I just played Gradius III for the first time

[Zero Satori]

Well, not really, because the game wouldn't play properly on the SNES. Damn. It would start-up and get me to the Title Screen and the ship select and into the game itself, but it would periodically reset at random points. And I was so looking forward to this...

Either way, I was far from impressed. Granted, this wasn't the way a game should play, but what time I did get to play the game was far from the quality I've become used-to nowadays. I'm not a horizontal-type kind-of-guy, but R-TYPE FINAL never felt like I was playing a slow-motion game. Just like playing Pac-Man after learning Ms. Pac-Man, or Street Fighter II after playing TURBO, Gradius III felt like I was going at the speed of a turtle and the graphics were far behind what I would want from an SNES game.

Whatever the case, since I'm not a huge shooter aficionado like some of you guys, I'd appreciate your opinions on this game and critiques of what I've said here. I've heard good things about Gradius III in the past, but man, this (limited) play-through was nothing like what I was expecting.

 

[WoodyXP]

The slowdown kills it for me. It would be a great game if it weren't for that.

 

[SNKorSWM]

This was a launch title for the SNES and it was plagued by the infamous slowdown before they figured how to get around the problem. Try upgrading your speed once or twice, depending on the difficulty, from the get go to counteract the slowdown.

 

[terry.330]

Play the actual arcade version in mame.

It will fuck you up.

 

[cdamm]

whatever you do... dont enter the konami code.

...well do it- its pretty funny.

 

[Adderall]

I prefer it on the ps2. One of my favorites.

 

[Kid Panda]

actaully for it being a launch title for the snes, it wasnt so bad, i would recommend going into the options and highlighting the difficulty and pressing the "a" button til it changes to arcade difficulty, then have some super fun!

 

[Comrade Porn King Mikhail]

Gradius III is one of those balls hard classic side scrollers that doesn't hold up well with the modern manic shmups. However, at release time it was a standout port that took advantage of the SNES color pallet.

The SNES always lagged behind the Genny in quality arcade fast-paced shmups conversions, so I definitely had some Thunder Force and Raiden envy whenever I visited Blockbuster for a rental. All we had to fall back on in 1991 were Gradius III, Super R-Typer and Darius Twin.

 

[geise]

The SNES Gradius III was great for a lauch release title. I thought it was done fairly well to the arcade version. Now if you really want to cuss and swear, and probably buy a new display I'd go play the arcade version. I actually think Gradius III holds up fairly well. I'm kind of sick and tired of bullet hell shooters. I have lately been finding myself going back and enjoying the basic but fun classic shooters.