Wes's take — coming soonPlayed? Beaten? 100%? Rating, tier and a Pocket log line will live here.

Instruction booklet · August 23, 1991

Gradius III

Shooter1–2 playersDay OnePre-ESRB

The story

In the darkest reaches of infinite space, pure evil lies in wait ... The Dark Forces led by the god of destruction, Bacterian, prepare to launch a massive onslaught against the planet Gradius. Possessing unstoppable power, the Dark Forces threaten to plunge the Universe into total war and complete annihilation.

Specifications

Released: August 23, 1991 — launch day
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Players: 2
Genre: Shooter
Rating: Pre-ESRB
Series: Gradius
Themes: Science fiction
View: Bird view / Isometric
Multiplayer: Co-op · 2+ players

What the magazines said

EGM · not on record yet

Famitsu · eight reviewers

GameRankings: 77.50%

BE KIND, REWINDThe week it came out

#1 song

(Everything I Do) I Do It for YouBryan Adams #1 album

Unforgettable... with LoveNatalie Cole Admit one · #1 movie

Hot Shots!$4,676,467 weekend

Vol. 1 · No. 1Omaha, Nebraska · Late edition25¢

The Omaha World-Pixel

Week of August 23, 1991

Aug. 23

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is first released in the United States.

💵 A Super NES was $199.99 at launch · about $473 today

Open this week in the Time Machine →

Also out in August 1991

F-ZeroNintendo · RacingDay One

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SimCityNintendo · SimulatorEGM 7.5Day One

Super Mario WorldNintendo · PlatformEGM 9.0Day One

◀ F-Zero Pilotwings ▶

Data: IGDB · Wikipedia · libretro-thumbnails · Charts: Billboard · Box office: Box Office Mojo via Wikipedia. Today’s money uses US CPI-U, 2025 dollars.