I got a real love/hate relationship with the first 4 Gradius games. Gameplay wise it's a very fun concept. Pick your power up configuration and have a go. Great for multiple challenge playthroughs. The games themselves though are brutally challenging. Anytime I die in the middle of a stage I feel I should just start over. You really need the power ups to level the playing field. Gradius Gaiden managed to be a more lax challenge but for me Gradius V really hit the sweet spot and remains my favorite in the series.
yeah these games have certain points where if you die you are fucked it is impossible to recover actually the game would be a lot more forgiving if it put you at the start of the level each time you die but still i dont hate the challenge
Yeah. I really want to love the Gradius series as well but then you realised the bs that the game will throw at you. Collecting every powerups will make you look like a god but when you die, you lost everything and you are utterly fucked because you will be unable to dodge everything, making the game literally impossible like the first two R Type
@@QF_Dan72 I very much agree . When i play Gradius overall then with savestates . With some practice you can get good at 1 and 2 . But with Gradius 3 and 4 , its Impossible without Savestates . Both games are called as the Bubble-nightmare-games . Both have a Bubble-stage and are unbearable hard with no remorse . Gradius Gaiden and Gradius 5 are suddenly perfectly fun and the challenge doesnt destroy your ego in seconds . The Salamander games are a totally different story . But very awesome on their own .
Man, now I'm even more grateful for the SNES port. It added a huge punch to the sound and made the game more accessible. Still, Gradius is fun no matter what you play it on.
@@soundspark it isn't just the slowdown on the SNES. A lot of the level designs are easier, and certain things that were indescribable in the arcade version like the boulders in the digging section of level 3 and the small fireballs in the fire level can be destroyed on SNES.
@@soundspark Nah, they simplified the levels so that mere mortals could conquer them is the bottom line. They also removed 2 levels (they weren't fun anyway) and added more weapon choices.
tried many...many combinations trying to get through this game over the years. my hat is off to you player. you controlled the drunk basketballs very well.
I played this on the Arcade Archives port... my God, this game can throw the utmost bullshit in gaming ever at you. The infamous crystal cube challenge is among the most stupid hard challenges ever in gaming. The music in this game is friggin' awesome, though.
Interestingly enough, I enjoy the Cube level; might be because building a wall seems like a designed necessity to succeed at it. It’s also fun once done to see those cubes impotently tried to run into your barrier to no avail. Perhaps it comes down to play styles, as I sincerely dislike the escape after the final boss and the rotating lasers right before the walking spider you must avoid.
@@Persac7 Konami held a contest for level ideas, and someone came up with the cube level. Konami gifted him a special version of the Salamander arcade machine.
With much difficulty I managed to beat the SNES version of this game when I was a kid (thanks to slowdown), but there's no way in hell I'd be able to take this on. I'm only halfway through watching this and already I've lost track of how many times I've said "Oh my god" and "Holy shit" out loud.
This version of the game looks like pure agony, no wonder Konami revised the hell out of it for the SNES release. I wonder if it even had a role in killing shmups, by making one so difficult it was inaccessible?
I doubt it had much of a hand in the decline of shmups specifically, because 1992 was a major high point for even classic shmups, but I would make a bolder claim: that this game started the trend of games getting easier by teaching developers that harder was not necessarily better.
If that were the case, the R-Type would have been the death of shmups, but they’re not. You also have to take into account that arcade games were meant to make money for the arcade owners at the time. The more difficult the game, the more money you would put into the machine and therefore make more money.
When "Gradius III" was converted to the SNES, several things were removed, and four levels, the 3D, Organic, Ice, and fortress levels were dropped. In their place was an "Escape Route" level (was originally right after the final boss), a "Boss Rush" level (was originally the start of the final level), a "Gauntlet Level" (was originally right before the final boss), and the final level was now just the final boss.
+Vahan Nisanian Actually, you are not wrong, but those things added were from Gradius 2 Gopher, the SNES Gradius 3 was really a mix of Gradius 2arcade and 3arcade
This. And also, we have to consider that the US did NOT get a home port of Gradius 2. We skipped straight to 3 which meant most home players missed out on the things that it offered. This was in a way the catchup game. And to be honest, it’s still remains one of my all time favorite games.
