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Chompy's Gradius 3 (SNES)
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| [February 20, 2008 01:16:31 AM]
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GAMEPLAY
After I got the hang of Gradius III, I was able to get very close to the end of the game. The game never got frustrating for me (unlike many other people who played it), but I'm rather difficult to frustrate. I enjoyed the game's challenge, and was pleased to see bosses and levels that were balanced to be tricky but not near-impossible.
The only part that really bothered me was the extremely low value of extra lives and continues. Since the levels are built to be challenging with a full set of powerups, they're blisteringly hard without them. Some levels are tougher than others when played without being powered up, and, oddly enough, the very last stage and its 9000-form boss is doable with very few powerups once you get the hang of it. And with several lives and a couple continues, there were plenty of chances to play that part without starting at full power.
I was pleased that the difficulty did increase overall throughout the game, and there were new obstacles that showed up throughout the entire game. The final stage introduced fast-scrolling, warp-speed twisty passageways, and even its open-space section was difficult: it was a sea of bullets instead of a cakewalk.
DESIGN
Gradius III uses very clever 'safe spots' during more hectic encounters, and its level design is both repetitive and inventive. The aesthetic and overall layout of each level is predictable. Space. Passage. Boss. However, the obstacles used and strategies needed in each of those are not repetitive at all, and require quick learning or lots of experience and memorization to survive.
The extra-life system was almost pointless, as I mentioned earlier- in many cases, you might as well press the Reset lever when you die rather than trying to struggle through the current area without any upgrades. After all, if it killed you at your most powerful, how can you expect to live through it at your weakest?
Gradius III had no narrative or story to speak of, but it didn't really need it, just like Basketball doesn't have or need a narrative. Ships fly, stuff explodes. People leap, ball lands in net. It would have been unnecessary for more than a couple sentences of narrative if the developers weren't planning on filling the game with hours of it. This game focuses on having fun within the game mechanics, not the story being told.
As far as rewards go, just finishing a stage is enough of a reward- the sense of accomplishment is worth more than bonus points would be.
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| [February 19, 2008 07:20:44 PM]
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SUMMARY-ish.
Gradius III is an early example of a space-shooter done extremely well.
Each stage starts with an open section of space, where there are numerous enemies to be killed and powerups to be grabbed before the stage enters a more claustrophobic area. The second part of the stage is enclosed, filled with bullets, debris, and enemies, and requires very careful movement to navigate. In some stages, it's better not to spray bullets everywhere, and in others, having too little firepower will leave you unable to destroy walls before you run into them. The end of each stage is a huge boss battle, where you must attack a boss' weak points, while dodging screen-filling attacks.
GAMEPLAY?!
Gradius III's powerup system is just as wonderful as its tricky level design. When you begin play, you can choose between a few sets of powerups that will appear in game, or you can create your own set of powerups from scratch. The pre-made sets have a couple of powerups that you can't choose when making your own set, which keeps the premade sets from being completely inferior to custom sets. Once you've picked which powerups you'll be able to get, you must earn them in-game through its own unique system. Generic powerups appear after defeating certain foes, and getting one will add to a "Powerup List", where each power can only be gained after getting a certain number of generic powerups. For example, if you collect four powerups and then use them, you'll activate whatever Laser power you chose. Then, the list starts over from the beginning, so in order to get the powerups higher-up on the list, you have to refrain from spending them as soon as you get them.
It makes much more sense on the game screen than it does in a big block of text.
I really enjoyed myself while playing Gradius III - it was difficult enough to challenge me without being discouragingly hard. During the stages I was able to make it through, I found a large number of hazards and traps that all required different strategies to survive, keeping the action diverse and interesting.
I was a bit disappointed that two people can't play at the same time (2-player mode is simply taking turns), but it's probably because the designers didn't have time to make each level just as challenging and interesting for two people as it is for one, and they did not want to stick two players into a level that was made to have just the right amount of challenge for a single player.
Simultaneous 2-player probably would have been either too easy, or too hard (because the players would have to share the powerups, making them both less powerful and more vulnerable)
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Chompy's Gradius 3 (SNES)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Tuesday 19 February, 2008
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