The high speed zone was expanded into a full stage rather than a brief segment for better or worse. The crystal level has been excised completely. The plant stage is probably my favorite as it is the most visually striking in my opinion.įor the most part nearly all of the arcade’s levels are represented in some form although Konami have changed the order and outright removed some. The high speed zone is one of the most difficult areas in the game as it is very enticing to overload on speed power-ups to keep up. The bubble stage can be incredibly difficult if you are reckless and try to destroy everything in sight. 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 game covers a lot of ground and its greatest strength is the wide variety in its levels. This mode is a shooter fan’s wet dream and Konami really delivered by offering so many options.Īt ten levels Gradius III is one of the longer shooters on the market.
Reduce shrinks your ship and allows it to soak up one or two hits before death. There are even a few shield options although the best option is Reduce. The numerous option formations such as rotation are also really helpful. There simply is no comparison as the edit mode selection is just a cut above your standard options. Many of the weapons in edit mode are exclusive and the most powerful in the game. Here you can create your own custom weapon loadout among a vast selection in each category. What gamers everywhere wanted and what truly makes Gradius III special is its edit mode. That’s not what everyone is interested in however. These setups are almost identical to Gradius II so for those who simply want turn their brain off and jump right in they are perfectly balanced.
GRADIUS III SHIP SERIES
Much like its predecessor there are a number of preset weapon configurations to choose from with a number armaments new to the series such as the Back Double, Twin Laser, and the Crusher Laser. The Gradius weapon system returns with a host of enhancements. Its flaws stick out pretty badly but this remains a great game still. 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. In fact it would be many years before I would even play that version of the game. The console port would be my first exposure to the game and I’m pretty sure for many others as Konami pulled the arcade from stores at one point.
Gradius III was one of the first shooters for the SNES and years later remains one of its best.
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