Well, close enough. The Organic level was bumped up to the final stage on the SNES version and heavily tweaked. The Dead End Cell theme got dropped in favor of "Uncharted Territory/Unpleasant Cell" (folk are still arguing about the theme title to this day), and Bacterian (final boss) pretty much told the original boss Gregol, "You're fired." And lastly, that's it. No escape route, you win. The gauntlet part of the Mechanical Base stage is still intact, except for fighting two Shadow Gears instead of dodging an indestructible one. Speaking of Mechanical Base, the Fortress stage is now the second-to-last level in the game. The Crystal stage was dropped because of the insane difficulty level (my guess), and the Boss Rush became a stage of its own after the High Speed level (Stage 7), which was favored over the 3D stage in the arcade version. So what we got for the SNES version was a fusion of Gradius II and III, which I felt went more with the spirit of the games
@@hoodmistressreloadedAt least in the Arcade version Bacterion acutally talks, instead of burping as he does in the SNES version. The High Speed 3D stage could be recreated if Konami decided to use the Mode7 chip. The reasons i consider Gradius III SNES a reworked version of Gradius II? Here they're: -Same Power Meter/Weapon Select screen (except Edit mode). -Same color of the font. -Volcano stage/zone is almost like the Gradius II Volcano 4th stage (except for some changements and the absurdely truncated Underground stage). -Moai stage is entirely the same as the Gradius II one (except for the Moai Columns part which is from Gradius III AC and the Moai boss which is almost like the Gradius II ones). -High Speed stage is the same thing of the Gradius II one (except for some small changements, the stage color change and Beacon). -The Boss Parade/Rush stage at least it's not recycled (except the part with the Zubs, which is the same as Gradius II). -The Mechanical Base is entirely the same as the Gradius II one (Into Hostile Ship) (except for (again) some small changements and instead of Demos there's Disrupt like Gradius III AC). -Shadow Gears MK-II it's just like Crabs from Gradius II (except that they have 4 paws and they're destructible).
Has anyone ever noticed how the plant stage looks like the 2nd stage from Gradius 2, but it's like it's been overtaken by nature? I wonder if there's a story there.
So you're telling me this was gotten past by a person, right? I mean, a human... Damn, just feeling I was "good" 'cause I beat Normal mode in the SNES version... Now it feels like I got past Baby mode or so...
Probably the hardest Gradius game. I couldn't even finish the first stage without losing all my lives. And the fact that the game don't have continue is even worse
Mr.SCHLAUCHI, I greatly honor and salute you for beating this. Man, this game is insanely brutal. No wonder why Konami decided to redesign this game when they brought it to the SNES.
Me too! The SNES version is really downgraded than this. Many new thing they added in Gradius III AC, they decided to scrap it and put recycle things from Gradius II AC.
This was a real twat to play in the arcades, I managed to reach level 10 only a handful of times. No pause button and no continues 20p could last a long time and trying to beat the cube rush by having to reach it every time you played made it very difficult to master.
just bought it for both Switch and PS4, thank god both versions by Arcade Archives let you save state to your hearts content if you werent good enough to get through an entire level without saving in the PS2 version then tough shit back to the beginning of the game with you
Please, anyone, which one would be the best arcade stick to buy on eBay that is the best suited for arcade shumups? I think it makes a huge difference in performance...
This must be the Asian version. The "History Introduction" was trimmed, but the overall difficulty has been lowered. The Japanese version gave players the option of playing the whole game, or just the first three levels.
People talk about slowdown with the SNES port, but there are definitely a lot of parts with slowdown in the arcade version, especially when you get c laser and multiple options. I think a lot of people assume the SNES port is just a wholly inferior version due horrendous slowdown and assume the arcade version is always buttery smooth. But if you actually manage to get far enough, and fully powered up, you realize that the arcade version does indeed have a lot of slowdown. Honestly, Konami did a good job on this version. It's not an arcade perfect port, but when you really look at it, it's quite an accurate translation of the arcade game. Graphically it looks almost identical, sound is pretty accurate too, and even difficulty to some extents. The biggest difference is you actually can continue credits. That's the most major difference, along with being able to more easily recover.
Could anoyne tell me how the final boss works please? What's with all the random teleporting to other stages when you get hit? Is that required to beat it or was it just done to show things off?
- Well a final boss is a final boss, you defeat him , you won! =P - The Random Teleporting when you get a hit by bacterion shots is just an easter egg that send you to another homage levels from previous gradius games, the first one being the stage1 of salamander with the brainy boss and the second one being the famous stage 1 in the original gradius with the core mk1 boss. - No, they are not required to get hit by those, just do your casual task of beating the final boss. The video is just meant to show them since it's a longplay.
It's interesting there was an English-speaking voice saying "Destroy the Eye!," "Destroy the Core!," "Laser," "Shield," etc. even in the Japanese arcade version. I guess English sounded cooler? I dunno.
That's how awesome Konami was for two decades. I'm not on the modern Konami bashing train, but I do wish they'd sell their properties to Nintendo knowing they would do right by their legacy.
I am the best at all of these shoot up arcade games. Nemesis, salamander, Gradius 3, R-TYPE and thunder cross 1 and 2. Clocked some of them several types!
I have no idea how you're supposed to destroy the three upper Moai heads at the stage 4 boss. Do they just self-destruct after a certain period of time and/or after you destroy the lower three? That's what it looked like.
All bosses in this game have certain periods of time to destroy, if not, they time out and self destruct and you get no points from letting them do so.
