Gradius Discussion Thread

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TonK
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Gradius Discussion Thread

Post by TonK »

I've been looking for this game since 2008 - got it today.

It's quite possibly the hardest game I've ever played.

Nothing like the SNES version.

I know it's a different animal compared to Cave and Raizing - but is this game possible to enjoy?

It's like it was designed as a "fuck you"

If I stick with it, does it reward you? Or is this one for the extreme experts?
Last edited by TonK on Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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brentsg
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by brentsg »

http://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-Arcade- ... -Gradius-3

To summarize, you will need to:

-Choose the right weapons.
-Use power-ups in the right order.
-Dodge foes.
-Beat the boss.
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Seahawk
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Seahawk »

I'm not trying to be mean, but you should have done your research before buying it. This game is for Gradius experts and masochists only.
This game is hard as balls. The SNES version is piss easy compared to the arcade edition.

That being said, it is possible. But it will be a long painful march to beat this game. It took me a year.
It will take practice. A lot. You will die. A lot. You may cry. I did.

Don't use edit mode. It sucks no matter what combination you pick.
I used Type B.

Only three full runs of this game exist on Youtube. I will post all of them.
Watch them, and decide if the game looks too difficult for you.

Gradius III - Type A - alamone
Gradius III - Type B - seahawk0027
Gradius III - Type C - BGRerobachi
Last edited by Seahawk on Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Paradigm
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Paradigm »

If you've only had it a day then I doubt you've even got to the really difficult parts like the cube rush.

Of course it's rewarding. You shouldn't expect to actually beat it for a while, but seeing your own progress as you get further in to the game is rewarding in itself.

Give it a week at least.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Aquas »

You really need to spend time with it. Honestly, the bubble stage is so iconic as THE STG stage to me. Something about destroying those bubbles is so satisfying. Maybe it's all the "bloop" sounds.
I never grow tired of the first 3 stages, but the slow down in stage 3 after the descent can be annoying. The maoi stage is kind of boring, mostly just a route there. The boss will be a hurdle, as well as the fire stage. Getting past the first 3 stages is really the litmus test to enjoying the rest of the game. It's uncanny that the trial mode features those 3, thinking about it more. And do yourself a favor and memorize how to time-out the stage 3 boss.

...and with such a beast of a game: doing practice for specific parts, bosses and the tricky shit, consider using MAME. It might save you a few "fuck this"'s.

Now I want to play. >_>
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by drauch »

You bought a PCB before playing it first... :?:
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Strider77
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Strider77 »

I say no...... it's really fucking hard. You could always play the ps2 port. But I just find it... hard in a really, really anal and strick way. As in you fuck up.... and you just REALLY fucked up by losing your weapons. I found trying to tackle Ibara less brutal.

I have beat all the gradius games minus 3 (arcade) but I know I'll never have the patience that 3 requires.
Damn Tim, you know there are quite a few Americans out there who still lives in tents due to this shitty economy, and you're dropping loads on a single game which only last 20 min. Do you think it's fair? How much did you spend this time?
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Post by Limbrooke »

Seahawk wrote:I'm not trying to be mean, but you should have done your research before buying it. This game is for Gradius experts and masochists only.
Honestly, nothing needs to be said beyond this. Why search for a game you have no idea about pardon basic mechanics (ie, it's a Gradius game)? It's not hard to say, boot up MAME, and try a game out assuming it is emulated well. To go down the path you're apparently describing is really... indescribable.

As has been said here and elsewhere, Gradius 3 is often considered the most punishing in the series and unless you're dedicated and actually interested enough progress from scratch won't see an individual beyond Stage 3. I say you spent all this time looking for it, you might as well invest some time and effort into it to see if you'll enjoy it long term. Really, play the game and you'll know whether or not it's for you (from the sounds of things it seems like it's not).

All this Gradius talk has me thinking of going back to 4 again.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by TonK »

I'm not trying to gloat, but I am able to afford games, so buying it pre-trial isn't an issue.

I was used to the SNES version, which was one of my favorite games as a kid.

I loved it.

And I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the arcade version, which didn't look overly difficult to me.

Playing the game is a different story.

I don't have the time to die over and over.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by mjclark »

TonK wrote:I'm not trying to gloat, but I am able to afford games, so buying it pre-trial isn't an issue.
PCB bling eh?
I kinda like your style young man :D
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Paradigm »

TonK wrote:I don't have the time to die over and over.
lol.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by TonK »

Paradigm wrote:
TonK wrote:I don't have the time to die over and over.
lol.
The game was pure digital punishment.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by mesh control »

Obligatory.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Xexyz »

TonK wrote: And I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the arcade version, which didn't look overly difficult to me.
.

...really? No, I mean it, really? You watch a pro-replay and come to the conclusion that the game won't be too difficult? This is why you try things out first. Rich or not, do you really enjoy spending money on things you might not end up liking?

I watched a 2-all clear of DoDonPachi: Daioujou yesterday, it doesn't look overly difficult to me.
...
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Wonderbanana »

drauch wrote:You bought a PCB before playing it first... :?:
I've done that before a few times - it's kinda exciting though it sucks if you don't like the game in the end. Ace if you do though as it really is a new experience.

From what peeps say, my vote is sell it mate.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Seahawk »

TonK wrote:I'm not trying to gloat, but I am able to afford games, so buying it pre-trial isn't an issue.

I was used to the SNES version, which was one of my favorite games as a kid.

I loved it.

And I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the arcade version, which didn't look overly difficult to me.

Playing the game is a different story.

I don't have the time to die over and over.
Well, ok.
If you decide to keep the PCB, and want to keep practice time at a minimum, here's what you do.

