40 years ago, arcade players first hopped into the Vic Viper to defend planet Gradius from a mysterious entity known as Bacterian. Collect power icons and kit out your ship with powerful weapons as you are one lone ship facing an intergalactic menace. The NES version of the title also saw the first use of the infamous Konami Code. So despite being a franchise that help bring Konami to prominence, it has been rather dormant with the last console release being a Nintendo WiiWare title by the name of Gradius ReBirth. However in this past decade Konami has recommitted to utilizing their vast library of properties so we are seeing the release of a compilation in the form of Gradius Origins.
The title brings together 6 titles from the franchise with variants where available and a brand new entry in the form of Salamander III! Every title can be enjoyed with modern conveniences such as Quick Save/Load, Rewind, Training Mode and more. Enjoy the sounds and art of the games in the Visual and Sound Gallery.
It’s great to see these titles available to be enjoyed on modern devices…now when are we getting the Parodius collection?
Gradius Origins is available now on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch.
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI) today announced the GRADIUS ORIGINS collection is now available on PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™, and PC via Steam®. GRADIUS ORIGINS is the definitive collection of the earliest games from the GRADIUS series – 2D shoot ‘em up classics that embody nostalgic gaming from the 1980s.
* The launch time/date varies depending on the platform.
The collection also introduces SALAMANDER III, a new entry to this shooting game franchise in over a decade.
Staying true to the 1980s – 1990s aesthetics of GRADIUS titles, SALAMANDER III features 2D sprites and backgrounds as players traverse different stages using power-ups from the SALAMANDER series.
A total of seven games with 18 different regional versions are complemented with modern-day quality-of-life improvements, including competitive Online Rankings, Rewind, Quicksave & Quickload, Easy Mode, Training Mode, Invincible Mode, and a Visual and Sound Gallery.
The full GRADIUS ORIGINS title line-up:
*The following list of titles shows the names which were originally first released.
GRADIUS
GRADIUS JP ver
GRADIUS Bubble System ver
NEMESIS NA ver
NEMESIS EU ver
NEMESIS NA Proto ver
GRADIUS II
GRADIUS II Gofer no Yabou JP Early ver
GRADIUS II Gofer no Yabou JP Mid ver
GRADIUS II Gofer no Yabou JP Late ver
VULCAN VENTURE NA ver
GRADIUS III
GRADIUS III Densetsu kara Shinwa e JP Old ver
GRADIUS III Densetsu kara Shinwa e JP New ver
GRADIUS III ASIAN ver
GRADIUS III Densetsu kara Shinwa e JP AM Show ver
SALAMANDER
SALAMANDER JP ver
LIFE FORCE NA ver
LIFE FORCE
LIFE FORCE JP ver
SALAMANDER2
SALAMANDER 2 JP ver
SALAMANDER III
SALAMANDER III
For more information visit: https://www.konami.com/games/gradius/