Gradius III
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| Gradius III | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) | Hiroyasu Machiguchi |
| Release date(s) | JPN December 11, 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Horizontal scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, SNES/SFC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable |
| Input | 8-way joystick, 3 buttons |
| Arcade cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system(s) | Konami GX945 |
| Arcade display | Raster, standard resolution, horizontal orientation |
Gradius III (グラディウスIII～伝説から神話ヘ～ guradiusu III densetsu kara shinwa e?, lit. "Gradius III: From Legend to Myth") is a scrolling shooter arcade game, developed and published by Konami in 1989. It is the third game in the Gradius series and a direct sequel to Gradius II.
The player returns as the role of the pilot of the Vic Viper starfighter to battle the onslaughts of the Bacterion Empire.
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[edit] Gameplay
There are a total of ten levels in the game. Stage 4 is notorious for being the first and only pseudo-3D level to ever appear in the Gradius series. In this mini-level, the player controls the Vic Viper in a third-person (behind the ship) perspective and must avoid colliding with walls. There are also two hidden levels that are based on the early sections of Gradius and Salamander. The game contains the familiar weapons, level layouts, and enemies that have become trademarks of the series.
The game is known by fans as being considerably more difficult than its predecessors, so much so that it prompted Konami to pull it from arcades rather quickly. (The arcade version did not provide a way to continue the game upon losing all lives, and did not even include an operator-selectable "allow continue" option.) The Japanese version of the game contains a 'beginner mode' that allows the player to venture through the first three levels at a much easier difficulty. The Asian arcade release lacks the beginner mode and retrospective introduction sequence, but reduces the difficulty overall.
The biggest addition to the game is the introduction of the "Edit Mode", which is a logical progression on the weapons system from Gradius II. Not only can players choose between pre-defined weapon schemes, but they can mix and match missile, double, laser, shield and "special" ("!") power-ups into their own custom combination. However, some of the weapons available in pre-defined schemes can not be used in custom schemes, and vice versa. Many of the redundant weapon variations from the different schemes in Gradius II were removed, in favor of new variations.
Mission sequence [1]
- Stage 1: Desert
- Goliath
- Stage 2: Bubble
- Bubble Eye
- Stage 3: Volcano
- Big Core Mk-III
- Stage 4: High-speed
- Stage 5: Moai
- Dogas → Vaif
- Stage 6: Cell
- Gregol
- Stage 7: Lava
- Wyvern → Vulture Dragon
- Stage 8: Plant
- Choking Weed
- Stage 9: Crystal
- Lizard Core
- Stage 10: Last
- Tetran → Covered Core → Big Core Mk-II
Crystal Core → Death Mk-II → Cannon Core
Disrupt → Shadow Gear → Bacterion
[edit] Ports
[edit] Super NES
A port of Gradius III was released for the Super Famicom in December 1990 and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991 with reduced difficulty and additional armaments for the Vic Viper. It replicates the slowdown of its arcade counterpart and discards the pseudo-3D and Crystal levels. It also introduces the recurring series boss Beacon which awaits the player at the end of the High-speed stage.
[edit] PlayStation 2
In 2000, Konami bundled Gradius III and Gradius IV together for release on the PlayStation 2 video game console, as Gradius III and IV. The port is based on the arcade version and has an unlockable Extra Edit mode, which gives the player the freedom to create a weapon array from all included setups and adds the F-Option, R-Option and Reduce II power-ups found in the Super NES port. The Reduce from the SNES port returns the player one step closer to the Vic Viper's original size when hit, giving it protection from two hits.
As the PlayStation 2 is technically more sophisticated than the game's original arcade hardware, the game as a result runs faster in situations that would normally impose lag. KCET implemented a regulator as an option that can be adjusted from three levels at any point in the game, beginning from 0 to 2 (original rate).
[edit] PlayStation Portable
Gradius III was later ported to the PlayStation Portable in 2006 as part of Gradius Collection. This version keeps the tradition of not allowing the player to continue after exhausting all reserve ships.
[edit] Soundtrack
A soundtrack, containing the original music as well as arranged tracks, was released by Konami on the King Records label in the early 1990s. Additionally, several albums containing arrangements of the music from this game were released in the years to follow. Konami also released a soundtrack album containing music from Gradius III as well as other Gradius games, entitled Gradius Arcade Soundtrack on April 24, 2002.
The "Gradius III Symphonic Poetry" track was relesed by Club Kukeiha on June 5, 1990 and contains many orchestrated tracks from both Gradius 3 and numerous previous games. A prime example of its diversity is the "Final Battle" track, which contains numerous variations on the "Crystal World" and "Boss Battle" tracks in Gradius 2/Vulcan Venture. [1]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ (2006) Gradius Portable Official Guide. Konami. ISBN 4-86155-111-0.
