While it wasn't the very first shoot 'em up (shmup) to grace the arcades, Konami's Gradius was undoubtedly one of the most important quantum leaps forward for the genre. So to celebrate the iconic franchise's 40th anniversary, Konami enlisted the help of M2 — renowned masters of the shmup port — to assist the company with conversions of the series' first three entries and their spin-offs. Gradius Origins is an ambitious compilation that joins several other similar titles that Konami has been rolling out over the last few years, bringing together a variety of different games in the Gradius series and even throwing in a brand-new spin-off shooter as a bonus. And it just so happens to be one of, if not the, best compilations that the Gradius franchise has ever received.
Along with Castlevania, Contra, and Metal Gear, Gradius is one of Konami's most important and enduring franchises, but it's also been far less celebrated throughout the years thanks to the shmup genre's relative niche status. One of the best aspects of Gradius Origins is that the title lowers the barrier to entry that normally persists within the shmup genre, providing a slew of accessibility options to those who might need them. Four decades since its original release in arcades, Gradius holds up incredibly well as a foundational template for the scrolling shooter games that would come after, and together with its sequels and the Salamander/Life Force spin-offs, represents a pivotal turning point in the evolution of the arcade shoot 'em up. Gradius Origins celebrates that legacy as well as extends it with Salamander 3, making it an essential pickup for any shmup fan's library.
Gradius and Its Sequels and Spin-Offs Still Stand Out as Pure Shoot 'em Up Excellence
Whether you're a dyed-in-the-wool shmup veteran or a relative newcomer to scrolling shooters, one of the more impressive things about the games included in Gradius Origins is how well they cater to just about anyone. The shmup genre has now mostly moved toward the danmaku, or "bullet hell", style of design that was popularized by legendary developers like Raizing, Compile, and Cave, but Gradius and its sequels are relics of a different time. Before showers of bullets forming complex patterns were the genre's norm, survival in a scrolling shooter was all about memorization and routing. Gradius and its sequels and spin-offs are still incredibly challenging, even for someone who considers themselves more skilled than a "casual" fan of scrolling shooters. But, like most great compilations do, Gradius Origins accounts for that difficulty curve with a suite of modern flourishes and accessibility options that roll out the carpet for a wider audience.
Firing up Gradius Origins greets players with a main menu from which they can either adjust global settings, look at a museum of digital artifacts, train, or enter the game selection screen, which is where the real scope of the compilation's options begins to take shape. After selecting from any of the included seven titles, players get to choose which specific version of each title they wish to play, and can further tweak settings from there. Each game, with the exception of the new Salamander 3, features three different play modes — original, easy, and invincible. Original mode is the unaltered arcade experience, while easy mode features fewer enemy projectiles and easier thresholds for life extension. As the name suggests, invincible mode renders players completely invulnerable, at the cost of disabling achievements and leaderboard eligibility.
While Gradius Origins does include a dedicated Training Mode for learning each of the intricacies of the included games (and a great one, at that), playing any of the titles in invincible mode achieves the same thing. Again, Gradius, Salamander, and their sequels are a special breed of shoot 'em up, more dependent on memorization and proper routing than micro-dodging and pattern recognition, and Gradius Origins gives players all the tools they'll need not just to enjoy the games it includes, but to actually get better at playing them. When it comes to a compilation that's both a history lesson in the genre's classics and a primer for how to approach shoot 'em ups as a whole, it's hard to think of a better collection than Gradius Origins.
What's Included in Gradius Origins
One of the bigger questions surrounding Gradius Origins ahead of its release was what games it would actually include, which Konami was surprisingly unclear on. Now that the game is out, we know the full list of titles that are included, as well as each of the different ROM versions for each title that Konami and M2 have faithfully ported and updated for playability on PC and modern consoles. Gradius Origins includes:
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Gradius
- Gradius JP ver.
- Gradius Bubble System ver.
- Nemesis (Gradius North American ver.)
- Nemesis EU ver.
- Nemesis NA Prototype ver.
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Salamander
- Salamander JP ver.
- Life Force (Salamander North American ver.)
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Life Force
- Life Force JP ver.
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Gradius 2
- Gradius 2 JP early ver.
- Gradius 2 JP mid ver.
- Gradius 2 JP late ver.
- Vulcan Venture (Gradius 2 North American ver.)
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Gradius 3
- Gradius 3 JP old ver.
- Gradius 3 JP new ver.
- Gradius 3 Asian ver.
- Gradius 3 JP AM Show ver.
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Salamander 2
- Salamander 2 JP ver.
- Salamander 3
It's a pretty extensive list of Gradius games that includes some never-before-played versions, but there is one glaring omission in Gradius Origins. The lack of Gradius 4 and Gradius 5's inclusion is unfortunate, but understandable given the significant resources that might have been necessary to both secure the source files for those games and port them to modern hardware. But even without Gradius 4 and 5, Gradius Origins is one of the most content-rich and complete collections the series has ever seen, and that it includes helpful features like instant rewind and save states (along with the ability to play in the aforementioned easier modes and watch full replays of your performance) makes it one of the best of Konami's many classic game compilations.
Gradius Origins is an Easy Recommendation for Shmup Fans and a Fantastic Compilation
Gradius Origins is almost perfectly timed to tap into growing interest in shmups that's come about from the genre's indie renaissance (much like the modern beat 'em up), and Konami's decision to have M2 handle the port was a smart play. More than just porting some classic games to modern consoles and PC, though, M2 was given the keys to the kingdom; allowed to craft a brand-new spin-off in the Salamander series that looks, sounds, and plays as if it were made during the genre's heyday.
Gradius Origins would almost be worth recommending just for Salamander 3 alone, which makes it that much easier to recommend since it contains impeccable ports of other classic games in the Gradius series. Like other M2 ports, input lag is minimal, modern features make the games more enjoyable, and having them readily available under a single umbrella makes playing them more convenient. For shmup fans, Gradius Origins is the full package, and for genre newcomers, it's one of the best introductions money can buy, only held back by its lack of Gradius 4 and 5.
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, PC
- One of the best and most comprehensive Gradius collections
- Salamander 3 is a brand-new experience that feels like unearthing a buried treasure
- An impressive amount of options and accessibility features available at the touch of a button
- The lack of Gradius IV and V is disappointing and holds Gradius Origins back from perfection