Lemnear wrote: ↑Fri May 09, 2025 5:57 pm
I don't know...how can I appreciate Gradius? I feel like I'm missing a milestone...and yet I like R-Type and Darius and even Xevious! (and Parodius!).
Play the PC Engine version and let the pixel glow perfection wash over you like an ocean breeze.
Yes, the ol' trusty Hu-Cards of Konami's Gradius and Salamander on the venerable PC Engine look at their best running on a 15.7kHz low-res monitor with the obligatory scanlines added in for completeness. Both particular PCE stg titles were done all "in-house" at Konami and they're quite something to behold indeed. Unfortunately, TTI (Turbo Technologies Incorporated) did not release either PCE Konami stgs for the American TurboGrafx-16/Turbo Duo gaming consoles back in the 1992-1993 timeline.
If another collection is possible, I'd like to see Gradius 4, Gradius Gaiden, Gradius Advance, Solar Assault, Gradius 5 and a new Gradius game based on Nemesis 90 Kai. If they did that, surely that would be a way around any issues with licensing it. I'd happily pay $80 for that omg. Make a bunch of merch that's easy to get and isn't tied to a limited collector thing and I'll likely spunk another $300 on some tees or a hoodie and some bits. I'd sooner have Gradius Rebirth as a Rebirth collection from Nintendo/Konami/M2 - I suspect with the Switch 2's ability to do 1:1 pointing w/out a sensor bar that it's going to be the WiiMAKE console woah, so maybe that'll be part of that, if that is indeed what happens. And RE4 remake gets a mouse-con/pointer release and becomes the go to version like the OG on Wii.
Last edited by AGermanArtist on Sat May 24, 2025 3:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
AGermanArtist wrote: ↑Sat May 24, 2025 8:04 amIf they did that
They already did that, kind of. Nemesis '90 Kai is a remake of MSX Gradius 2 (with a new name because X68000 Gradius II was already a thing), and M2 remade this again for Konami's Salamander Portable:
Thanks for the unnecessary infoblast, but it's a 'halfway house' "refined" version of the MSX game. It's not really the same thing, is it.
An 'even more' 'tarted up' version of Nemesis 90 Kai that takes the existing template and expands upon it, improves its visuals and refines the audio possibly adding new tracks would be especially welcomed for current h/ware and just call it Gradius 6. Having Salamander Portable on PPSSPP on my phone is nice and all, but more is better. Just get everything Gradius related out there with the best presentation possible. I'd be up for more games especially if they got the likes of Team Ladybug involved, they seem to ape Konami games anyway and apparently pretty adept at it too
Last edited by AGermanArtist on Sun May 25, 2025 7:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
AGermanArtist wrote: ↑Sat May 24, 2025 10:14 am
Thanks for the unnecessary infoblast, but it's a 'halfway house' "refined" version of the MSX game. It's not really the same thing, is it.
Seems like not totally unnecessary, though? You’re asking for something which is just not possible, I gave you the closest thing they made, which is also a clear hint to understand they don’t consider another company’s game as theirs or even actual part of the series?
Lemnear wrote: ↑Fri May 09, 2025 5:57 pm
I don't know...how can I appreciate Gradius? I feel like I'm missing a milestone...and yet I like R-Type and Darius and even Xevious! (and Parodius!).
Play the PC Engine version and let the pixel glow perfection wash over you like an ocean breeze.
Yes, the ol' trusty Hu-Cards of Konami's Gradius and Salamander on the venerable PC Engine look at their best running on a 15.7kHz low-res monitor with the obligatory scanlines added in for completeness. Both particular PCE stg titles were done all "in-house" at Konami and they're quite something to behold indeed. Unfortunately, TTI (Turbo Technologies Incorporated) did not release either PCE Konami stgs for the American TurboGrafx-16/Turbo Duo gaming consoles back in the 1992-1993 timeline.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
My friends & I would've been really interested in a TurboGrafx Life Force if It'd popped up in magazines back in the day. But it unfortunately makes sense that it never saw a release in North America. SNES launched with Gradius III, and TG-16 was always trying to beat the allegations of being/looking 8-bit. You can release Gradius & Salamander into a robust market in Japan, but going for niche appeal with what were best remembered as NES games might not have been a great use of TTI's limited resources in NA when they already had a system full of shooters.
In a better world Konami would've felt motivated to stick it out longer with the PCE. They were amazing on any platform at the time, but they really made that thing sing. I want to visit the worldline with an Arcade Card CD TurboContra & Gradius III.
Play the PC Engine version and let the pixel glow perfection wash over you like an ocean breeze.
