Gradius III (SNES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
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5 سال پیش
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A playthrough of Konami's 1991
A playthrough of Konami's 1991 shoot 'em up for the Super Nintendo, Gradius III.
Played through on the hard difficulty level.
The Super NES game Gradius III poses an interesting conundrum for fans of the arcade game. While it is a very good game, it is not the same game as the 1989 arcade title that shares its name. It's largely based on the arcade game - many of the stage's themes are the same, and the graphics and sound on the SNES are close (though somewhat improved) compared to the original coin-op.
I will say, though, that I really dislike the arcade game. It's a solid game mechanically, but I don't recall ever playing a harder Konami game. It's hard enough to make it, in my personal experience, absolute misery to play. It might just be that I lack the chops to play it well, but I find it ultimately far too difficult to find it fun.
The SNES game, however, is a bit more reasonable, and a much better game as a result. Note that I use reasonable as a relative term here: even on the SNES, Gradius III is an exceptionally difficult game. I can't say that I've ever managed to beat it on the hidden arcade difficulty setting, and it can be totally brutal when you die at certain checkpoints since you lose all of your upgrades when you're wiped out.
It looks and sounds excellent, and it really left a huge impression on me when it came out just days after the US SNES launch. It leaves the NES Gradius games choking in its dust as far as the presentation goes, and thanks to improved use of color and an upgraded soundtrack, it was quite a showpiece for the console in 1991.
One stage is missing and a new stage has been added, and the rest of the stages have seen some heavy changes in the translation to the console. While this approach led many (especially in Japan) to decry Konami's claims that it was a faithful recreation of the original, the changes do make it a better game. Level layouts are a bit easier to navigate, some new weapons were added, and the SNES game allows you to continue from a game over (which was a huge boon), all while it retains the classic Gradius feel.
Of course, not everything came out smelling like roses. The biggest criticism the game tends to receive us about its performance. Like many early SNES games, it suffers from the developers' lack of familiarity with the new platform. Just like Super R-Type, Gradius III often suffers from some excruciating bouts of slowdown when too much happens on-screen at once. It does make some of the more difficult spots easier to handle, but it also means that you can easily run into a wall if the game suddenly speeds back up when you aren't expecting it to. Like Super R-Type, you can get around this with a lot of practice, but it does leave an ugly stain on what is otherwise an excellent shooter.
Thankfully Konami's team was a quick study, and their other SNES shooters (check out Axelay or Parodius!) didn't suffer the same way once they'd gotten some experience under their belts. It doesn't ruin the game, but it does prevent it from being the classic that it should have been. That being said, I would take this one over the arcade version any day of the week.
What do you guys think? Is the compromised speed a worthwhile trade-off for a more reasonable difficulty level and the other changes made? I'm curious as to what you guys think.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
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Played through on the hard difficulty level.
The Super NES game Gradius III poses an interesting conundrum for fans of the arcade game. While it is a very good game, it is not the same game as the 1989 arcade title that shares its name. It's largely based on the arcade game - many of the stage's themes are the same, and the graphics and sound on the SNES are close (though somewhat improved) compared to the original coin-op.
I will say, though, that I really dislike the arcade game. It's a solid game mechanically, but I don't recall ever playing a harder Konami game. It's hard enough to make it, in my personal experience, absolute misery to play. It might just be that I lack the chops to play it well, but I find it ultimately far too difficult to find it fun.
The SNES game, however, is a bit more reasonable, and a much better game as a result. Note that I use reasonable as a relative term here: even on the SNES, Gradius III is an exceptionally difficult game. I can't say that I've ever managed to beat it on the hidden arcade difficulty setting, and it can be totally brutal when you die at certain checkpoints since you lose all of your upgrades when you're wiped out.
It looks and sounds excellent, and it really left a huge impression on me when it came out just days after the US SNES launch. It leaves the NES Gradius games choking in its dust as far as the presentation goes, and thanks to improved use of color and an upgraded soundtrack, it was quite a showpiece for the console in 1991.
One stage is missing and a new stage has been added, and the rest of the stages have seen some heavy changes in the translation to the console. While this approach led many (especially in Japan) to decry Konami's claims that it was a faithful recreation of the original, the changes do make it a better game. Level layouts are a bit easier to navigate, some new weapons were added, and the SNES game allows you to continue from a game over (which was a huge boon), all while it retains the classic Gradius feel.
Of course, not everything came out smelling like roses. The biggest criticism the game tends to receive us about its performance. Like many early SNES games, it suffers from the developers' lack of familiarity with the new platform. Just like Super R-Type, Gradius III often suffers from some excruciating bouts of slowdown when too much happens on-screen at once. It does make some of the more difficult spots easier to handle, but it also means that you can easily run into a wall if the game suddenly speeds back up when you aren't expecting it to. Like Super R-Type, you can get around this with a lot of practice, but it does leave an ugly stain on what is otherwise an excellent shooter.
Thankfully Konami's team was a quick study, and their other SNES shooters (check out Axelay or Parodius!) didn't suffer the same way once they'd gotten some experience under their belts. It doesn't ruin the game, but it does prevent it from being the classic that it should have been. That being said, I would take this one over the arcade version any day of the week.
What do you guys think? Is the compromised speed a worthwhile trade-off for a more reasonable difficulty level and the other changes made? I'm curious as to what you guys think.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
Visit for the latest updates!
Facebook: 540091756006560
Twitter: nes_complete
5 سال پیش
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