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

[Firehawke]

What are the optimal autofire settings for these games? Mikado has Gradius III set up with a selector wheel thingy that lets you choose your autofire rate and a note on the cabinet that recommends 20Hz. As is usual with Mikado, multiple different autofire rates are not possible.

Depends on the game and what you're doing. Point-blanking a boss with normal shot, you're going to want as fast as the machine can react to. Point-blanking with laser, you want no autofire at all. Flying against large groups of small fries without laser? You'll want something in the middle so you're getting even coverage.

Konami's own solution on console releases has typically been to disable autofire for shot when you have laser but keep bomb and normal shot on the fastest possible speed.. and then to offer button mappings for non-autofire as well. I'd argue that's probably the sanest, if not 100% optimal for all situations.

[OldSkoolShmuper]

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

Can't wait to try this version.

[BazookaBen]

Digtal Foundry has a deep dive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2mBaTEjmVE

[OldSkoolShmuper]

Digtal Foundry has a deep dive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2mBaTEjmVE

Thank you for posting this

[MSZ]

More spoiler gameplay here:

https://youtu.be/1LzUrHJPotY?si=Y_qjGa3LKWpKKD6f

[Firehawke]

It was worth checking out the spoiler to get clean confirmation that the stages look good. Definitely looking forward to that and the AM Version of G3.

[Sweatlord_STG]

It was worth checking out the spoiler to get clean confirmation that the stages look good. Definitely looking forward to that and the AM Version of G3.

Idk what I'm more excited about, sala3 or g3 am show ver

[harborline765]

Interview with producer Ryosaku Ueno: https://metro.co.uk/2025/08/04/gradius- ... -23825019/

[The_Trooper49]

I never knew the Metro covered shmups!! I think I always assumed if they covered gaming at all, it would just be FIFA and CoD

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

One thing that stood out in the gameplay vids that have been shared is that on ‘Arcade’ rank you are able to rack up extends like god knows what. 2 extra lives by the end stage 1 and the guy has 10 by the Moai stage. I’m looking forward to this but don’t want to beat it on my first go.

[Klatrymadon]

Haunted Castle Revisited being both excellent and a pushover has me a little worried about this, but I imagine its difficulty won't be a million miles away from that of Gradius ReBirth — a very doable clear that bares its teeth on subsequent loops, and short enough that you'll want to play them. Fingers crossed, anyway!

Edit: "insanely hard on later loops" says Jaimers, who has posted a 4-loop clear. Good enough for me!

[harborline765]

I never knew the Metro covered shmups!! I think I always assumed if they covered gaming at all, it would just be FIFA and CoD

They took in Digitiser/GameCentral from Teletext, so think of their games coverage as a continuation of that.

One thing that stood out in the gameplay vids that have been shared is that on ‘Arcade’ rank you are able to rack up extends like god knows what. 2 extra lives by the end stage 1 and the guy has 10 by the Moai stage. I’m looking forward to this but don’t want to beat it on my first go.

Yeah, I have admittedly low expectations for Salamander III after Haunted Castle last year. Great presentation but it wasn't authentic to the spirit of the era it's trying to fit into in terms of the challenge level:

A good Castlevania game always keeps you on your toes, rewarding consistency and punishing sloppy play. Your understanding and intuition of the enemies, traps, your items, and how that all works in tandem is what carries you through the game.

• Level traps aren’t a threat - the chandeliers that fall in stage 3 hit the ground before you walk under them!
  I was only overwhelmed by enemies once, and even then it was easy to deal with them
  The first boss can be beaten through blindly whipping before you run out of health
  The second boss changes directions every few hits…so you never get pinned into a corner. Again, you can blindly attack it and win
  The third boss can also be beaten through blind attacks, and the checkpoint is right before it.
  I received two chickens in the space of one minute in stage 3, so I could have just played the level sloppily without penalty…

It reminded me of faux-retro games like Shovel Knight which have the theming of an old school game but only exhibit a superficial understanding of why those games are so revered.

[AGermanArtist]

It's based on the arcade game which is notorious for its cheap difficulty - causing many who played it in 1988 to dismiss it, resulting in its failure in arcades, and in trying to address this, M2 seemingly produced a game that is a little too easy for many who've played it.

[Steven]

HOLY FUCK M2 FINALLY KIND OF FIGURED OUT HOW KEYBOARDS WORK

My god, it sure took them far too long. It's not perfect, but it's better than usual, which means it's still sub-optimal, but it's usable this time, I think.

[harborline765]

It's based on the arcade game which is notorious for its cheap difficulty - causing many who played it in 1988 to dismiss it, resulting in its failure in arcades, and in trying to address this, M2 seemingly produced a game that is a little too easy for many who've played it.

