Alright, so here’s the deal with Konami and their retro gaming antics. You know, they’ve had their fair share of hiccups trying to revamp their old games. Think Silent Hill and Metal Gear “HD” disasters — yeah, not their finest moments. But then they turned a corner, thanks to the geniuses at M2. Suddenly, Konami’s putting out these retro collections that are actually kinda awesome. Go figure, right?
Anyway, this week, they dropped Gradius Origins, which, by the way, totally rocks. M2’s magic touch again, not surprisingly.
So, the basics: Gradius kinda kicked off in 1985, borrowing ideas from their earlier hit, Scramble. Fast forward through a bunch of main games, spinoffs, and some series offshoot called Salamander (or was it Life Force? Meh, details), which mixed things up with power-ups and random vertical scrolling levels.
Gradius has been pretty much napping since 2008. Remember Gradius ReBirth on WiiWare? Yeah, me neither. M2 did that one too. Still, Gradius Origins does this wonderful thing of dusting off six golden oldies: Gradius, Salamander, Life Force, et cetera, et cetera. Total of 17 versions, if you’re counting. Random nugget: there’s a Gradius 3 version in here that’s super elusive. It’s like a trip back to a 1989 arcade trade show. How cool is that?
Oh, and they tossed in all these helpful cheats — invincibility modes, auto rewind, you name it — which means we casual players might finally conquer some brutal levels. Get ready for music tracks, too. You can jam to those classic Gradius tunes on loop if that’s your thing.
Honestly, M2’s diving pretty deep here. They included stuff for the hardcore fans, like recreating ancient glitches and fiddling with CRT settings. It’s wild. Feels like they’ve mapped out every pixel.
Oh, and get this — fresh new game alert! Salamander 3 is in there, looking like it’s straight out of the late ‘90s. Pixels and early 3D vibes galore. Feels like taking a wild nostalgia trip while wrestling aliens, ships, and whatnot. Classic, crazy fun.
If you’re any kind of Gradius, Salamander, or Life Force fan, or just into lovingly curated retro game anthologies, this one’s a no-brainer. Offered up in stunning detail, it’s Konami and M2’s heartfelt nod to a series that holds a very special place in retro gaming lore. Not exhaustive, but oh-so comprehensive.
Grab Gradius Origins today on your Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC, or Xbox. Dive in, and geek out thoroughly. Trust me, it’s a treat.
