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

[Firehawke]

An additional unlockable for a total of two unlockable games has been confirmed by Konami via Japanese interview at https://www.famitsu.com/article/202508/47631

No idea how to unlock them yet.

[Steven]

I mostly bought it for Gradius 1 and 2 and especially Salamander 2, which I had never played until today and I see why people like it because it's great. Salamander III is just a bonus to me.

Speaking of Salamander 2, the unreleased Taiwanese version, Life Force 2, is also included. I wonder what differences there are aside from the title screen and the legal warning that says to only use it in Taiwan.

What??? I didn't see that. It would have sparked my interest. I'll have to check next time I play.

It's in the game's game options menu. There is an option that says 海外版（未発売）and a toggle to turn it on or off. At least, that's what it says in Japanese. No idea what it says in other languages, but it should be there.

I didn't know there even was an overseas version of Salamander 2, as I thought it was Japan-only, but it turns out that there was indeed an unreleased Taiwanese version.

An additional unlockable for a total of two unlockable games has been confirmed by Konami via Japanese interview at https://www.famitsu.com/article/202508/47631

No idea how to unlock them yet.

VS Gradius and the Power Capsule version of Salamander... whatever that is.

Try Konmai code somewhere in Gradius I and Salamander I or maybe even in the menus. That might do it.

[Sweatlord_STG]

An additional unlockable for a total of two unlockable games has been confirmed by Konami via Japanese interview at https://www.famitsu.com/article/202508/47631

No idea how to unlock them yet.

What are the unlockable games? I hope one of them is nemesis 90 kai

I mostly bought it for Gradius 1 and 2 and especially Salamander 2, which I had never played until today and I see why people like it because it's great. Salamander III is just a bonus to me.

Speaking of Salamander 2, the unreleased Taiwanese version, Life Force 2, is also included. I wonder what differences there are aside from the title screen and the legal warning that says to only use it in Taiwan.

What??? I didn't see that. It would have sparked my interest. I'll have to check next time I play.

It's in the game's game options menu. There is an option that says 海外版（未発売）and a toggle to turn it on or off. At least, that's what it says in Japanese. No idea what it says in other languages, but it should be there.

I didn't know there even was an overseas version of Salamander 2, as I thought it was Japan-only, but it turns out that there was indeed an unreleased Taiwanese version.

That's awesome, because I thought so too.

[Firehawke]

Do the Konami Code at the Version Select for Gradius 1 to unlock VS System Gradius.
Do the Konami Code at the Version Select for Salamander to unlock Salamander (Power Capsule Version).

[Steven]

I knew it~ I mean that's pretty much always what it is with Konmai secrets, so it's not surprising, but it's still nice to guess correctly.

But is there a point in playing VS Gradius instead of the normal arcade version? I have no knowledge of this version other than its existence, so...

[Sweatlord_STG]

I knew it~ I mean that's pretty much always what it is with Konmai secrets, so it's not surprising, but it's still nice to guess correctly.

But is there a point in playing VS Gradius instead of the normal arcade version? I have no knowledge of this version other than its existence, so...

VS Gradius is the arcade version of the NES version of Gradius iirc. IMO the only other version of Gradius that's worth playing is the PCE version because it sounds amazing, has a new stage and funny secret stages. Not the "near arcade" version made by M2 for the PCE Mini, just the regular old HuCard PCE version of Gradius.

What I like about the first Gradius in general is that it has a certain vibe that only the first game of the series has. While the sequels are all more cinematic, the first one is more abstract and raw, Idk how to describe it. Kind of like other early STGs, like Galaxian, Moon Cresta, or Star Force.

What is the Power Capsule Version of Salamander? Sounds like Life Force JP but that's already there.

Edit: BTW this is a very nice recap of the history of the Gradius games: https://youtu.be/Qk7-X8ZxP7I?si=YzjYJR6Ehgv4nQpK
The only possible mistake I found was that iirc Gradius III was rushed and took only 8 months to make, and the devs consider the SFC an improved version.

[Zach Keene]

What is the Power Capsule Version of Salamander? Sounds like Life Force JP but that's already there.

A newly created version of Salamander, which uses the power-up system of Gradius.

