[沙羅曼蛇III/Salamander III] Lord British Mk III 3-1 (Score: 2,256,400) [CC Commentary]

Описание: Salamander III is like, the brand new, latest Gradius-related game since the last one: Otomedius Excellent, 14 YEARS AGO! This is so exciting! But why is it not Gradius? Why Salamander? One, probably Konami is being stingy with the budget, either money, time, or both. Two, if you've played the entire collection in the chronological release date order, you'll understand why.

Salamander, not Gradius 2, is the 2 Player-compatible sibling of Gradius. Using similar weaponry, but its focus is a fast-paced, easier to pick up and play experience. Despite bearing a different name, Salamander contributes to the design evolution of Gradius and vice versa. Salamander I is the first time the 2-Way missile and Ripple appeared, for example, and became Gradius series staple since. For comparison, Gradius I's 1 loop is around 17 minutes. Salamander I's 1 loop is around 14 minutes. Sounds very trivial, but in shmup realm, that's a notable duration difference. Gradius, and even, Otomedius, had their 1-loop duration pretty bloated. Gradius III went to the 45 minutes mark! Otomedius Excellent could go up to 55 minutes TLB stage included. So to keep the experience great with limited budget including to not rigorously check for the recovery points assuming they wanted to keep the Gradius Syndrome and the checkpoints, which Salamander doesn't need, making a new Salamander game is the better choice. This game's 1-loop duration is around 19 minutes, by the way. Longer than Gradius 1, but notably short for a shmup of this day and age. So, how does Salamander III compare?

It's AWESOME! It has the best of Salamander 1 and 2, healthy amount of fan service and exciting, fresh elements! Great fast-paced and hectic stage design with nicely distinct weapons available, it's the best Salamander game to date. I LOVE IT! It is easy because M2 is afraid of butchering the (new) playerbase with its pretty brutal stage design though.

Moveset-wise, it picks up from Salamander I instead of Salamander 2! It's as if Salamander 2 is a black sheep of Gradius series, which I will at least agree to an extent... You have the usual normal shot and missiles. There are only 2 shot type per ship (The green one has unique Laser and Ripple) that you can change by picking up the item to do so. The missile? IT'S THE OLD TERRAIN-CRAWLING 2-WAY MISSILES, BABY!!! I MISS YOU!!! M2 knows that this is one of the things that defined SALAMANDER!

Like Salamander 2, no, the Option Shot does not return, thank goodness. But it brought in a new moveset: The Burst Shot. It's in short, Hyper Mode. It's AWESOME STUFF! It totally upgrades your normal shot like crazy! Its effects is temporary and it needs to cool down. While cooling down there is a period where the shot upgrade is disabled too. So there is some trade off. Using this is infinite, but it provides totally 0 i-frames. It's an offense tool, totally useless for direct defense. No Option sacrifice needed, just blast away. Even when you have no power ups it still works! Your default shot will become an 8-way shot that has no bullet limit restriction! Super good when you're recovering! This offers a great balance of a fresh power up mechanic while keeping it grounded within the Gradius tradition. Much better than Platonic Break, anyway. Whenever there will be Salamander IV, the Burst Shot must be kept!

There is 1 notable addition too: The Snake Option! You can change the Option behavior into Gradius III snake! And it behaves like one. It gives some great opportunities, but if you ask me, I'd steer away from getting it like a plague. It must be my skill issue regarding using the Snake Option, but Snake is ideal in a slower, maze-like environment. Salamander III just won't stop scrolling and for the Options to stop moving after you do the whip motion, it's probably already too late. Ironically, the default Trace is more reactive than the Snake. There are spots where using Snake is superior, though, so try it out.

Since it's a brand new game, so I don't expect it to give any widgets, but I wonder if there is still any Rank system within. There should be, but it doesn't feel notable enough. The older titles get pretty crazy with rank.

The best improvement is of course the stage design. M2 is no stranger to the Gradius series including as a developer, not only as a porter. It has great mix of Salamander fast chaos and tight Gradius mazes. The tempo doesn't let up and there is just no dead-air moments. The bosses are also harder than Salamander 2's but still within the fair range, while still manage to be within Gradius series' constraints like the core shields.

You can't buy the game separately from the Origin Collection. but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT if you have some appreciation of the Salamander series!

This is in the Gradius Origins Collection on Nintendo Switch 2.

By the way, the Konami Code works in the game! Obviously, using it will kick you out from the online leaderboard for that run.

#stg #shmup #nintendoswitch2