Activate a speed upgrade.

Activate a missile upgrade.

Activate a double upgrade.

Activate a laser upgrade.

Activate an option upgrade.

Activate a shield upgrade.

Activate a mega crush.

Activate the max number of speed upgrades.

Activate the max number of option upgrades.

Earn an extra life.

Earn a second extra life.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Weapon Type A. Weapon types were introduced in Gradius II.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Weapon Type B.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Weapon Type C.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Weapon Type D.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Edit Mode. This mode was newly introduced in Gradius III.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Force Field.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Shield.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Free Shield.

Clear two stages in the Beginner or Technical course having selected Reduce (Edit-mode only).

Clear stage one of the first loop in the Beginner course. The rank is lower, and some power-ups are kept on death. This game has no continues.

Clear stage two of the first loop in the Beginner course.

Clear stage three of the first loop in the Beginner course.

Clear stage one of the first loop in the Technical course. The rank is higher, and you get access to all stages. This game has no continues.

Clear stage two of the first loop in the Technical course.

Clear stage three of the first loop in the Technical course.

Clear stage four of the first loop in the Technical course.

Clear stage five of the first loop in the Technical course.

Clear stage six of the first loop in the Technical course.

Clear stage seven of the first loop in the Technical course.

Clear stage eight of the first loop in the Technical course.

Clear stage nine of the first loop in the Technical course.

Clear the Gradius bonus stage of the first loop on Normal mode. Warning: not only is this bonus stage four ranks higher than the final stage, but you'll be powered down both before and after the bonus stage! Entered by getting hit by one of Bacterian's

Clear the Salamander bonus stage of the first loop on Normal mode. Warning: not only is this bonus stage four ranks higher than the final stage, but you'll be powered down both before and after the bonus stage! Entered by getting hit by one of Bacterian

Clear stage ten of the first loop on Normal mode. Amounts to a one-credit clear (1CC) of the game.

Clear stage one of the second loop in the Technical course.

Dev challenge: score 50K points in the Technical course on the default difficulty.

Dev challenge: score 100K points in the Technical course on the default difficulty.

Dev challenge: score 200K points in the Technical course on the default difficulty.

Dev challenge: score 300K points in the Technical course on the default difficulty.

Dev challenge: score 400K points in the Technical course on the default difficulty.

Dev challenge: score 500K points in the Technical course on the default difficulty.

Dev challenge: kill an Option Hunter of Type I. Can be killed with a mega crush before or after it steals an option.

Dev challenge: kill an Option Hunter of Type II. This type is susceptible to ordinary weaponry once it steals an option. This type is from Gradius II.

Dev challenge: kill an Option Hunter of Type III. Can be killed with a mega crush after it has stolen an option.

Kill a special enemy to activate a music change. The enemy can bne found in Technical stage three. The remix is one of the stage-four theme from Gradius, the stage-two theme from Salamander, and the stage-one theme from Gradius II.

Dev challenge: defeat the boss of stage one in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Dev challenge: defeat the boss of stage two in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Dev challenge: defeat the boss of stage three in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Dev challenge: defeat the boss of stage five in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Dev challenge: defeat the boss of stage six in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Dev challenge: defeat the boss of stage seven in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Dev challenge: defeat the boss of stage eight in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Dev challenge: defeat the boss of stage nine in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Dev challenge: defeat the mid-boss of stage ten, Dellinger Core, in the Technical course at loop one's max rank of sixteen. No specific loop requirement. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank qualifies.

Clear the cube rush of stage nine of the first loop in the Technical course. This notoriously difficult map is the winning entry of a map-design contest.

Defeat a boss by running down the boss timer. For stage 10, only the mid-boss qualifies. Bonus-stage bosses OK.

Dev challenge: defeat a boss of loop one's max rank of sixteen by running down the boss timer. Can be done on any loop. A challenge indicator will appear if your rank is eligible. For stage 10, only the mid-boss qualifies. Bonus-stage bosses OK.

Dev challenge: beat the game on Normal mode without having used mega crush.

Dev challenge: amass the max displayable amount of nine extra lives. The displayed amount wraps around afterwards. Must start from the default amount of three lives in the Technical course.

Clear the boss rush of stage ten in the Technical course.

Dev challenge: clear the cube rush of Technical stage nine of the first loop without loitering in the top fifth or bottom fifth of the screen for more than one second at a time. An on-screen counter will show you the number of frames you've loitered for.