Gradius III

Gradius III

Manufacturer	Konami
Year	1989
Emulated	MAME, Sparcade

Just a year after Vulcan Venture, Gradius III crawled out of Konami's labs. Unfortunately, it was no match for its ancestor and soon disappeared from arcades. The problem was that Konami had upped the difficulty level considerably, making the game frustrating and annoying to play. The company had presumably decided that the way to maximise its earnings was to kill off players as quickly as possible and encourage them to 'continue'. This was a pity, as otherwise Gradius III had a lot to offer.

If you want to see how good Gradius III could have been, have a look at the excellent SNES version. This is largely the same game, except the difficulty is set at a much more playable level. There are also more weapon options than in the arcade original. This must have been one of the first cases where a home conversion was better than arcade perfect.

Controls

The controls are the same as Nemesis & Vulcan Venture. A joystick moves your ship, the first fire button shoots your guns whilst the the second button releases your missiles. The third button is used to choose your power-ups.

Weapons

Gradius III has a couple of unique features in its weaponry. Firstly, there is a seventh element on the power meter, represented by '!'. Secondly, there is 'Edit Mode', of which there is more below.

Gradius III keeps Vulcan Venture's selectable power meters, with a few alterations:

Type A:

Missile	Falls to the ground, then slides along it until it hits something.
Double	Fires a bullet at 45 degrees up as well as forward.
Laser	Replaces your bullets with a blue beam.

Type B:

Spread Bomb	Large explosion of death.
Tail Gun	Fires backwards as well as forwards.
Ripple	Salamander's ripple laser.

Type C:

2-Way	Bombs fall up and down.
Vertical	Fires a bullet directly upward as well as forward.
C. Laser	Toothpaste laser rides again.

Type D:

Photon Torpedo	Similar to standard missile, but goes straight through enemies.
Free Way	Fires in direction your ship is moving.
Twin Laser	Twin sets of short beams.

There are now three shields available : Shield, Force Field and Free Shield. As in Vulcan Venture, Force Field is recommended.

Alternatively, you can make use of Gradius III's unique Edit Mode. This allows you to mix and match different weapons. Your choices are:

Missile:

Normal	Falls to the ground, then slides along it until it hits something.
Control	Flies vaguely in direction ship is moving.
Upper	Gravity-defying upward missile.
S.Spread	Backwards-firing spread bomb.

Double:

Vertical	Fires a bullet directly upward as well as forward.
Spread Gun	Fires diverging bullets forwards. Select twice for triple shot.
Tail Gun	Fires backwards as well as forwards.
Free Way	Fires in direction your ship is moving.

Laser:

Twin Laser	Twin sets of short beams.
Ripple	Expanding loops of destruction.
E. Laser	R-Type style charge-up weapon.
C. Laser	Toothpaste laser once again.

Option:

Option	The multiple we all know and love.
S. Option	Strangely behaved multiple with a mind of its own.

Force Field	All-over protection.
Shield	Nemesis-style twin barriers.
Free Shield	Barriers which can be stuck anywhere on the ship.
Reduce	Honey, I shrunk the spaceship. Can be selected twice.

Normal	Return to normal bullets.
Speed Down	Reverses the effects of speed up.
Option	Another chance to select a multiple.

Variants

Gradius III comes in Japanese and Asian flavours. The Asian version is slightly easier, and also lacks the full intro sequence (it jumps straight to the Gradius III title screen). The Japanese version has a curious 'beginner' mode, which allows you to play the first three levels at an easier difficulty level.

Emulation

As is usual for the Gradius series, MAME and Sparcade emulate both games. Your choice must be based on the normal criteria - Sparcade for speed or MAME for compatability. Gradius III is also available for the PlayStation 2 along with Gradius IV. The much superior SNES version mentioned earlier is, of course, not an emulation.

Level Guide (soon)

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