<s>
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
is	O
a	O
1989	O
scrolling	O
shooter	O
video	O
game	O
developed	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Konami	O
,	O
originally	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
arcades	O
in	O
Japan	O
and	O
other	O
parts	O
of	O
Asia	O
on	O
December	O
11	O
,	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
third	O
game	O
in	O
the	O
Gradius	B-Application
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
Nintendo	I-Application
Entertainment	I-Application
System	I-Application
in	O
Japan	O
in	O
1990	O
and	O
North	O
America	O
in	O
1991	O
,	O
and	O
served	O
as	O
a	O
launch	O
title	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
arcade	O
version	O
would	O
never	O
see	O
the	O
light	O
of	O
day	O
in	O
the	O
West	O
until	O
it	O
was	O
included	O
alongside	O
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
in	O
a	O
two-in-one	O
compilation	O
(	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
&	O
IV	O
)	O
for	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
and	O
in	O
the	O
Gradius	B-Application
Collection	O
for	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
Portable	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
pilots	O
the	O
Vic	B-Application
Viper	I-Application
starfighter	O
to	O
battle	O
the	O
onslaughts	O
of	O
the	O
Bacterion	O
Empire	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
total	O
of	O
ten	O
levels	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
with	O
stage	O
4	O
being	O
something	O
of	O
a	O
bonus	O
level	O
;	O
here	O
,	O
the	O
player	O
controls	O
the	O
Vic	B-Application
Viper	I-Application
in	O
a	O
third-person	O
perspective	O
and	O
must	O
avoid	O
colliding	O
with	O
walls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
two	O
hidden	O
levels	O
that	O
are	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
early	O
sections	O
of	O
Gradius	B-Application
and	O
Salamander	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
the	O
Japanese	O
versions	O
of	O
previous	O
games	O
in	O
the	O
series	O
,	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
does	O
not	O
include	O
a	O
continuation	O
feature	O
;	O
if	O
the	O
player	O
loses	O
their	O
lives	O
,	O
the	O
game	B-Application
will	I-Application
be	I-Application
over	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
port	O
of	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
Famicom	I-Application
in	O
Japan	O
in	O
December	O
1990	O
and	O
for	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
in	O
North	O
America	O
in	O
1991	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
option	O
of	O
reduced	O
difficulty	O
and	O
additional	O
armaments	O
for	O
the	O
Vic	B-Application
Viper	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
introduces	O
a	O
boss	O
called	O
Beacon	O
which	O
awaits	O
the	O
player	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
high-speed	O
stage	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
counterpart	O
of	O
the	O
high-speed	O
stage	O
in	O
Gradius	B-Application
II	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
suffered	O
from	O
severe	O
slowdown	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2019	O
Brazilian	O
computer	O
engineer	O
Vitor	O
Vilela	O
created	O
a	O
romhack	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
that	O
uses	O
the	O
SA-1	B-General_Concept
enhancement	I-General_Concept
chip	I-General_Concept
that	O
eliminates	O
slowdown	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
the	O
original	O
arcade	O
version	O
,	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
port	O
is	O
the	O
only	O
one	O
that	O
allow	O
players	O
to	O
continue	O
when	O
they	O
lost	O
all	O
their	O
lives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
port	O
was	O
also	O
released	O
for	O
Virtual	B-Application
Console	I-Application
on	O
April	O
23	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
September	O
2007	O
in	O
Europe	O
and	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Konami	O
also	O
released	O
a	O
soundtrack	O
album	O
containing	O
music	O
from	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
as	O
well	O
as	O
other	O
Gradius	B-Application
games	O
,	O
entitled	O
Gradius	B-Application
Arcade	O
Soundtrack	O
on	O
April	O
24	O
,	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
Symphonic	O
Poetry	O
"	O
track	O
was	O
released	O
by	O
Kukeiha	O
Club	O
on	O
June	O
5	O
,	O
1990	O
,	O
and	O
contains	O
many	O
orchestrated	O
tracks	O
from	O
both	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
and	O
numerous	O
previous	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
