Gradius III - Did anybody ever get past the Ice cube stage?

[MSZ]

Mabie this cube stage would be easier if you had no weapons but had speedups. There are no enemys charging you there besides the rocks right?

It is the stage just before the boss rush, so you can easealy get your arsenal back. For me, a boss fight is easier if I have fewer weapons (scratch the level 2 boss on that), sometimes I have nothing and still manage to get by. AKA the boss on stage 3 I can beat with nothing. Not even speedups.
In this game the more you have the more insane the game gets.
Which doesn't make it any easier.

...Do you have any idea of what this thread about?

[landshark]

...Do you have any idea of what this thread about?

He's just suggesting that maybe rank has something to do with it.

I don't think it does though.

[popawell]

What I ment was that the game throws less enemys and lead at you when you have a smaller amount of weapons in play (lasers and options).
So maybe it would be much easier if you had just 3, 4, or 5 speedups?

I wonder if I was on a shugar high when I wrote that. That is what I get when im up at 3am drinking 2 cans of pop.

"Im 15 going on 7."

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

^You'd probably need something more than the pea-shooter for the boss though.

[Induna]

Popawell, I can send you some screenshots of the later levels and bosses if you want to complete your review.

[dessgeega]

I have the Mame replay on my computer, but as it is said, you can find a better replay at marp.retrogames.com.

i might capture one of these to avi later if anyone wants it.

[Induna]

Mabie this cube stage would be easier if you had no weapons but had speedups. There are no enemys charging you there besides the rocks right?

It is the stage just before the boss rush, so you can easealy get your arsenal back. For me, a boss fight is easier if I have fewer weapons (scratch the level 2 boss on that), sometimes I have nothing and still manage to get by. AKA the boss on stage 3 I can beat with nothing. Not even speedups.
In this game the more you have the more insane the game gets.
Which doesn't make it any easier.

No, more speed ups makes it more difficult to get through the first part of the level as you can easily crash into the wall.

The only time the enimies change is when you get the laser power up and the enimies start shooting more bullets, that's why I get the options first before the laser, forcefield is a waste of time for the cube rush. You want to be on option ready for the next go in case you die.

You don't need to be higher than 3 speed ups, use the strategy explained here, move your ship so it's above the power bar at 'double', then draw the first cube to that spot. Be careful to move quickly as it's fast. Then hide behind that cube, it will start to form a barrier as more cubes snag on it, pull back quickly when the odd cube or two shoot from above you. It's tricky but with practice it's possible to be consistant at it. Also watch out for the option grabber/thief as he pops up here too.

As for fighting a boss with hardly any power ups, it's possible with stage 3 boss, as I've done it many times. It's a bit more difficult with the stage 8 boss as you can't keeping dodging it like the stage 3 boss, it has long tentacle-like arms. At one point you have to get in the middle and face the short lasers, which are extremely fast. When you have a couple of options and the laser you get slowdown which makes it much easier than if you had no weapons and the game running at full speed.

After the stage 8 boss you can get more power ups but not as many as in Vulcan Venture, then it's the boss rush stage.

[Induna]

I'm still stuck on the fire stage where my review left off, I can't get to it half the time and even when I do I get roasted by the thousands of little fire blobs floating about.

How to get past that I don't know, but when I do I will be shure to update my review.

The trick with level is to disturb the least amout of fire comets as possible, otherwise you become overwhelmed with the little comets. Don't use the spread bomb, (if you have it) as it will obscure your vision. I've tried playing this level without using the missiles, it breaks up less comets but the screen often jumps frame rate. So stick to photon missles. Stick to the middle left of the screen and concentrate on the comets from the middle, try to line your options up in front of your ship so you break up the comets early and have more time to anticipate and move out of the way. Try not to get distracted by the enemy ships. The thin corridor at the end is tricky, you really need to be on the ball with this. All I can say is you need 100% concentration, don't rush it. The little fire comets become obscured by the flames of the corridor so you have to anticipate where they are. Even when you feel like you're almost through, don't shoot forward as a comet from an angle will get you. It was a great feeling when I did this the first time in the arcade. I was laughing hysterically.

Then you'll be treated to my favourite boss, the three-headed fire dragon, which is pretty easy compared with what you've just been through.

[bcass]

I have the Mame replay on my computer, but as it is said, you can find a better replay at marp.retrogames.com.

i might capture one of these to avi later if anyone wants it.

Definitely. Don't particularly relish messing about trying to get the right version of MAME working...

[dessgeega]

the replay didn't actually work out. i must've tried the second-ranked replay on the marp page (i couldn't find the proper version of mame for the first) and it didn't make it past stage three.

that game is hard. wow.