I've only played about 10 seconds so far but I guess it's basically Life Force JP without the graphics or whatever other changes. No gadgets are available either other than the subtitles.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I knew it~ I mean that's pretty much always what it is with Konmai secrets, so it's not surprising, but it's still nice to guess correctly.

But is there a point in playing VS Gradius instead of the normal arcade version? I have no knowledge of this version other than its existence, so...

VS Gradius is the arcade version of the NES version of Gradius iirc. IMO the only other version of Gradius that's worth playing is the PCE version because it sounds amazing, has a new stage and funny secret stages. Not the "near arcade" version made by M2 for the PCE Mini, just the regular old HuCard PCE version of Gradius.

In the USA, "VS Gradius" was released for the "Nintendo Play Choice 10" cabs as I saw it in the American arcades for a brief time. It was a very wise and shrewd business decision of Konami, themselves, to release the "VS Gradius" port in the American arcades to better promote it, get the word out that it exists and garner arcade gamers' interest in buying the NES port of Gradius to play properly at home (basically free advertising) -- this particular business strategy paid "off in spades for Konami in the long run" with the NES port of Gradius.

M2 also released the "near arcade" port of Salamander for the PC Engine Mini back in 2020.

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Both "near arcade" ports of PCE Mini Gradius & PCE Mini Salamander roms from developer M2 (circa 2020) are 100% playable on the the real and genuine PC Engine/Core Grafx/Core Grafx II/SuperGrafx/Turbo Grafx-16 consoles (via KriKzz Turbo Everdrive v2.5 & Turbo Everdrive Pro v1 & v2 flash carts indeed). How cool is that?
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PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[AGermanArtist]

What's the code on PS5? UP-UP-DOWN-DOWN-LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT-RIGHT ? ?

[AGermanArtist]

people are pissing me off. in the discussions section on steam there is nothing but naggers. "too expensive, nothing new"... really pisses me off. i really hope it sells well and that there will be another collection and just more m2 in general. same goes for operation night strikers of course.

I'm a bit disappointed with Operation Night Strikers. Everything about it feels... "cheap"

Seemingly we're not going to get the Shot Triggers experience outside on of their own releases. I suppose they could if they wanted. None of the M2 stuff recently - Darius/Ray'Z and even the Gradius Origins package's Gadgets are undercooked compared with one of their own Shot Triggers.

[Firehawke]

This particular package was admitted by Konami and M2 to have been a rush job to get it out for the 40th anniversary year, and that's why there's so much cut content from what they had planned.

[Firehawke]

In the USA, "VS Gradius" was released for the "Nintendo Play Choice 10" cabs as I saw it in the American arcades for a brief time. It was a very wise and shrewd business decision of Konami, themselves, to release the "VS Gradius" port in the American arcades to better promote it, get the word out that it exists and garner arcade gamers' interest in buying the NES port of Gradius to play properly at home (basically free advertising) -- this particular business strategy paid "off in spades for Konami in the long run" with the NES port of Gradius.

That's not quite correct. VS System and PC-10 are different. While the ROM data in this particular case is identical, typically the VS System games are much harder and are set up with standard arcade lives/continues. On the other hand, PC-10 is literally "This is the NES game in an arcade cabinet set up with a timer (typically 300 seconds)."

What's the code on PS5? UP-UP-DOWN-DOWN-LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT-RIGHT ? ?

Should be UUDDLRLR Circle X, that's what it was on a DualSense on the Steam version in any case.

[AGermanArtist]

Worked. Thank you, sir

[Sanguis]

Holy sh*t, GIII AM Show really is different

Incredible.

[StrzxgvNuvWvfld]

I don't expect others to agree, but I'm just disappointed we are expected to shell out for another Gradius collection that's woefully incomplete.

No Gradius V. No Gradius Gaiden. No Gradius IV.

Imagine a Darius Collection that left out Darius Gaiden completely. Or G-Darius. You'd say, "yeah, but you are forgetting the best game in the series! Why are you doing this?"

I'm not sure if this is a joke, they literally released a Darius Collection that didn't include G-Darius, that came in the follow-up.

[Steven]

Has anyone done lag tests with this vs ACA and PCB? I've played Gradius 1-3 on PCB and they're all fine here. Just curious to see what the numbers look like.

