Retro Reboot SHMUPtember | Gradius III (SNES)
"Destroy the core!!"
RETRO REBOOT
"ColonelFancy" Mike Lind
9/15/20264 min read
Developer: Konami
Published by: Konami
Release date: August 23rd, 1991
I could write about the Gradius series by itself for an entire month. A lot of my core love of video games was established by this franchise, and the Gradius collection Konami released last year, it's just more of the Salamander titles for me to indulge for the foreseeable future. In 2025, I talked about Life Force, which I played first, before discovering the first Gradius game. I wouldn't play Gradius II until many years later. The third game, I actually begged my younger brother if we could buy it from Toys R' Us, bargaining with him that the next two game purchases could be his. yeah, I was a total mark for SHMUPs at age 9.
The Super Nintendo was such a technical marvel for the time, and for the game playing base. After Super Mario World, this was literally the second ever SNES game I touched. Watching a lot of the footage from the weekly syndicated show GamePro TV, the sprite work, the size of the bosses, and the music overflowed my cranium. having it in the hands, it was even better.
Gradius III embodied what the series was known for by this point. A good blend of bullet hell, incredibly stubborn difficulty, and some fluid controls make this one of the standouts on the Super Nintendo. And even though the years have shifted by bias on which console does SHMUPs better between the SNES and Sega Genesis, this one is still quality standard. Playing it in recent years, I really am reminded how hard this game actually is, and that does put a bit of a damper on it. More on that later.
The visuals and animation, as mentioned, are great for early Super Nintendo. Gradius III looks much like its arcade counterpart. I also decided not to lump the arcade version into this, as it's actually so different, I don't consider them the same game on a fundamental level. I remain a little shocked the SNES didn't try to replicate the third person high speed run portions with its Mode7 capabilities, but I digress. The Gradius series can be comparatively slower than other space shooters, this is by design, I believe to keep the player from being overwhelmed. That slowdown will save your life.
Whether it's bubbles, plants, or zipping through active volcanoes, each of the 10 zones in Gradius III is unique and has their own personality. The colors pop, and even though the screen can be filled with enemy fire, I never at any point feel disenfranchised by the graphics. Only on the seldom occasion will I confuse my firepower for one launched by the opposition, but for the most part, the distinct lower colors for the backgrounds help distinguish obstacles or oncoming projectiles. The screen can be quite busy, but for the right reasons.
Gradius III has some of my favorite music. Not just for the series, but probably of all time. the familiar names from Konami's legendary audio team are present. Kazuki Muroaka (Metal Gear), Harumi Ueko (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time), Kazohiko Uehara (The Adventures of Batman & Robin), and Yukie Morimoto (Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse) make up the core music production squad, and they don't miss. Along with the juicy tunes, the sound effects are phenomenal. It is a little too bad the signature "Destroy the core!" catchphrase didn't make it into the SNES version, but I digress.
Like most SHMUPs, the controls are easy to grasp and straightforward. Picking up and playing is a sinch. SNES Gradius III introduces the Edit Mode, where you can customize your loadout of Vic Viper power-ups. That adds a cool refresh to the standard, and some of the new weapons can be fun to utilize, some more advanced than others, like a charging variation of the laser, or spread bomb missiles.
All of these weapons are hella cool to use, but damn...I need to be on high alert to survive this game. As mentioned, this is a tough bird to beat, even on normal difficulty. Unlike the spin-off Life Force, when you die in Gradius, you either go back to the beginning, or from the most recent checkpoint. Even the checkpoint can be a bitch and a half, because there's high chance you'll be near the end of the stage, or an inconvenient area with stubborn obstacles.
The game is generous with its power-ups, and sometimes restocking is not that hard. Vic Viper also has a generous hitbox (the Reduce shield, which shrinks the ship size, is my personal favorite), threading the needle is quite forgiving. But after Bubble Zone (which is only the second stage), getting overwhelmed becomes the regular occurrence, and precise dodging will go a long way to stay alive. Playing on Normal can feel quite insane, especially once you get to the Boss Rush medley in the latter leg of the game.
Gradius III has a decent amount of replayability. I gotta admit, in my older age, this is quite an ordeal to revisit. And though I am a colossal mark for this game, it still a bit behind R-TYPE, Blazing Lazers, and Arrow Flash. It's still a cool game, and a very respectable port on the Super Nintendo. The staunch difficulty can make the experience a little rocky.
That being said, this another game that floods me with memories, and it will always be a cornerstone that solidified my love of the space shooter genre. For me, it would be a very long time before I would get a chance to play the other Gradius games that were locked on hardware I never got a chance to own, or limited only to Japan. If you want a SHMUP with the stiffness of a stout, you may get a rise out of Gradius III.