prime	O
example	O
of	O
its	O
diversity	O
is	O
the	O
"	O
Final	O
Battle	O
"	O
track	O
,	O
which	O
contains	O
numerous	O
variations	O
on	O
the	O
"	O
Crystal	O
World	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Boss	O
Battle	O
"	O
tracks	O
in	O
Gradius	B-Application
II	I-Application
:	I-Application
Gofer	I-Application
's	I-Application
Ambition	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2000	O
,	O
Konami	O
bundled	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
and	O
Gradius	B-Application
IV	I-Application
together	O
for	O
release	O
on	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
video	B-Device
game	I-Device
console	I-Device
,	O
as	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
and	O
IV	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
port	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
arcade	O
version	O
and	O
has	O
an	O
unlockable	O
Extra	O
Edit	O
mode	O
,	O
which	O
gives	O
the	O
player	O
the	O
freedom	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
weapon	O
array	O
from	O
all	O
included	O
setups	O
and	O
adds	O
the	O
F-Option	O
,	O
R-Option	O
and	O
Reduce	O
II	O
power-ups	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Reduce	O
from	O
the	O
SNES	B-Application
port	O
returns	O
the	O
player	O
one	O
step	O
closer	O
to	O
the	O
Vic	B-Application
Viper	I-Application
's	O
original	O
size	O
when	O
hit	O
,	O
giving	O
it	O
protection	O
from	O
two	O
hits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
hardware	O
is	O
more	O
capable	O
than	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
original	O
arcade	O
hardware	O
,	O
in	O
certain	O
technically	O
demanding	O
moments	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
is	O
able	O
to	O
maintain	O
normal	O
operating	O
speed	O
in	O
situations	O
that	O
would	O
normally	O
introduce	O
"	O
slowdown	O
"	O
(	O
half-speed	O
operation	O
)	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
PS2	B-Device
version	O
does	O
n't	O
have	O
the	O
option	O
to	O
continue	O
as	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
version	O
,	O
it	O
features	O
the	O
possibility	O
to	O
select	O
any	O
stage	O
the	O
player	O
has	O
cleared	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
later	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
Portable	I-Operating_System
in	O
2006	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
Gradius	B-Application
Collection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Japan	O
,	O
Game	O
Machine	O
listed	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
on	O
their	O
January	O
15	O
,	O
1990	O
issue	O
as	O
being	O
the	O
third	O
most-successful	O
table	O
arcade	O
unit	O
of	O
the	O
month	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
received	O
positive	O
to	O
favorable	O
reviews	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GameSpot	O
give	O
the	O
game	O
score	O
7.0	O
out	O
of	O
10	O
for	O
Virtual	B-Application
Console	I-Application
and	O
criticizing	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
its	O
high	O
difficulty	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
release	O
,	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
Famicom	I-Application
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
scored	O
a	O
33	O
out	O
of	O
40	O
by	O
a	O
panel	O
of	O
four	O
reviewers	O
at	O
Famicom	O
Tsūshin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
GamePros	O
The	O
Feature	O
Creature	O
,	O
"	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
durable	O
side-scrolling	O
shooters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Entertainment	O
Weekly	O
gave	O
the	O
game	O
a	O
C	O
and	O
remarked	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
similar	O
to	O
previous	O
Gradius	B-Application
games	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
not	O
worth	O
investing	O
50	O
dollars	O
for	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Super	O
Gamer	O
reviewed	O
the	O
SNES	B-Application
version	O
and	O
gave	O
an	O
overall	O
score	O
of	O
78%	O
stating	O
:	O
"	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
incorporates	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
that	O
make	O
for	O
a	O
great	O
arcade	O
game	O
!	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2018	O
,	O
Complex	O
ranked	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
46th	O
on	O
their	O
"	O
The	O
Best	O
Super	B-Application
Nintendo	I-Application
Games	O
of	O
All	O
Time.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
IGN	O
rated	O
Gradius	B-Application
III	I-Application
45th	O
in	O
it	O
’s	O
Top	O
100	O
SNES	B-Application
Games	O
.	O
</s>
