(Super NES) Gradius III - Completed No Deaths, 1CC Arcade/Hardest Difficulty 1080p60

As you can probably tell, I've been on a huge Gradius kick lately. I've always meant to give this game a shot, but the arcade version of the game turned me away from part 3 in general due to it's unforgiving difficulty and lack of autofire at the arcade I play at (it really needs it).
Fortunately, the console version corrects both of these issues while also improving the soundtrack. Before digging in to playing this game, I would listen to the OST often. I would definitely recommend listening to a separate "music only" video of the console soundtrack, as it might be the best in the whole series...in my opinion. Even with the difficulty set to the hardest level (aka "arcade" difficulty) the game isn't too much harder than the original arcade Gradius to pass 1 loop.
Unfortunately, the SNES version of the game is plagued by some pretty serious slowdown. While this can definitely help in dodging some of the tougher patterns, sometimes the slowdown would end at times when you wouldn't expect and then you're likely to smash into an enemy or background when the speed returns to normal.
A recently released SA-1 patch to correct the slowdown can be applied to the game rom and is definitely on my list to check out soon. I'll probably try to tackle that version of the game without using the bonus stages, just to change up what I did in this run and see all the bosses in their "true" form.
Captured from an RGB-modified SNES Jr. (model 2) via scart, scaled 3X with the OSSC for capture at 1080p/60fps. As with all my runs - no TAS (tool assistance), cheats, hacks, or save states are used.
As always, thank you for watching!

[@calebtheviceroy]

ThanKs for the nostalgia!

[@Pete_Hahn]

thank YOU for watching!

[@jacobschweitzer1068]

Splendid. I didn't know those scond ways existed

[@Pete_Hahn]

Thank you! The warp routes avoid the bosses and give you a bunch of 1ups. I might have to do another run using the speedup hack and try facing all the busses to get the full challenge.

[@joshuacampbell289]

The music to this game is legendary….especially on Starchaser level and those individual boss themes

[@bubufubu]

Good show, Pete! Just a heads up, the SA-1 mod is not the true form of the game. What was released is. It's important to remember that the folks who made the game were completely aware of the Super Famicom's and Super Nintendo's limitations. SA-1 is not a correction. It's a patch for speed freaks. Nothing more. You're absolutely right that the difficulty is toned down for the console version. I have put myself through the hell (no death attempts) that is the arcade version. That being said, successive loops on this version offer plenty of challenges. Very difficult. I recommend you give loops 2-4 a shot on the Normal setting. If you can manage that, try upping the setting to Hard or Arcade and looping it. You will find that there was never a need for any kind of patch. Cheers!

[@Pete_Hahn]

Wow, you really did put yourself through hell to no miss the arcade version of Gradius 3! I like your suggestion, I think I will attempt a multi-loop run on normal and see how I can do. Take care!

[@bubufubu]

@@Pete_Hahn They were only attempts, buddy! 😂 Alas, I could not manage to clear Prominence Planet (fire stage). If I ever beat Gradius 3 (Arcade) without dying, that would be uploaded on to KZbin, lickety-split! Good luck with your attempts!

[@WalrusFPGA]

The original SA-1 patch had an issue where boss speeds were actually increased, making it more difficult than even the arcade version. Recently, a fix for this has been made, called "SA-1 Origin", that restores the original boss speeds, only without slowdown. Give this updated one a try before writing it off. It is much more fair, and seems to be the intent of the SA-1 patch to start with. The original one was insane.

[@R3TROSTARR]

Gradius 3 is my fav outta all of them and the toughest Amazing run buddy!!!

[@phoxfire]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn Pete! Most excellent

[@hparker223]

Amazing.

[@Pete_Hahn]

Not sure if you mean the game itself or my gameplay, but either way...yeah, thank you!

[@Luffymon88]

How did you make the options expand from the ship in level 3?

[@Pete_Hahn]

It only works with Formation Option and Rotation Option. Once you have all 4 of your options you simply pick up enough power ups to highlight option again and then press and hold A to spread them out. Hope this helps, thanks for commenting!

[@久保田勉-f5x]

動物と人を大切しろ!愛新持栄隊総館超久保田勉ゲーム新大臣!地方活性化大臣!仕事対策大臣!規制緩和大臣!地方活性化大臣安全・自殺対策大臣!会社・行政改革大臣!平和維持!

[@charliepangasian247]

No boss no challenge

[@tunofranky]

Try to play "GAMER LVL"

[@Pete_Hahn]

maybe I could try...how do I get the gamer level unlocked?

[@tunofranky]

If you have a snes with the second control press and hold XY and unlock moving with the first control! ....it was long time ago when I was a child 11-15 year old ! Those soundtracks are my Fucking childhood! Right there!! 🥹​@@Pete_Hahn

[@hexortime]

easiest final boss ever hahaha