Gradius III on SNES is one of those shooters that feels punishing but fair—if you’ve got the patience for it. You’re back in the Vic Viper, dodging waves of enemy ships and those infamous pink bubble traps while stacking power-ups. The weapon customization is still killer: pick between lasers, missiles, or that satisfying double shot, then watch your little ship turn into a death machine.

Konami tweaked this port from the arcade original—it’s a bit easier (thankfully), adds some new weapons, and even throws in a few stages from Gradius II. There’s this one brutal high-speed level where everything zooms at you way too fast, capped off by a boss called Beacon that’ll wreck you if you’re not ready. And yeah, the slowdown’s still here from the arcade version, which honestly helps when the screen’s packed with bullets.

Pro tip: unlock the "arcade" difficulty with the code if you want to suffer. It’s not a true arcade port, just the SNES version cranked up, but it’ll test your reflexes. The fact that you can continue after game over makes it way less frustrating than the original. Still, good luck getting past stage 3 on your first try.