I feel like I'm watching someone dodging raindrops. The SNES version (which I still haven't beat thanks to its super-fast scrolling stage) is a CAKEWALK compared to this. My god...
+ClefairyRox I think at about 31:35 my brain actually overheated and shut down - and I'm just watching a video. Imagine having to concentrate for an hour and ten minutes in the arcade to finish this. You'd have to be the next evolution of humankind. Also, imagine hitting the wall at 1:09:31 with your last life. You'd be annoyed to put it mildly.
+Ashley Pomeroy You can always continue. Granted, it'd be a bit annoying to have to shell out another credit just to see the ending, but after getting through the rest of the crazy game, it's like, to quote Strong Bad, "strapping a firecracker to an atomic bomb".
+hawaiidkw Continuing doesn't usually help in Gradius... Especially in Gradius III. It respawns you at the last checkpoint with a speedup and nothing else. If you died when you had a small fleet's worth of weaponry and multiple speedups, how the hell can you make it with a slow ship and a tiny pew-pew laser? Only game series I've ever heard of where a one-life run is the EASY way to play.
+hawaiidkw Gradius II in Japan (western version known as Vulcan Venture, had continues in arcades) and Gradius III had no continues. Lose all your lives, you'll have to start all over again....from the beginning.
+Alice Wolff Same could be said to Twinbee series. While that game does not send you back to the last checkpoint after death, it only makes things worse since the player will have to continue with no power up (shooting bells while dealing with tons of enemies is suicidal) and keep losing even more lives, also some of the boss attacks are simply not avoidable on default speed. Man, Konami did really know how to turn shoot'em ups into living tortures.
Did you really think that the SNES version is the original? You Kidding Me? This is the orignal (and true) Gradius III, the toughest (even fun to play) shump in the series. In my opinion the SNES version is more Gradius II and less Gradius III, in a few words: "A reebot of Gradius II!"
The last stage of the Bacterian,then Viper escapes to the mechanical Fortress through the explosion,its looks like the stage 4 of the N.A.C Fortress in Aerial Assault,Gradius III has a conversions of home consoles to the SFC/SNES,Playstation 2 and PSP
If you're a SNES Gradius 3 player and planning to play the arcade version, The first 3 stages are cakewalk as long as you don't activate your shield early on as it makes the difficulty spike up 3x and enemies turn unpredictable and aggressive. Things become brutal at moai so having your shield up or not is a non factor. then it becomes hell starting from the lava stage up to the final stage, even regular gradius 3 arcade players die at least once at those stages. The cube rush part can be pretty easy if you know how to build the "wall" and predict when the rogue cube will strike. (Which I think is the 9th cube)
When you got hit on the shot of the final boss, You 'll lost all your upgrades and warp into secret stages which were taken from Life Force and first Gradius game.
In the SNES version, each of the bosses in the boss rush was identified by its own theme music. I gotta say that the arcade version did a much better job at this. Having the "Salamander" boss theme, and then the "Gradius II" boss theme throughout, really added a lot more drama and suspense to a beyond merciless game.
This is the first arcade game I have ever seen to have slowdown. You’d think they would have designed it to be able to handle it, since it only has the one game that it is ever going to run.
"This is the first arcade game I have ever seen to have slowdown." Please look at the embarassments that are Technos Japan's arcade games. Those make this look stable.
I played this on the SNES as a kid and loved it, never beat it but I would get pretty far. I bought it on the PS2 and its like HARD AS HELL, feel like the difficulty increased or my coordination has lowered, no idea, but its tough getting to the Easter Island head level now
The collision box on your ship in the arcade game is much smaller in the Arcade. In the SNES{Much Much easier game even at hard} would have gotten you killed.
Imagine if this game was included in "Action 52" for the NES, lol. I can't even imagine how blown away people would have been due to the incredibly obvious difference in quality compared to the other games.
Laurelindo that's pretty bad example to explain how great gradius series is. Every games of action 52 are the most horrible things of all time that people would still have been blown away even if there are some other horrible nes games included instead of this game.
Going through with only 1 credit sure takes alot of practice and patience with this game. Pretty insane you have to go through a obstacle after defeating the final battle...
This game HAS to be 1-credit-cleared, because there is no continue mode-once you lose all your lives, you start back at the beginning. 😳😱 The first two Gradius games had an operator-selectable “allow continue” option-but NOT THIS ONE. That’s ridiculous!
@@DrLove0378Acutally, only the localized version of Gradius and Gradius II has continues. Gradius and Nemesis (EU Version) doesn't have continues. Nemesis (US Version) has continues (but only up to three times), same for Gradius II. Gradius II doesn't have continues. Vulcan Venture (EU version of Gradius II) has continues (this time without limits). Since Gradius III was only released in Japan and in Asia, there's no continues per tradition of the previous games. There isn't an option to enable/disable continues, but depends What version of the game you're playing.
![Arcade Longplay [473] Gradius III](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
