Yes, if this specific release of Gradius III is famous for one thing, it’s near-constant performance issues. Standout tracks for me include “In the Wind,” “Cosmo Plant,” and “Uncharted Territory,” but they’re all winners that epitomize the series’ trademark blend of exhilaration and foreboding. No small feat when you consider that it was one of relatively few back then to receive a physical album release.
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On the audio front, the warm, sample-based Super Nintendo arrangements do Motoaki Furukawa’s arcade soundtrack full justice. Sprites and backgrounds are considerably crisper and more detailed than they were in any previous home incarnation of Gradius. Option formation and any laser works wonders for keeping you safe while you learn level layouts and enemy placements.Īll this content looks and sounds phenomenal, too. Tip for newcomers: Combining the Reduce shield with the R. Crunching the numbers, this amounts to an even 1300 mechanically distinct versions of the Vic Viper! That’s a lot of potential replay value to pile onto an already longer-than-average experience. In addition to being able to select from four premade power-up schemes as before, you can now access an “edit mode” where you mix-and-match various armaments as you see fit. Gradius II’s ship customization system also returns and has been greatly expanded upon. Gradius III is significantly longer than any of its predecessors, with a total of ten stages and fifteen boss battles. One thing you can count on is plenty of bang for your buck. Pretty dang well, as it turned out, provided you’re not a stickler for originality or silky-smooth frame rates. The shoot-’em-up genre still enjoyed widespread popularity then, and SNES Gradius III served as an entire region’s first glimpse at how it could look, sound, and play on Nintendo’s much-hyped new machine. As one of five launch titles selected for the North American Super Nintendo rollout the following year, it has some measure of historic importance in these parts. Which brings me to my subject today: Konami’s 1990 home port of their own arcade hit, Gradius III. There’s perhaps no better indicator of my growth as a player. Since then, I’ve have a delightful time completing a total of five Gradius games, counting spin-offs like Life Force (aka Salamander) and Parodius. It wasn’t until 2017 that I finally buckled down and began to put some real effort into learning what makes these slick sci-fi meatgrinders tick.
I’ve written before about how the Vic Viper starfighter’s notoriously grueling missions to defend humanity from the rampaging Bacterians were enough to put me off auto-scrolling shooters for years as a kid.
One of my most satisfying gaming accomplishments in recent years has been getting to grips with the once feared Gradius saga.
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