Gradius III

Developer: Konami    Publisher: Konami    Release: 08/23/91   Genre: Shooter

Gradius III was one of the first shooters for the SNES and years later remains one of its best. The console port would be my first exposure to the game as well. I am sure it was the same for many others as Konami recalled the arcade game at one point. In fact it would be many years before I would even play that version of the game. Although Konami had to do a bit of nip tucking here and there to bring the experience home I would say overall I enjoyed the SNES game a lot more than its frustrating coin op counterpart. Its flaws stick out pretty badly but this remains a great game still.

The Gradius weapon system returns with a host of enhancements. Like its predecessor there are preset configurations with new weapons such as the Back Double, Twin Laser, and Crusher Laser. These setups are almost identical to Gradius II for those who simply want to jump right as they are balanced.

That is not what everyone is interested in however. What gamers wanted and what truly makes Gradius III special is its edit mode. Here you can create your own custom loadout among a vast selection in each category. Many of the weapons in edit mode are exclusive and the most powerful in the game. There simply is no comparison as the edit mode selection is just a cut above your standard options. Weapons like the E. Laser are damn near game breaking. The numerous option formations such as rotation are also really helpful. There are even a few shield options although the best option is Reduce. Reduce shrinks your ship and allows it to soak up one or two hits before death. This mode is a shooter fan’s dream and Konami deliver by offering so many options.

At ten levels Gradius III is one of the longer shooters on the market. The game covers a lot of ground and its greatest strength is the wide variety in its levels. While some are practically retreads from prior games such as the fire area and the requisite Moai stage the designers have done a good job of switching things up. The bubble stage can be incredibly difficult if you are reckless and try to destroy everything in sight. The high speed zone is one of the most difficult levels as it is enticing to overload on speed power-ups. The plant stage is probably my favorite as it is the most visually striking in my opinion.

For the most part nearly all of the arcade’s levels present in some form although there are some changes. The crystal level has been excised completely. The high speed zone is now a full stage rather than a brief segment for better or worse. The Cell stage replaces the base as the final level and loses its life force style brain enemies. Two hidden levels from Gradius and Salamander were bonuses in the arcade but did not make the conversion. To make up for it they add a few bosses from the second game although that is little compensation.

In the arcade Gradius III was brutally difficult and I doubt anyone finished without spending ten or twenty dollars in quarters. The home port is a different story. There are less enemies in every stage making your already vast arsenal of weapons seem even more powerful. More importantly like the Famicom version of Gradius 2 you can trigger slowdown if you have four options by spamming attacks, buying you time to get out of hairy situations. You could say that’s cheating but honestly who really cares? The game still puts up a valiant fight, especially toward the end. If you happen to die during the High Speed Zone or Boss Rush you might as well start over.

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On the surface the SNES version of the game looks arcade perfect and in some ways it bests the arcade. There are layers of scrolling added to many of the backgrounds. Many of the flat starry landscapes have had level appropriate scenery added that really gives the game visual variety. However there are just as many cuts. They remove a number of standard enemies, no doubt to cut down on slowdown. The extremely cool fire Wyvern that was a miniboss in stage 5 is also gone. There also remove the two third person levels that resemble Galaxy Force. Granted these stages were terrible but it would have been cool to at least see them replicated using Mode 7.

The severe slowdown mar the excellent visuals. The SNES would develop a reputation for slowdown and titles like Gradius III were part of the reason why. It truly is that bad. Every level features a few moments where the game will almost slow to a crawl. Stage 2’s multiplying bubbles is the absolute worst, with the action frequently reduced to a slideshow. Much like NES Gradius II you can use this to your advantage but that still does not excuse the performance.

In Closing

Framerate issues aside I still absolutely love Gradius III and it is one of my favorites in the series. Even with its slowdown Gradius III is still a great game and one of the better shooters for the platform. But it should have been better.