Gradius Origins is a seriously impressive package. Not only does it include six classic shoot ’em up titles — the original Gradius trilogy, two Salamander games, Life Force, and regional variants — but it includes the first brand new Salamander title in nearly 30 years.
Salamander is, of course, the spinoff series of the classic Gradius, but it hasn’t received a new title since 1996.
Salamander III is unique in that it feels like a perfect union of both IPs in a way nothing before has ever captured, marrying enemy and level types seamlessly. And it features a brilliant final boss to boot.
In fact, Salamander appears to have aged better than Gradius, despite the latter providing the moniker for this release.
While Gradius is iconic in its ship design, level structure, and gameplay loop, Salamander is proof that Konami was willing to get weird with things. This is especially clear with the Life Force localisation, where you navigate the innards of what appears to be the human body.
While Gradius deals with mechs and ships with an aesthetic evocative of Galaga, Salamander dabbles in horror, including fleshy, grotesque monsters, hordes of eyeballs, and the like.
The gameplay feels identical across the board — including Salamander III — for better or worse. While the gameplay loop is ruthlessly challenging, this is expected for the era these games launched. Between trying to prise quarters out of gamers’ hands and turning a short experience into something infinitely replayable on at-home hardware, this is to be expected.
New quality of life features help immensely here, including an easy mode, rewind feature, and even invulnerability if you don’t care about Trophies and just want to experience the ride.
The collection provides a huge array of titles with iconic, timeless gameplay, and a brand new title that deftly reinvigorates the franchise. If you like shmups, this one is a must.