Gradius 3&4 pack

[Danny]

I live in the UK and I managed to pick up both Gradius 3 & 4 and Gradius 5 last weekend which I thought was pretty cool. I'm impressed with both titles, Konami did a good job on 3 & 4 like I thought they would having owned the wonderfuly ported paridous deluxe for the Sega Saturn.

Gradius 5 is fantastic, Konami did the right thing comming to treasure for help on this title. My only complant is that 5 is a little shorter than the standard gradius title, being only 8 levels long and one of those being another loop of an earlier level.

Although many people say Gradius 5 is better than R-Type final, I'm not so sure yet, the jury is still out on that one I guess.

[captain ahar]

Gradius 5 is fantastic, Konami did the right thing comming to treasure for help on this title. My only complant is that 5 is a little shorter than the standard gradius title, being only 8 levels long and one of those being another loop of an earlier level.

shorter? it seems that 7 or 8 stages is the general standard. on top of a loop taking an hour.

[PFG 9000]

First post, hello all!
My local Walmart has the Gradius III/IV pack for $30, brand new and sealed. This is one of my favorites for PS2, and I'm a small-time collector, so I picked up a few copies.

welcome to the forums!

it seemeth that you hath gotten ripped... eth. $30 is a lot.

For a sealed copy of a somewhat rare game, you think so? They tend to go for quite a bit more than that on ebay in that condition. Heck, used copies generally go for around $20. Either way, I already had a used copy with no book, and the movies didn't play because it was scratched horribly when I bought it. I suppose I'm a bit of a purist, because I wanted to have the game as perfect as possible, so I had no problem paying that much for a new one.

Thanks for the welcome though!

[Ghegs]

Gradius 5 is fantastic, Konami did the right thing comming to treasure for help on this title. My only complant is that 5 is a little shorter than the standard gradius title, being only 8 levels long and one of those being another loop of an earlier level.

shorter? it seems that 7 or 8 stages is the general standard. on top of a loop taking an hour.

Yeah, one loop in Gradius V takes about 80 minutes. One loop in the first Gradius takes less than 30.

[MSZ]

Gradius 5 is fantastic, Konami did the right thing comming to treasure for help on this title. My only complant is that 5 is a little shorter than the standard gradius title, being only 8 levels long and one of those being another loop of an earlier level.

shorter? it seems that 7 or 8 stages is the general standard. on top of a loop taking an hour.

One loop in GV is even longer than 10 stages in arcade GIII.

[captain ahar]

wow thats like 7 more stages than i can manage right now. point illustrated i think, Danny. bow to common public knowledge.

* that made me sound like an asshole, didn't mean to ^_^ <i love this face and use it all the time. people will be (more) sick of it when i am done.

[Danny]

Sorry, I'm used to playing ultra long games here and using them as a meter stick which is proberbly unwise. Yeah now comming to think of it, it's not all that short when comapired to some games like psyvariar. (which I just so happen to have psyvariar: complete collection for the ps2)

[DeBurgo]

I'd just like to say that I bought this recently for 20 bucks online from gamestop on a whim and I actually feel a little ripped off. Not that I'm advocating piracy here or anything, but I had been playing Gradius III on MAME earlier and I must say that the PC emulated version is probably a much better adaptation of the game than the PS2 version. The colors are much more vibrant, the sprites appear to have more detail, and the game just generally looked a lot better.

And what I played of Gradius IV didn't impress me, honestly.

Also I'm a little miffed since the gamebox was in the worst condition I've ever seen (but I kinda deserve that for various reasons).

(such a pessimisitic first post, but I had to say it )

[Herr Schatten]

I'd just like to say that I bought this recently for 20 bucks online from gamestop on a whim and I actually feel a little ripped off. Not that I'm advocating piracy here or anything, but I had been playing Gradius III on MAME earlier and I must say that the PC emulated version is probably a much better adaptation of the game than the PS2 version. The colors are much more vibrant, the sprites appear to have more detail, and the game just generally looked a lot better.

Are you playing the PS2 versions on a good RGB screen with a good RGB connection? If you're not using RGB, it is very likely that you get washed-out colours and slightly blurred sprites on the TV screen, while the emulated version is, of course, perfectly sharp on your computer's VGA screen.

[visuatrox]

I'm thinking of snaping this title up and I have some questions
1- Do you think this will become as rare/pricey as the Gradius Deluxe Pack(PSOne Rev)
2- I haven't seen a copy in any store lately, So would e-bay be my best chance?
3- How much is the average price?

The Japanese version of Gradius 3&4 is avaible at many places for around $20 (rerelease). The UK and US release is pretty rare nowadays though, goes usually for around $30 to $50 on Ebay. I doubt it will get as pricey as the Gradius Deluxe Pack anytime soon, especially considering all the japanese re-releases. So if you fail to find the game cheaply, you could just as well modify or import a console.

[FatCobra]

I found it for about $15 at EB Games, it was a little beat up but it works fine.

Techinally, Gradius V is the superior game, but Gradius 3&4 still offer that old-school charm. I like to think of Gradius V as a new-school Gradius, since that game broke the Gradius mold.

[SheSaidDutch]

I'm thinking of snaping this title up and I have some questions
1- Do you think this will become as rare/pricey as the Gradius Deluxe Pack(PSOne Rev)
2- I haven't seen a copy in any store lately, So would e-bay be my best chance?
3- How much is the average price?

The Japanese version of Gradius 3&4 is avaible at many places for around $20 (rerelease). The UK and US release is pretty rare nowadays though, goes usually for around $30 to $50 on Ebay. I doubt it will get as pricey as the Gradius Deluxe Pack anytime soon, especially considering all the japanese re-releases. So if you fail to find the game cheaply, you could just as well modify or import a console.

yeah I'll be picking up a copy real soon, I'm still looking for a copy of Gradius Deluxe Pack

[captain ahar]

^ shit me too man. must... have... gofer...

[Prikaz 227]

50/60 Hz switch present in Pal version? Thanks.

Ps. Hi everybody! I'm an Italian shmupper, no more lurking. Btw, great site and great forum. Keep up the good work.

[SheSaidDutch]

I've recently purchased the Gradius 3 and 4 pack,Is there a way to switch the filter or something in Gradius 3? It certainally looks filtered.

Gradius 4 IMO is a mess in terms of quality i.e the first level is terrible esp the graphics urg!

Level 2 is so much better design-wise

[PFG 9000]

I've really come to like Gradius 4's graphics, but I've only played the PS2 version. I heard that they added in some 3D effects for that which weren't in the arcade original, so perhaps I don't know how it was "meant" to look. But I think the visuals in the Magma stage and the Moai stage are very nice, and I really like the look of the final stage. I really like how many of the 3D effects are so subtle. For example, the background of the Base stage where you fight the Wall Core thingey is fully 3D, but you don't notice it unless you're looking for it...or if you're credit feeding in an attempt to beat the dang thing.

[Prikaz 227]

50/60 Hz switch present in Pal version? Thanks.

Answering to myself (maybe someone is interested): no switch.