[MSZ]

I don't expect others to agree, but I'm just disappointed we are expected to shell out for another Gradius collection that's woefully incomplete.

No Gradius V. No Gradius Gaiden. No Gradius IV.

Imagine a Darius Collection that left out Darius Gaiden completely. Or G-Darius. You'd say, "yeah, but you are forgetting the best game in the series! Why are you doing this?"

I'm not sure if this is a joke, they literally released a Darius Collection that didn't include G-Darius, that came in the follow-up.

Capcom put their Rockman games into 4 different collections.

[Steven]

Just checked out VS Gradius. I don't know much about the FC/NES version or this weird NES-turned-arcade version, but this seems like a pretty damn good console version for the time, assuming that it's mostly the same as the NES version, especially because the PC Engine and X68000 (not a console, obviously) didn't exist yet. I actually kind of like this version??? Obviously it's not going to compare to the arcade graphics and sound and stuff, but for what it is, I like it. Also seems like the shield blocks stuff all around you instead of only in front, too, which I always thought was kind of completely fucking stupid, but that's just me.

I hate that M2's frontend can't decide if it wants to use the default keyboard mappings or my own mappings and it keeps switching between them. Super annoying. The emulation and stuff I have no problems with, and I see absolutely no reason to play any of these on ACA ever again, not because those are bad, but because these are better.

And yes, it's definitely not running in fullscreen because I have f.lux set to disable itself if I run something in fullscreen. Even in the so-called fullscreen mode, the collection doesn't cause f.lux to disable itself, so yeah, not real fullscreen.

[XoPachi]

The harder loops get a bit meme-y that's fun for a silly challenge but seem to become impossible. But loop 2 hard mode is like the perfect intensity I'm finding.
I love this game. This is SO much fun.

The only things I wish this game had were a solid boss rush and just because the pace is so good, I think a nice lucky 7 would have been the perfect stage count for this game. A new speed zone would have been awesome.

As for the collection itself, it would have been cool to see something like the Mega Man Zero/ZX collection that does some side remix mode. "Viper Challenges" or something. Some kind of twist gauntlet with goofy combinations of things from all the different games to challenge the player. I am not complaining something like this is not here. M2 did more than enough. There's literally a brand new game here. But for a future, high fidelity STG collection like this, I'd love to see something like that. I think that could be a lot of fun.

[Steven]

Gradius 1 definitely has screen tearing. That sucks. Oh well.

Does rank control apply to any of these games? I feel like it's just get max power, pick up as many speed powerups as you can handle without crashing into everything, do whatever you need to do to watch out for that bastard Option Hunter in the games it's in, and then never die.

Also lol the hitboxes on enemy shots are hilariously big in Gradius 1 and the shots themselves are practically invisible at times. Player hurtbox seems kind of normal, though, as you can get close enough to terrain without dying.

[Austin]

I don't expect others to agree, but I'm just disappointed we are expected to shell out for another Gradius collection that's woefully incomplete.

No Gradius V. No Gradius Gaiden. No Gradius IV.

I actually agree. Yesterday I was like, "Oh, this is out! Let me check the price..."

$40 for stuff I already have? No thanks.

It's just surprising given that the previous Castlevania collections M2 did were all cheaper than this (and the last one also gave us a new game, much like Salamander III in this new collection).

I will grab it eventually when it goes on a hefty discount, primarily for Salamander III. I'd have been more likely to grab it now if it at least included Gaiden and IV. V certainly would have sweetened the deal.

[Klatrymadon]

There's definitely rank to control, yeah. Every power-up you select adds to it, as does your survival. Try grabbing four options and the lasers ASAP in one game, then try going with two and the double shot in your next game. You should see a significant difference in bullet speeds and general aggression.

[Steven]

Yeah, I messed around with it a little and it makes a huge difference. I was thinking about playing with only 2 options and skipping the laser entirely and seeing how it goes. Recovery is kind of possible in Gradius 1, so that's good. It's no Kyuukyoku Tiger genre-defining-perfection-that-actually-makes-the-game-better recovery, but it seems pretty possible.

[AntiramDSR]

I don't expect others to agree, but I'm just disappointed we are expected to shell out for another Gradius collection that's woefully incomplete.

