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Collection of 6 titles and 1 new game.
Platforms: Switch, PS5, XBOX and PC
Release date: Aug. 7, 2025

 

[MayauMiao]

Shame it didn't come with Gradius IV or V. Maybe Switch 2 edition will have both?

 

[HRK69]

For my Steam peeps

 

[Punished Miku]

Easy purchase. Konami and M2 put out the best collections at a great price.

 

[Futaleufu]

For my Steam peeps

Surprised this is on Steam, M2 does their best to avoid releasing games there.

 

[Icymanipulator]

For my Steam peeps

Definitely the steam version is the way to go, would never get this for the switch.

 

[King of Fanta]

Why call it Gradius Origins when there's more Salamander games here, including a brand new one? Should have called it Salamander Origins instead

 

[Punished Miku]

Why call it Gradius Origins when there's more Salamander games here, including a brand new one? Should have called it Salamander Origins instead

Because they want to sell more than 10 copies.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Love me some Gradius. First time I played it was when I stole Gradius III from my gf's little brother.

 

[ReBurn]

I'm so happy that this is a thing.

 

[yogaflame]

I remember those good old days on NES.

 

[Markio128]

I love a good shoot-em-up so this is a day 1 for me.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Fantastic.
I shall buy this, play this, then continue to suck at this.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Sweet, now if Square will just give me Einhander back, remastered or original I don’t care just let me play it again.

 

[Knightime_X]

Salamander 3 might as well be Life Force 3
I am ALL THE WAY IN!

 

[Katatonic]

M2 did the PSP Gradius and Salamander collections which were perfect. Will buy this day 1.

 

[mansoor1980]

awesome

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Wait, is it missing Gaiden, too?

It is laughable that we haven't advanced past what was already on offer in the PSP compilation 20 years ago.

But Salamander III is intriguing.

 

[coffinbirth]

While I will obviously buy this shit DAY ONE, I must say it's a bit of a head-scratcher...
The Gradius PSP Collection offers up I-IV AND Gradius Gaiden, and that's nearly 20 years old in and of itself these days.


Would've made a lot more sense to redo the three PSP collections, Gradius, Salamander, and Parodius, and then offer Gradius Collection Volume 2 with the two Game Boy entries, Gradius Galaxies, Gradius Rebirth, Gradius V, and Gradius NEO and Neo Imperial.

Regardless, I hope this does well enough to warrant that Gradius VI I've been waiting 1/2 my goddamned life for.

 

[Arsic]

While idgaf about Gradius I will still buy to support M2. Last bastion for shmups.

 

[bender]

I need a Parodius collection.

 

[near]

Missed opportunity to not include Gradius IV and V. But I'm happy we're getting Salamander 2 and a new instalment with Salamander 3, otherwise I wouldn't bother buying this collection at all.

 

[Tarin02543]

I hope the steam version will allow us to play at that crazy 55 hz arcade framerate

 

[spookyfish]

Fantastic.
I shall buy this, play this, then continue to suck at this.

This. I love Gradius III (on the SNES) but MAN was I bad at it.

 

[cartman414]

Origins, people. Origins.

Also, Salamander/Life Force is a sibling series to Gradius. Wouldn't have the name recognition to sell as well on its own.

Stoked for Salamander III and all the variant versions, but where are the console ports at (especially the MSX spinoffs)?

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

With this announcement, you can hear glass breaking, because that franchise is usually an expensive collector's item in the NES version.

Like a gold coin, it will now be devalued.

The same goes for R-Type games, which are a luxury item to own.

This is bad news for eBay sellers.

 

[mansoor1980]

With this announcement, you can hear glass breaking, because that franchise is usually an expensive collector's item in the NES version.

Like a gold coin, it will now be devalued.

The same goes for R-Type games, which are a luxury item to own.

