REVIEW: Gradius 3 1991 SNES
	By: Konami Type: Shoot 'em up Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard

 
Aah, good old arcade blasting action. You know the score: just you, a small spaceship vs hordes of nasty baddies in loads of side-scrolling stages where contact with the walls instantly kills you. We've all seen it a million times before, so what reason is there to get excited over yet another doses of it? Well, simply because Gradius 3 does it so extremely well. It's a joy to play, with it's extremely clever power-ups system, especially since you can choose for yourself what kind of upgrades will be available to you throughout the game. Yup, you can customize the power-ups system to suit your own playing style (my technique: go for the E-laser weapon and use huge, charged shots. Works every time ^_~). A brilliant touch that perfects Gradius' already excellent upgrading system (which involves picking up power-ups until the upgrade you desire is highlighted in a bar at the bottom of the screen and then pressing a "confirm" button).

Graphics are colourful and still very good-looking for a game this old, with the huge bosses being extra-impressive, but marred only by heavy slow-down and flickering when the screen gets busy, but you get used to that.

Then there's the sound: an absolute delight! The music is some of the best I've heard so far in a game, mostly driving and upbeat, but sometimes urgent or even haunting, it always sets the mood for each stage perfectly and is a joy to listen to (I'm playing a Gradius 3 MIDI as I write this ^^). The tunes get stuck in your head for ages, which is a good thing in this case. Sound effects aren't very special (though there are nice voice samples), but that doesn't matter when the music score's this good. Honestly, I could go on and on about how I love G3's music.

But also, Gradius 3 is a game that pulls off one of the most elusive gaming qualities: it has the right "feel". I'll try to explain: the mixture of graphics and sound works in a way that really draws you in, makes you feel as if you truly are taking part in an epic, gleaming space opera, and leaves a strong impression (the cool bosses are probably a key factor to this as well).

And, since there are loads of levels, some of them very nasty, it'll last you quite a while as well. My only gripe is that the difficulty setting seems a bit "schizo" at times, throwing an unexpectedly hard-as-nails boss or level at you a little too suddenly. And dying can be very annoying, as you lose all your upgrades, leaving you very vulnerable and prone to dying a few more times without much you can do about it, but these are minor complaints, really.

So, you have here an excellent and very polished 2D shooter. It won't revolutionize the gaming world as we know it, but it does it's thing so well, you can't help but adore it and come back to it every now and then for a big session of good, no-nonsense baddie-shooting (that said, it does require some brainwork to get through, it's definitely not a "mindless" game). Unless you're violently allergic to shoot 'em ups, you'll love this, and even if you do hate shooters, you'll have to admit the crystal-clear quality that this game displays. - Toasty 91%

[Key to the reviewing system]

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