Gradius: Origins

Gradius: Origins is a collection that celebrates 40 years of the Gradius series of side-scrolling space based shooters. This release contains six arcade titles from the series with seventeen variations / versions in total, including the AM Show Version of Gradius III made available on home consoles and PC for the first time. It also includes a seventh game, created specifically for this collection: Salamander III. All games have quality of life improvements and extras such as historical artwork, sound galleries, guides, original promotional material, the options to rewind, multiple game modes and more.

The included games are:

• Gradius (5 versions)
• Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou (4 versions)
• Gradius III (4 versions)
• Life Force
• Salamander (2 versions)
• Salamander 2

Salamander III is unique to this collection. It is the first original Gradius-related game to be released in 17 years (the last being Gradius: ReBirth released in 2008, or 14 years if counting Otomedius Excellent from 2011). It continues the Salamander spin-off series with six stages and a mixture of classic and new gameplay elements. Players control either the Vic Viper Type L or the Lord British MK III, navigating stages filled with enemies, environmental hazards, and boss encounters. The game supports solo play or local two-player co-op.

Combat focuses on familiar power-ups such as Speed Up, Missiles, Lasers, and Ripple Lasers, which can now be upgraded by collecting duplicates. A new "Burst Mode" temporarily powers up weapons into more destructive forms, like Hyper Ray and Buster Ripple, before cooling down. Another addition is the "Multiple Change" system, allowing players to customize the formation of their "Multiples"—satellite units that mirror the player's firepower—up to a maximum of eight. It provides a mix of the classic power-up system from the Salamander series, as well as new power-ups shared from Gradius: Neo.

The story follows the princess of Latis piloting her brother's restored fighter craft against a renewed threat from the Salamander Force. She is joined by the Gradius Army as they confront returning bosses and new enemies across a range of biomes, including asteroid fields, volcanic deserts, and magnetic planetoids. While narrative elements remain minimal, the game builds on the visual and mechanical legacy of the series, offering updated sprite work, modernized sound design, and remixed music tracks that reference previous entries.