Gradius III

"The slow down is like a message from god..."

Gradius 3. An arcade shoot em' up. Theres two on the NES. Gradius, and Salamander. They are just as hard as this one beleive me. There is also a PS2 game called Gradius III & IV. The Gradius III on the PS2 is MUCH harder than this version. It made me wonder how it was possible. Anyway...

Music: 8/10

Most of the music was fairly enjoyable to listen to. However, its nothing memorable.

Sound: 5/10

What the...was that the explosion? It sounded like bubbles popping. Yes. The sound really isnt that good, but it doesnt matter. When your dodging 20 bullets, and making sure you dont run into the ground or into any enemies, your mind wont be focused on the sound that much.

Graphics: 8/10

The levels look good, so do enemies, and bosses look good as well. However, the game has MASSIVE slow down. It doesnt take alot fore the game to slow up either. This may actually make some of you happy however. It gives you time to think about the path you should take to weave inbetween those bullets. So the slow down is actually helpful, but some of you hardcore people may be a bit disappointed with it.

Gameplay: 8/10

Surely sometime in the past, you have played a Shooter style game before. You fly through space and shoot things. Thats it. Sounds lame, but in reality, if you ask the right person they will tell you that some of these games can be quite intense, and frustrating. Gradius III is no exception. I was overwhelmed when 20 bullets came flying at me, dodging enemies, dodging that huge sand dragon, and makeing sure that I dont fly into the ground. However, the more time I spent with this little gem, the more I became use to it. This is a game for gamers with fast reflexes, and patience. Dont have patience? Stay away. Not sure if you have the patience or not? Stay away. The game is reletivly simple to understand though. You fly through the level in a side view, and you shoot things, make it to the end, kill the boss. Proceed to next level and repeat.

Before the game starts you can choose your weapon setup. From bullets, to lazers, to missles or a setup of Options. The Options are little balls of light that gain the same weapons you do, and fire at the same time as you do. These little things are helpful. Now before you go and get too pissed at the game for being so hard, there is a Force Field shield you can get. It can substain 3 hits, and its fairly easy to keep.

Controls: 10/10

Nice controls. Responsive controls. If you die, its your fault. End of story.

Overall: 8/10

I cant really recommend this game to just casual gamers. This is a game for a REAL gamer. The kind of gamer that can sit on his greasy butt all day and beat FF7 in one sitting. It took me about a week of practice to beat this game on easy, after that normal was fairly simple. I havent beat hard yet. Patience is key for this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/03