Download MAME and the romset (gradius3, Japan). Yes, this sounds pointless because you have the real PCB, but keep reading. Whenever you get stuck on a stage on your PCB, play to that stage on MAME (use cheats if necessary). At the start of the stage, disable cheats and make a save state. Now you can practice that stage without playing the parts before it, saving a lot of time.
This will become almost mandatory for the Crystal Stage (stage 9) and the final stage. On the final stage if you die ANYWHERE you are pretty much screwed.

Watch those walkthroughs as well, some places will require specific option placement to stand a chance of getting through.

Even with all this you will need a ton of luck, especially on Crystal Stage. It took me 1000 credits on MAME to beat this game. Crystal stage broke me to tears several times.
Gradius III is the Bataan Death March of 1980's shooting games. It has no fear, no mercy, and no problem with crushing your soul.
Good luck, and may the Force be with you.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by sven666 »

sell it mike, youre never gonna take to it, dunno why you thought you would in the first place.

give the raiden fighters games a shot if you havent already, or salamander 2 maybe if youre after som horisontal retro action?
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by DEL »

Stage 3 is 15 minutes long and is a boring mess. The Stage 3 Boss is a show-stopper unless you learn how to go behind it in the correct order (over and under). After that, its quite fun....until you reach the ice cube rush at the end of Stage 9 and the bit on Stage 10 where the lights go out. This was as far as we used to get. There are no continues on the arcade board. tviks took it from there.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by system11 »

It's a horrible game - get rid of it. Also consider trying things in MAME first in future, whether you can afford to try things out or not it saves the annoyance of having to ship something you didn't like to the next owner.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by TonK »

sven666 wrote:sell it mike, youre never gonna take to it, dunno why you thought you would in the first place.

give the raiden fighters games a shot if you havent already, or salamander 2 maybe if youre after som horisontal retro action?
Yeah - I think I'm gonna grab Salamander 2.

Game is gone BTW.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by TonK »

Xexyz wrote:
TonK wrote: And I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the arcade version, which didn't look overly difficult to me.
.

...really? No, I mean it, really? You watch a pro-replay and come to the conclusion that the game won't be too difficult? This is why you try things out first. Rich or not, do you really enjoy spending money on things you might not end up liking?

I watched a 2-all clear of DoDonPachi: Daioujou yesterday, it doesn't look overly difficult to me.
Dude, are you being serious?

Like, is this meant as a sarcastic joke?
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Skykid »

TonK wrote:
Xexyz wrote:
TonK wrote: And I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the arcade version, which didn't look overly difficult to me.
.

...really? No, I mean it, really? You watch a pro-replay and come to the conclusion that the game won't be too difficult? This is why you try things out first. Rich or not, do you really enjoy spending money on things you might not end up liking?

I watched a 2-all clear of DoDonPachi: Daioujou yesterday, it doesn't look overly difficult to me.
Dude, are you being serious?

Like, is this meant as a sarcastic joke?
This part must be sarcasm:
I watched a 2-all clear of DoDonPachi: Daioujou yesterday, it doesn't look overly difficult to me.
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David
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by David »

I've done this before. Pretty recently with Pink Sweets actually.

In my case, there was no easy way to test it out first, and I disliked the game almost instantly. It's not really all that much of a hassle to sell off a game (lose a few bucks in shipping), and it's nice to be able to try a pcb out in your own cab.

Even though I disliked Pink Sweets (and sold it within a week of receiving it) I picked up Ibara and really enjoyed it right off the bat. Totally different experience.

Basically, I'm saying I don't think it's such a crime to make a blind purchase, it's not like the pcb instantly loses value once you purchase it.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Krimzon Kitzune »

If somebody were to try to sell (or even GIVE) me a Gradius III PCB, I'd tell them to piss off. That's how much I hate that damn game. The SNES version was a very pleasant experience, though.
".... that would be rubbish."
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by DJ Incompetent »

I play Gradius 3 arcade because after you beat it twice, you unlock the largest weapon selection in the franchise. That's fun to fuck with.

But that's PSP and PS2 versions only.

Hooray I've said nothing of value!
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Evilmaxwar »

Yeah lets turn this off topic! Today i decided to buy a Roland Mt-32 sound card. Figured you can actually hook this piece of 1987 hardware to a sharp X68k and play gradius with music sounding like that.
I just had an ear orgasm!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vOWA2mf3Bs
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by mjclark »

TonK wrote:
Xexyz wrote:I watched a 2-all clear of DoDonPachi: Daioujou yesterday, it doesn't look overly difficult to me.
Dude, are you being serious?
Like, is this meant as a sarcastic joke?
If you are unsure as to whether that's sarcasm or not then there is more to worry about than selling the PCB.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Herr Schatten »

system11 wrote:It's a horrible game - get rid of it.
This. Why anyone would consider Gradius III anything but a (derivative) piece of junk is beyond me. This applies to the SNES version, too. People just hold it in high regard because it was one of the few shmups available when they were kids. (See also: Axelay, Gaiares.)
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by Mortificator »

Derivative of what? It's a sequel in a sub-genre that Gradius created. You might as well say Strikers II is derivative of Strikers 1945.
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Re: Someone convince me to keep Gradius III

Post by emphatic »

Evilmaxwar wrote:Yeah lets turn this off topic! Today i decided to buy a Roland Mt-32 sound card. Figured you can actually hook this piece of 1987 hardware to a sharp X68k and play gradius with music sounding like that.
I just had an ear orgasm!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vOWA2mf3Bs
Wow, that was awesome.
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