No Gradius V. No Gradius Gaiden. No Gradius IV.

I actually agree. Yesterday I was like, "Oh, this is out! Let me check the price..."

$40 for stuff I already have? No thanks.

It's just surprising given that the previous Castlevania collections M2 did were all cheaper than this (and the last one also gave us a new game, much like Salamander III in this new collection).

I will grab it eventually when it goes on a hefty discount, primarily for Salamander III. I'd have been more likely to grab it now if it at least included Gaiden and IV. V certainly would have sweetened the deal.

i agree in parts... mostly bought it for Sal 3 anyway, but no Gradius V or at least IV sucks. on the other hand... i preordered Konamis "Shmup-we-don't-name-here-anymore" (the cinematic one) back then, so how could i not buy this?

side note: guess i'm getting to old for shmups... Salamander 3 more on the easy side they say? not for me

[Sweatlord_STG]

[...]

Just what I said the near arcade games were kind of disappointing to me because the appeal of those pce versions is to me that they differ from the arcade versions

This particular package was admitted by Konami and M2 to have been a rush job to get it out for the 40th anniversary year, and that's why there's so much cut content from what they had planned.

fucking assholes!!! then they should have started earlier. i mean they saw it coming. they had 40 years to prepare for this anniversary!!!

A new speed zone would have been awesome.

thats an interesting wish to hear i dont think i hate them but i can live without them. the worst one for me is maybe the one in salamander 1.

$40 for stuff I already have? No thanks.

its an m2 version of the games, so u didnt have it already. lol.

Yeah, I messed around with it a little and it makes a huge difference. I was thinking about playing with only 2 options and skipping the laser entirely and seeing how it goes. Recovery is kind of possible in Gradius 1, so that's good. It's no Kyuukyoku Tiger genre-defining-perfection-that-actually-makes-the-game-better recovery, but it seems pretty possible.

the laser also has a funny hitbox, its big. i mean u can see for yourself as the rank is shown, its very interesting to see this for the first time. but personally i never worried about rank in any gradius game. i was playing gradius 1 recently on the saturn (I WISH THIS COLLECTION HAD WAIT CONTROL AS WELL!!!!! aka no slowdown as an option) and then i thought it would be nice to have a video so i played it again on mame to record it. i really think the 1-ALL no-miss is not that hard if i can do it, even on hardest difficulty, and also in nemesis (harder than gradius) on hardest difficulty.

I mostly bought it for Gradius 1 and 2 and especially Salamander 2, which I had never played until today and I see why people like it because it's great. Salamander III is just a bonus to me.

Speaking of Salamander 2, the unreleased Taiwanese version, Life Force 2, is also included. I wonder what differences there are aside from the title screen and the legal warning that says to only use it in Taiwan.

What??? I didn't see that. It would have sparked my interest. I'll have to check next time I play.

It's in the game's game options menu. There is an option that says 海外版（未発売）and a toggle to turn it on or off. At least, that's what it says in Japanese. No idea what it says in other languages, but it should be there.

I didn't know there even was an overseas version of Salamander 2, as I thought it was Japan-only, but it turns out that there was indeed an unreleased Taiwanese version.

cool, just checked. unfortunately there sems to be no difference other than higher diff, as stated on the bottom of the screen: https://ibb.co/zh398Y7k

i cant believe they had to add this new "game" lol! https://ibb.co/mC13b3qV life force jp was not enough, they had to have the original salamander but with the gradius power up bar

[Steven]

lol yeah the laser hitbox is huge. That's a big part of why I don't really want to not use it, as it is both super powerful and has far greater coverage than you'd think it would given how thin it is.

I think the first two Gradius games are definitely realistic 1-ALLs, especially because I'm over halfway through 1 and made it to the halfway point of 2 on ACA somewhere around the time this collection was announced (slightly before, I believe), but right now I'm kind of playing both at the same time, even though I probably should just stick with one game.