This is bad news for eBay sellers.

i got the msx versions of gradius 1 and 2
those need to be part of this collection too

 

[Cyberpunkd]

What’s a good horizontal shmup for a newbie for Steam?

 

[cartman414]

With this announcement, you can hear glass breaking, because that franchise is usually an expensive collector's item in the NES version.

Like a gold coin, it will now be devalued.

The same goes for R-Type games, which are a luxury item to own.

This is bad news for eBay sellers.

1) These are the arcade versions.
2) Actual physical original versions keep their value quite well regardless of reprints. (see: Castlevania Anniversary Collection)

 

[IDKFA]

Please, let there be a physical edition in the UK for the Switch! PLEASE!

 

[Jigsaah]

Gotta have it. Does anybody know if Switch 2 is supposed to be backwards compatible?

 

[AJUMP23]

Life Force was a fixture for me back in the day. Nice to see this collection.

 

[HenryJr]

Very nice, probably gonna get this on release, a lot of nostalgic remasters announced this week.
I used to play parodius all the time as a kid, I can still remember the OST

 

[Wonko_C]

I am tired of this trend of splitting collections in volumes. They did the same with Castlevania, they're just hoarding Gradius Gaiden, Galaxies, IV, V and Rebirth for part 2. Only if they make a new game for part 2 I could forgive them.

 

[Ozzie666]

Great announcment and collection. No Gradius V though from PS2.

 

[Solarstrike]

LFG!

 

[lachesis]

Would have been an amazing collection if it had Parodius series too - perhaps on another collection? It would be great if Parodius + Twin Bee came in as another collection.

 

[Madonis]

Ah, ,my old enemy...Gradius III!

Anyway, it's cool to see these games come back in a nice collection.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I’m torn. I like to support these collections, but Gradius is my… nemesis (ahem). I feel that all of Konami’s shooters get ridiculously hard way too fast. I never even found a way to consistently pass the two volcanoes in stage 1 of NES Gradius (they’re actually easier in the arcade). Beating one of these games without savestates is being a true gaming god, screw your Souls games.

I also played Salamander on their Arcade Anniversary Collection, and it’s freaking impossible. If you die in the later stages (and you will), you’re screwed. I remember an end-game boss in a vertical section that if you died, you couldn’t beat, because it shoots faster than you can move without speed upgrades.

 

[Porcile]

What’s a good horizontal shmup for a newbie for Steam?

Andro Dunos 2. WHEN IT'S ON SALE. Don't buy it full price. Very Gradius, R-Type, Darius etc inspired old-school style horizontal shmup.

There is also Super Hydorah which is heavily inspired by Gradius. Again only buy when it's on sale.

Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles. Cool shmups but a bit visually lacking maybe. Again buy on sale.

You can also get Progear on Capcom Arcade Stadium 1. Very very good CAVE developed bullet hell. You can wait for a sale but to be honest, this is one cheap to begin with. It's pretty brutal though.

Deathsmiles 1 and 2 are also available on Steam. Maybe a little hardcore and niche though. Deathsmiles 1 is really good though. Arguably the best horizontal shooter ever but the aesthetics and difficulty might be off-putting. Deathsmiles 2 is not great (awful awful visuals) but still decent enough because it's CAVE and they didn't make a single bad game.

There are the various M2 developed Darius ports with the standouts of Darius Gaiden (available in Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade) and G-Darius being two of the greatest shmups ever but very challenging. Not great for beginners but if you like how they look and have some patience then whatever go for it. Both are genuine contenders for top 10 horizontal shmups of all time.

DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours is also really cool but a bit hard to grasp all the various modes.

Some other modern horizontal games to consider would be Devil Engine, Drainus and Razion EX.

You will just have to look at these games and see which ones look the most interesting to you and wait for a sale to come around.

Edit - Forgot about Akai Katana (spiritual successor to Progear. CAVE developed.)

 

[apple_of_enlightenment]

Again, the best one of the series, Parodius, nowhere to be seen.