Salamander III (
Plot[]
Thanks to the brave efforts of crown prince Lord British and the hero of the Gradius Army, peace was restored to the watery planet known as Latis. However, that peace was short-lived as the seemingly defeated Salamander Force regained its strength and set out to conquer Latis once more.
Meanwhile, the Gradius Army found itself struggling against the Bacterian super weapon known as Dark Force, as the evil empire sought to spread its influence to the far reaches of the galaxy. With no hope of calling upon their former saviors for help, Latis's imperial princess is forced to personally take the fight to the enemy in an upgraded version of her brother's beloved ship, the Lord British MK III fighter craft. She is joined by the Vic Viper Type L, a brand-new ship made with Gradius's technology and Latis's latest scientific advances.
Stages[]
| Stage | Name | Boss | Music |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
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| 6 |
Power-ups[]
Power-ups are similar to previous Salamander games, each with unique capabilities. Fighters get a maximum of 8 Multiples instead of the usual 4 Multiples (2 Multiples maximum for each player). A new function called "Burst Mode" is introduced, which turns your weapons into maximum destruction. Weapons will revert into shots during cooldown to be used again for difficult situations.
Available power-ups include:
- Speed Up - The usual power-up. Will be required in later stages. A maximum of 5 Speed Ups can be collected.
- Missile - The Salamander type 2-Way Missile returns, now in a fashion similar that to the Hawk Wind.
- Cyclone Laser - The Laser from the first Salamander game, now is thicker and narrower. In Burst Mode, this Laser turns into the Hyper Ray (similar to that in Salamander 2 when picking up the same Laser power-up) which pierces terrain.
- Ripple Laser - This Laser has been now powered up; instead of the usual rapid firing laser, this Ripple laser now pierces enemies and damages everything on its path. Its power is now that similar to the Lord British from Gradius Gaiden. In Burst Mode, this Ripple Laser turns into the Buster Ripple (similar to that in Salamander 2 when picking up the same Ripple Laser power-up).
- Multiple - Fires the same as the fighter does. A maximum of 8 Multiples can be collected instead of the usual 4 in a two players game.
- Multiple Change - A new type of power-up. Sharing the power-up from Gradius NEO, it is a new power-up that allows to change Multiples into different formations. This power-up is shaped like a Power Capsule and is similar to Salamander 2's Force Field sprite.
- Force Field - The Shield in the Salamander series, now using the Gradius Gaiden shield type that spins rapidly until it gets depleted by after sustaining enough damage. It now emits the shield hit similar that in Gradius II.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first original Gradius-related game to be released in 17 years (the last being Gradius ReBirth released in 2008, or 14 years if counting Otomedius Excellent from 2011).
- New models of the classic Vic Viper and Lord British fighters are introduced: Vic Viper Type L and Lord British MK III.
- The classic power-up system from the Salamander series returns, as well as new power-ups shared from Gradius NEO.
- The "Burst Mode" feature originally came from Andro Dunos II, which now shares this function in this game with a cooldown. Both the Laser and Ripple Laser Burst modes are similar to Salamander 2's Hyper Ray and Buster Ripple, respectively.