And that game is Same! Same! Same! 1P lol

Gradius III, Life Force, Salamander, and especially Salamander 2 are pretty big unknowns for me. Kind of hard to even pick what to play because over half of this collection is essentially or literally brand new to me, so I want to play all of them at once to check them all out. I do know that PC Engine Salamander is pretty much a straight upgrade over the arcade version or something like that aside from some vertical scrolling and missing voices or whatever, but that's about all. Really too bad that PC Engine Salamander isn't included, as it deserves to be here. All of that applies to SFC Gradius III, too. Those aren't really a big deal to me because I can play those on my real SuperGrafx and SFC and not bother with emulation, but it would've been nice.

[neat_beans]

I haven't got my copy of Origins yet, but I've been playing Salamander on PC Engine and the PS1 Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus. Playing arcade and PC Engine versions back-to-back makes me appreciate how the Gradius-syndrome is massively reduced by the PCE's checkpoints. In Arcade, dying in the latter half of stage 4 is a recipe for chain-deaths because of all the wall-based enemies forcing you to fight against the wonky wall collision-detection if you try to take them out with your straight shot. But the PCE checkpoint makes sure you have to go out of your way to end up there without missiles, so you're basically never required to wall-hug.

And that's before considering the Valis Fortress fight. I'm sure glad they revised that in the PCE ver

I got the 1-ALL on PCE recently, and planning to replicate that on arcade versions soon. Might go with JP Life Force instead though to avoid getting blue balled.

EDIT: Would also be keen to find out what the input lag numbers are on the Origins versions as compared to PS1, arcade archives, etc. Could just be my imagination but the PS1 conversions feel just slightly laggier than PCE on the same setup, so keen to find out if Origins improves on that.

[Sweatlord_STG]

Might go with JP Life Force instead though to avoid getting blue balled.

Stage 4 boss is just as bad in Life Force JP as it is in Salamander there is something about it though. i think its true for both Sala and Life Force jp. these two games feature a very strange mechanic thats like nothing else. if u destroy those hatches of the fourth boss (blue balls guy), then there will be no blue balls on the next loop and also not on your next credit after the game over! its like that part of the boss is permanently destroyed lol! it lasts until you turn the machine off and on again. i even heard stuff like due to that nobody ever wanted to play first on a given day in the arcade, because any run would be easier after that stage 4 boss was destroyed once!

My opinion on both Sala and LF JP (both arcade) is that they are [dont read this if u want to discover the games for yourself first like u steven]

Spoiler

fun, but not good. I had to tell myself not to play them anymore because again, they are fun, but its just a waste of time, because the games keep trolling you with all their jank, like power ups half way in the walls that will kill you, the hard to see enemies in stage 4 that fade in from below (i never see them coming, im just dead all of a sudden), the questionable hit boxes (stage 3 boss), stage 4 overall can be terrible, its boss is annoying...the game is not hard, but its just very rough around the edges, so i try not to play it anymore because although its fun i know i will just get triggered of the BS it pulls off. salamander 2 is nothing like that and super solid. its actually ur fault if u die and everything, just like it should be!.

talking about your question regarding input lag, if u play the psx, ss or pce versions on crt (and "real hardware") there is absolulety no (noticable) input lag. nobody talked about IL back then because there was none (yes i know there are games that have built in IL, but those rare cases aside), its only been a thing since we were forced to move on to those shitty non crt screens.

im gonna share some of my clears in case anybody is interested in watching them from the people who have already beaten the games: (all arcade version, played on mame)

Gradius 1-ALL no-miss on hardest difficulty: https://youtu.be/xoalYLFaygc

Nemesis (harder version of Gradius) 1-ALL no-miss on hardest difficulty: https://youtu.be/p24SYDbPieQ

Salamander 1-ALL: https://youtu.be/QT8-a28CQnY (with the fourth boss fully functional/blue balls)

[copy-paster]

My only contribution for the community. For whatever reason M2 see this as a 2-6 PB while it should be a 2-ALL clear, but since S2 is the only game with proper loop end they just didn't care enough to change it.

[Sweatlord_STG]

My only contribution for the community. For whatever reason M2 see this as a 2-6 PB while it should be a 2-ALL clear, but since S2 is the only game with proper loop end they just didn't care enough to change it.

congrats!

edit: just found out there is an ova of salamander (three parts)! thats pretty cool. its also on yt btw (; https://gradius.fandom.com/wiki/Salamander_(OVA)