Gradius III arcade...still the hardest shooter ever?

PepsimanVsJoe · Post by **PepsimanVsJoe** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:11 pm

Now I can't say I've played every shooter out there but I figure I've played a fair number of the notable ones. I've even tried my hand at the ones that are typical considered the hardest the genre has to offer(DoJ, Undeadline, etc).

Gradius III arcade however still remains a brick wall to me. On a good day I manage to see past the second stage and on the best day ever I can beat the third boss. Other than that however just forget about it.

Recently I picked up Gradius and Salamander Portable for my PSP(fantastic compilations btw) and gave it another go. Even compared to the other three arcade games Gradius III stands out. GIV for the most part is much easier and the other two games are also fair(well as fair as Gradius games can get).

One of the interesting things about the Gradius collection on PSP is that you can save your game. When you load your game you're set at the last checkpoint you passed with all of your weapons/lives/score intact. So it's safe to say that at every checkpoint I'll always have a full set of weapons. So with unlimited lives and all weapons I should have no trouble right? Hell on top of that I have the game set at the easiest setting(also the PSP version adds another option to decrease the size of the hitbox to something shooters these days are used to...which I also have turned on).

And....right now I'm stuck on the fire stage(which is the 6th?). It's already one of the most annoying stages since on the SNES version if you die at the boss you get slapped with the worst chokepoint in the game and you're all but guaranteed a game over unless you have some beastly dodging skills. With that in mind let's say that the arcade version triples the number of asteroids that get thrown at you.

This is also ignoring the countless times I've died in every section before that(the regenerating walls in stage 5 are evil) I'm currently watching a superplay and the only words I can come up with are "wow" "huh?" and "wtf?"

Discuss.

Hardstepah · Post by **Hardstepah** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:15 pm

gradius III arcade was pretty tough. not the hardest ever but tough.

Desperado · Post by **Desperado** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:16 pm

Can you tell me if Gradius Collection is as faithful to the arcade versions as Gradius III & IV for PS2 is, if you hook it up to a TV say?

PepsimanVsJoe · Post by **PepsimanVsJoe** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:17 pm

Hardstepah wrote:gradius III arcade was pretty tough. not the hardest ever but tough.

If it's not the hardest ever then what is?
Sure there are harder games to 1CC/1LC/No bomb/No shoot/No moving but Gradius 3 is a bitch just to reach the end.

Desperado wrote:Can you tell me if Gradius Collection is as faithful to the arcade versions as Gradius III & IV for PS2 is, if you hook it up to a TV say?

As far as I can tell it's a straight port. I'm not sure how it'll look using TV out though.

Post by **spadgy** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:58 pm

Desperado wrote:Can you tell me if Gradius Collection is as faithful to the arcade versions as Gradius III & IV for PS2 is, if you hook it up to a TV say?

Fairer I'd say. Just a little.

EDIT - at least in terms of G1 and G2. I've had less time with the other Gradius games in an arcade.

Hardstepah · Post by **Hardstepah** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 6:23 pm

this is just me perhaps, but i found dodonpachi doj much harder than gradius 3 as well as raiden, and einhander. i did put many hours on G3 tho before i finally beat it with 1 credit.

Aquas · Post by **Aquas** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 6:47 pm

Gradius 3 kicked my ass a lot, and I always went back for more. I usually just skip the bubble stage with save states via mame, because I freakin' hate those bubbles. Just a ridiculous stage. The fire boulder stage... like stage 5 or something is really interesting. I figured out a specific path to take without using any options and being successful. It's a great game, and challenging. But... it pushed me over the edge. And now I tend to avoid it. Enjoying the other Gradius's on the PSP though... =D

Lots of tricks though in Gradius 3. Lots of fuckin' tricks.

Bloodreign · Post by **Bloodreign** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:46 pm

Heh you used save states on the PSP Gradius 3 on Gradius Collection, but you'll have to work in loop 2, you can't save state that loop at all.

The game is pretty tough not for how many bullets are fired at you, but the areas you have to go through, fireballs you can't destroy, plants that grab onto you and attempt to pull you through scenery, and the damned Cube Rush. Thank goodness you can practice on the Cube Rush once you get to it.

Gradius Collection is very nice, but if I have to play Gradius 3, I prefer playing it in my Gradius 3&4 collection, I'll still play it in Gradius Collection, but I tend to stick with 1,2, and Gaiden on it (I stick with 4 on the PS 2 collection as well) .

God · Post by **God** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 7:16 am

I don't know if its a match for Gradius 3, but Gallop is pretty fucking hard.

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:25 am

gradius is about strategic option positioning + memorization

bsidwell · Post by **bsidwell** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:30 am

shoe-sama wrote:GRADIUS IS ABOUT PVP

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:33 am

1 VS 1 RM IMA PWNT U

Bloodreign · Post by **Bloodreign** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:59 am

On MAME try overclocking the game to 200%, you thought it was hard before, try playing it without slowdown, it seems to play even faster than the PS 2 Revision with wait off, and becomes damned near impossible.

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:23 am

God wrote:I don't know if its a match for Gradius 3, but Gallop is pretty fucking hard.

I hated that boss so much. I can handle him pretty well now, but back when I first played I wished he had knee so I could break them with a baseball bat.

He seems to be based on Rios from R-Type II and III, but in those games you have your wave cannon to make things easier.