has another podcast with new co-host Nicola, called "If It's Hurting, It's not Working" and it's a fun and informative look at work - why we work, how we work, and what makes a great job. ![]() Head over to, where we all love Paul's stories. Giles' book A History of the Universe in 21 Stars: (and 3 Imposters) can be found in all good bookshops and also here: You can rate us directly on Apple Podcasts or Please like or share our podcast with people who will enjoy it, so we can build our listener base high for happiness. Next time we'll have more to say on The Sunmakers, then move onto Oxygen This episode consists the first half of that conversation, featuring The Sumakers. After an interlude for several special episodes, we've brought back the original Something Who team, and after a close encounter with an AI bot we chat about a couple of stories that are capitalist allegories.įirst we'll look at 4th Doctor story The Sunmakers from Season 15, and after that we'll examine 12th Doctor outing Oxygen from Series 10. Stay updated with the best new online casinos at today. The best casino bonus website is Onlinecasinoinformatie Nederland.Ĭheck out the best online casino in Australia fast payouts guaranteed. 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In addition to the standard frontal Shield and Force Field, there’s the Guard Shield, which protects the top and bottom part of your ship but leaves the front and back exposed, and the Limit Shield, which grants a few seconds of total invincibility. There are also two levels to each weapon, including bombs, allowing them to be strengthened for extra firepower. That means you can stick the Shield at the front, and the less immediately useful weapons at the end, so it’s easier to arm yourself with only a few orbs. You can also configure the order of the power-ups on the weapons bar. The weapons are not interchangeable between ships, but you can switch between ships when you continue. It has the Rolling Missile – a bomb that fires straight down and then explodes horizontally – and Auto Aiming, a multidirectional shot that will automatically target foes, and a Gravity Bullet, which is a very powerful shot that explodes like a Spread Bomb. The other new ship, the Falchion Beta, is based off the spacecraft from the Famicom Disk System game Falsion. The Lord British – making a triumphant return from Salamander – has a Two-Way Missile, a Ripple Laser, and a new laser beam called the Disruptor, which emanates a thick, solid pulse across the whole screen.Ī new ship called the Jade Knight has the Spread Bomb, the Round Laser – which fires a circular laser that surrounds your ship – and the Pulse Laser, which is basically the same as the Twin Laser. The good old Vic Viper features the standard Gradius payload with the usual Missile, Double, and Laser weapons. This time, you can select from four ships. Unfortunately, the weapon selection isn’t quite as vast as in Gradius III, although it’s still fairly expansive. This also affects the intro, which is done in English with a Star Wars-style text scroll. There’s even the option to switch between male and female voiceovers. It’s definitely classic Konami, top caliber stuff that feels considerably more evolved than previous entries. The Moai stage has an exotic instrument that sounds a bit like a bagpipe, while the final fight has an epic, faux-orchestral quality to it. The boss theme has an unnaturally catchy rhythm, and is far more memorable than the repetitive tunes in most of the other games. The music, again like Symphony of the Night, consists of a wide selection of genres, ranging from peppy new age to upbeat rock to cool atmospheric tunes. The game climaxes with the usual boss rush – one of the toughest parts of the game, of course – as well as a speed up zone, a bipedal robot with rocket powered skates, and a final boss that puts on an impressive light show while cycling through images of bosses from Gradius’ past. It’s a replica of the first level from the original Gradius, except it’s being torn apart by a black hole, requiring that you dodge bits of scenery that are being tossed at you. The biological and plant stages are cool, but the real standout is the “Event Horizon” stage. (The Moais even taunt you with voice clips, yelling “You think you can beat me with that? Loser!” when you first fight them.) The level boss is a square room with four huge Moai heads on the wall that spin around, which brings to mind that famous level in Super Castlevania IV, where the entire screen rotates. The statues in the Moai stage fire huge lasers, which continue to radiate even after being destroyed. The third stage is another crystal level, but here, the crystals bend and refract your laser shots, which looks really, really cool. The second stage is a ship graveyard filled with wrecked remains of old Gradius bosses, some of which still fire off some shots despite being buried deep in rubble. ![]() Gradius Gaiden really excels because it has lots of familiar moments with cool twists. The whole thing is interrupted by a gigantic white caterpillar which bursts out of the ground and begins to attack. It’s a beautiful trip through a snow field as colorful auroras shine peacefully in the background. The tone is set by the first stage, a snow filled area called “Beyond the White Storm”. It features gorgeous, splendidly detailed 2D graphics that totally blow away most other shooters, with improved color depth, transparency effects, and rotating and scaling sprites, with barely a polygon in sight. Graphically, it does to Gradius what Symphony of the Night did for Castlevania. ![]() Gradius Gaiden is the perfect example of how to evolve a series. |