Yes, the ol' trusty Hu-Cards of Konami's Gradius and Salamander on the venerable PC Engine look at their best running on a 15.7kHz low-res monitor with the obligatory scanlines added in for completeness. Both particular PCE stg titles were done all "in-house" at Konami and they're quite something to behold indeed. Unfortunately, TTI (Turbo Technologies Incorporated) did not release either PCE Konami stgs for the American TurboGrafx-16/Turbo Duo gaming consoles back in the 1992-1993 timeline.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
My friends & I would've been really interested in a TurboGrafx Life Force if It'd popped up in magazines back in the day. But it unfortunately makes sense that it never saw a release in North America. SNES launched with Gradius III, and TG-16 was always trying to beat the allegations of being/looking 8-bit. You can release Gradius & Salamander into a robust market in Japan, but going for niche appeal with what were best remembered as NES games might not have been a great use of TTI's limited resources in NA when they already had a system full of shooters.
In a better world Konami would've felt motivated to stick it out longer with the PCE. They were amazing on any platform at the time, but they really made that thing sing. I want to visit the worldline with an Arcade Card CD TurboContra & Gradius III.
An Arcade CD-Rom2 release of Gradius III on the classic PC Engine Duo/Duo-R with an Arcade Card Duo (with it's additional 16megabits of RAM upgrade) -- that would've have been quite something to see happen with Konami's expertise and gaming techincal know-how, it certainly could've made for a proper second ACD-based "Killer App" stg title being propped right next to the famed ACD stg title of Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire for bragging rights (and even besting the SFC/SNES port of Gradius III easily with it cowering in shame over the fact of a superior version of Gradius III exists on a competing console, hence the early 1990's ferocious & all-out console wars raging on in the "land of the rising sun, Japan").
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In a alternate universe, the PC Engine based Arcade CD-Rom2 of Gradius III is real and playable to your heart's content. Not to mention, listening to the lush redbook audio presentation of Gradius III's BGMs in pure and unadulterated 44.1kHz glory is priceless -- all this & more from the legendary "Mr. T's Music" to seal the deal!
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On the USA Region Nintendo Gameboy Archives listed as of 5/22/2025, there's a 2megabit release of Konami's "Gradius: The Interstellar Assualt" game rom to check out at your leisure (playable on the Switch platform via emulation). Unfortunately, the original GB's buttons are mapped to buttons A and B on the Switch's Joy-Con controller layout without a proper way to be remapped to your liking.
Still cool nevertheless to play it on a 1st-gen LCD or Oled based Switch setup indeed -- although it requires a one year's subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online membership just to even d/l or even play it, that is a given in this day of age alrighty.
It kills me that none of the western news sites are picking up on the interviews that the Japanese sites are getting. There's a *ton* of relevant information that hasn't been officially posted in English anywhere outside of a summary via Mastodon thread.
It's like Konami and the western news want this to completely fail.
Where the hell is Gradius Gaiden , Gradius IV and V?
A Hardcore gamers reaction to the Lack of Kinect games.Apparently i could of played Dodonpachi with it if i beat a entirely in Japanese Visual Novel piece of shit game called Instant Brain
Tokyo-J wrote: ↑Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:02 pm
Where the hell is Gradius Gaiden , Gradius IV and V?
I want them to be there too. This is a clear budget release, though. Salamander III was built around their Konami Rebirth games engine to save development money and time.
Maybe next time? The name Origins to me implies something else to happen after said origin.
Not sure M2 could handle Gradius V, either. They do tackle 32-bit stuff every now and then, but the "Emotion Engine"?
Last edited by pablumatic on Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
An interview with M2 says they wanted the first collection to be of home ports since the arcade stuff had been done by Hamster already, but Konami convinced them they should do the "definite" version of the arcade games first. It leaves the door open for a second collection later on, maybe even a third since there's enough games.
Gradius 4 was on the list to make it into this collection, but they didn't have enough time to get it to run right on the Switch and ended up cutting it about a month before the collection's announcement. Solar Assault was cut very early when they realized there was no way they'd have time to get it done in the short time they had for this project.
Likely a second collection would include 4, 5, Gaiden, the PCE and Famicom/NES games at the very least. Maybe ReBirth, too. If we were really lucky, they might even include the MSX games, but I suspect the amount of work to make those palatable to non-MSX fans would result in them needing to put those in a third collection.
Edit to add: The reason for the short cycle on this is that this project is that they wanted to announce and release this around the 40th anniversary time frame.
Firehawke wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 10:01 pm
It kills me that none of the western news sites are picking up on the interviews that the Japanese sites are getting. There's a *ton* of relevant information that hasn't been officially posted in English anywhere outside of a summary via Mastodon thread.
It's like Konami and the western news want this to completely fail.
Their attitude is probably more so like "they're not going to buy it anyways, why bother?" Which I can understand a little.
I watched some of the reactions to the direct when it was announced - none of them cared. Only one was like "uhh Gradius? Yeah I played 3 on my SNES.... whatever...."
