Salamander III announced for Gradius Origins for Switch [by M2] - Coming August 7, 2025

[PC Engine Fan X!]

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! ^_~

[AGermanArtist]

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.

[Bassa-Bassa]

If 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:

[AGermanArtist]

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

[Bassa-Bassa]

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?

[AGermanArtist]

Wait, so Konami didn't publish it? I know SPS produced the game, as with the Castlevania remake.

[Sengoku Strider]

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.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

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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PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[PC Engine Fan X!]

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.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Jucksalbe]

You can also use the X button instead of B, which feels a lot more comfortable for me.

[Kobayashi]

Great, but I want Gradius VI (by Treasure) too!

[Firehawke]

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.

[Tokyo-J]

Where the hell is Gradius Gaiden , Gradius IV and V?

[pablumatic]

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"?

[Firehawke]

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.

[Light1000]

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...."

[Firehawke]

That AM Version ripple laser is kind of crazy. Lots of them with an insanely large hitbox.

[Shatterhand]

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.

With 2D Graphics? You think they would "Downgrade" from Gradius V like that? I mean, Salamander has always been 2D, Gradius don't.

I personally would love a Gradius 6 back to the basics with 2D graphics but.... I doubt it will ever happen. The Salamander 3 announcement took me by surprise and made me very happy, but they have so low trust on this they had to put it on a collection release. (But, fuck, Cygni. Yeah)

Great, but I want Gradius VI (by Treasure) too!

I don't know if you know this, but Treasure really doesn't exist anymore. It's basically just Maegawa in an office with a couple of people handling licensing of their older games. They haven't made a new game for 11 years now. While you could hope the "gang could come back" for a new game, and they made a crazy nonsense statement about a new game 3 years ago (and then full radio silence about it)...... I guess a team with a track record of Treasure do deserve retirement and resting upon the... treasure they built with their talents during the years.

[Firehawke]

I personally would love a Gradius 6 back to the basics with 2D graphics but.... I doubt it will ever happen. The Salamander 3 announcement took me by surprise and made me very happy, but they have so low trust on this they had to put it on a collection release. (But, fuck, Cygni. Yeah)

I think you have that backwards. They started with a collection, then M2 said "We want to add something new to this too."

It's not about trusting a new release, it's that Konami still has effectively zero interest in anything new surrounding Gradius, Castlevania, or a dozen of their other franchises right now. Even Metal Gear is only getting a remake right now. Silent Hill is getting more attention than most anything else in their archives, and even that's farmed out-- Silent Hill F and Silent Hill 1 remake both.

Konami screwed themselves over with their management change and realized it far too late to do much to fix it, so they're being extremely conservative with the IP. M2 hasn't been able to get them to sign off on new games for years now despite trying repeatedly for over ten years based on their recent magazine interview.

[Shatterhand]

I personally would love a Gradius 6 back to the basics with 2D graphics but.... I doubt it will ever happen. The Salamander 3 announcement took me by surprise and made me very happy, but they have so low trust on this they had to put it on a collection release. (But, fuck, Cygni. Yeah)

I think you have that backwards. They started with a collection, then M2 said "We want to add something new to this too."

It's not about trusting a new release, it's that Konami still has effectively zero interest in anything new surrounding Gradius, Castlevania, or a dozen of their other franchises right now. Even Metal Gear is only getting a remake right now. Silent Hill is getting more attention than most anything else in their archives, and even that's farmed out-- Silent Hill F and Silent Hill 1 remake both.

Konami screwed themselves over with their management change and realized it far too late to do much to fix it, so they're being extremely conservative with the IP. M2 hasn't been able to get them to sign off on new games for years now despite trying repeatedly for over ten years based on their recent magazine interview.

Yeah, I heard a lot of people saying Konami would only autorize a new game if it was released on a collection, and it was better to have Salamander 3 on a collection than nothing at all.

I don't care about the collection, I can play all of those games and I don't care about rewind etc. But I do want Salamander 3 a lot.

[Firehawke]

While I have the Arcade Archives released of G1-3, and Salamander Deluxe Pack, and god knows how many other releases of the games (including PSP, and including stuff that won't be in this collection), I'm particularly interested in this one because of three major factors:

1. M2 is allowing optional tweaks to the games, including hitbox fixes. As good as (most of) these games are on their own, there's no denying that G2 and G3 have particularly awful hitbox issues.
2. The gauges will finally make it easier to work out rank and option stealer specifics and be 100% sure that those specifics are correct. Sure, there's been a lot of research done on at least some of this in these very forums, but now we can nail it down visually and be 100% sure.
3. AM Version G3 and Salamander 3.

If buying this will convince Konami to greenlight a second collection with more stuff (look, I know of at least 15 worthy items that won't be in this collection; that's enough for at least 1-2 more collections) then I'll buy two copies.

These likely will be the final Gradius collections in my lifetime. Most of us fans from the beginning are starting to creep up there towards old age.

[Shatterhand]

These likely will be the final Gradius collections in my lifetime. Most of us fans from the beginning are starting to creep up there towards old age.

Please stay alive and well, I plan to make new shmups for the next 20 years

[NYN]

Uh, anybody commented yet on the 40th Anniversary Perfect Run Playthrough? Quite a feat. Is KAZUKI KUBOTA as a player a name I should know?

[AGermanArtist]

Salamander 3 looks like a little more 'premium' than Gradius Rebirth. Much as the Haunted Castle remake looks better than Castlevania Rebirth.

[Ms. Tea]

Uh, anybody commented yet on the 40th Anniversary Perfect Run Playthrough? Quite a feat. Is KAZUKI KUBOTA as a player a name I should know?

Yeah, as a player he goes by the alias K-TWO and he's especially known for his Fantasy Zone scores. He's also been a director/producer on the M2 STG line since Garegga Rev. 2016. https://www.mobygames.com/person/343491 ... a/credits/

[Firehawke]

I might be wrong on this, but I think he's the one who was described during the semi-recent M2 stream as the absolute Gradius fanatic who joined M2 in the hopes of actually getting to do a Gradius collection at some point. Also, the one who was most interested in the AM version of Gradius 3 and did substantial work in actually digging it up.

[Ms. Tea]

Looks like that was Kaito Higashi: https://mastodon.social/@gosokkyu/114510267657441713

Who's credited on the Toaplan M2 STG collections: https://www.mobygames.com/person/1255992/kaito-higashi/

[Firehawke]

Thanks for the correction. I wouldn't be surprised to see him showing up on superplays based on company description of his level of Gradius fanaticism.