This is true, M2 definitely overcorrected the failings of the original arcade release. The idea of remaking that title was probably a flawed concept from the beginning since once you diverge from its core design in a significant way, you're left with a very different game that's only connected to its source material in a superficial way.

If I were M2, I'd have revisited Castlevania: The Adventure on Game Boy instead, which is maligned for its slow gameplay, but is actually a very solid (and innovative as it introduced ropes and more involved platforming) Castlevania title. Having that game run at full speed would have done wonders at redeeming its reputation among Castlevania fans.

[Sweatlord_STG]

How come everybody is playing this already??? Steam unlocks tomorrow and my ps5 version hasn't even been shipped yet

[Steven]

It's been out on PC for almost an hour now.

[Jonpachi]

If I were M2, I'd have revisited Castlevania: The Adventure on Game Boy instead, which is maligned for its slow gameplay, but is actually a very solid (and innovative as it introduced ropes and more involved platforming) Castlevania title. Having that game run at full speed would have done wonders at redeeming its reputation among Castlevania fans.

WHAT IF...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevan ... re_ReBirth

[Sweatlord_STG]

It's been out on PC for almost an hour now.

oops. Let me check. I thought it was tomorrow for some reason lol

[Marc.bret.87]

Weird, it was definitely slated for a release tomorrow, operation night strikers has also released

[Ms. Tea]

It's a time zone thing; a lot of Japanese devs stuff release Steam versions in Japan time, so they go up internationally the day before console versions. The Japanese console versions are out now too.

[AGermanArtist]

Jaimers just posted a sponsored video where he's looped Salamander 3 4 times.
I have to wait until 12am tonight.

[Sweatlord_STG]

Jaimers just posted a sponsored video where he's looped Salamander 3 4 times.
I have to wait until 12am tonight.

already saw that ages ago.

its horrid! where are all the options that m2 usually includes??? i cant even change the fucking buttons!!!!

edit: nvm i found it

[harborline765]

If I were M2, I'd have revisited Castlevania: The Adventure on Game Boy instead, which is maligned for its slow gameplay, but is actually a very solid (and innovative as it introduced ropes and more involved platforming) Castlevania title. Having that game run at full speed would have done wonders at redeeming its reputation among Castlevania fans.

WHAT IF...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevan ... re_ReBirth

I feel like an idiot now as I have played through this one back when it launched!

Will need to revisit it - I don't really remember it having that much similarity to the original Game Boy game, but it's a great title in its own right. It was more like a sequel to Adventure 2 (Belmont's Revenge) more than a revisit of the first The Adventure game.

[Sweatlord_STG]

If I were M2, I'd have revisited Castlevania: The Adventure on Game Boy instead, which is maligned for its slow gameplay, but is actually a very solid (and innovative as it introduced ropes and more involved platforming) Castlevania title. Having that game run at full speed would have done wonders at redeeming its reputation among Castlevania fans.

WHAT IF...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevan ... re_ReBirth

I feel like an idiot now as I have played through this one back when it launched!

Will need to revisit it - I don't really remember it having that much similarity to the original Game Boy game, but it's a great title in its own right. It was more like a sequel to Adventure 2 (Belmont's Revenge) more than a revisit of the first The Adventure game.

i recently tried to emulate the rebirth games but it felt a bit laggy. any way this can be improved?

i guess best thing is just to play it on crt. i have several wiis and a gamecube to ps2 adapter to i can just play the games with my sls saturn style ps2 controller

[AGermanArtist]

Rebirth plays fine to me in Dolphin

already saw that ages ago.

[Steven]

Salamander III 1-ALL get. This is one of the easiest 1-ALLs in the genre. Game does loop, though, and loop 2 seems a lot harder. Caught me off guard because I put my Steam Deck down during the credits and then suddenly OH SHIT I died suddenly because it looped and I wasn't expecting it.

Pretty cool game, but it's WAY too easy on first loop and chain deaths are definitely something to watch out for. Even with the chain deaths, I think most players will probably at least 1-ALL this within 2 or 3 attempts like I did.

[BEAMLORD]

Anyone know if there is an option to begin Salamander 3 on a higher loop? Any option in the menu? Haven't bought it yet, so I'm curious.

[Steven]

Nope. No training mode for Salamander III either, so you just gotta go through loop 1 to get to loop 2 the old fashioned way.

[Triple Lei]

So it IS Steam Deck compatible? Good to know (was holding out for exactly that actually), but Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection still isn't, and we still have 10 hours to pre-order on Switch eShop for $4 off. Guess I'm getting it on Switch then...