For me difficulty has always been something I actively seek out in video games, and as a blossoming teenage gamer this led me into the wonderful world of Shoot ‘em ups. I’m not sure there’s a single genre that’s so consistently brutal as the shmup, and because of this my early years of firing lasers at space baddies weren’t very successful. Eventually though I settled on R-Type for my shmup fix, one of the two big names in arcade shooting that spawned a mass of entertaining sequels. The other of those names is Gradius, and now thanks to Gradius Origins I’ve finally finished my blasting education almost two decades later.
Upon starting Gradius Origins I noticed something rather odd: half of the games in the collection aren’t actually Gradius games. It turns out this is because there’s a Gradius spin-off series called Salamander, and these arcade classics are just as important as the games that match the title of the collection. Included here for your nostalgic pleasure are the first three Gradius games, and all three Salamander games which totals a whole lot of arcade fun.
If you’re not familiar with Gradius, it’s an incredibly entertaining but equally brutal horizontal shooter, with a twist that makes it stand out from its peers. Your ship (hilariously named Vic Viper) begins with only a very basic laser and nothing else to defend itself, but by collecting little floating orbs you’ll gain the ability to upgrade. At the bottom of the screen you have a meter of potential upgrades, and each time you pick up an orb you’ll light up the next box with a more powerful ability. At any time you can cash in your ability at the touch of the X button, and it’s up to you what you want to upgrade first. Eventually if you’re careful you’ll have a ship that can fire rockets, lasers and has a bunch of magical clones doing the same, but one wrong move and you’ll lose it all.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Gradius games is that they seem designed to be completed without losing a life. This isn’t because they’re easy (far from it) but because if you do get hit and perish you’ll be sent back to a checkpoint with no power-ups whatsoever. As you get deeper into the game it becomes almost impossible to come back from this weakened state against screens teeming with enemies, and I often just gave up and started again when this happened. It’s a really interesting design that almost seems to counteract the point of an arcade game (to swallow your money) but it lends itself to some interesting gameplay where you need to manage your abilities that keep you living.
The Salamander games are totally different from the Gradius games in terms of power-ups, and are generally less punishing because of this. In these titles your ship (even more hilariously named Lord British) is powered up just by collecting floating items representing different weapon types or ship upgrades. It’s a much more traditional setup, but a nice change of pace from those brutal Gradius games.
The other big difference in the Salamander games is their perspective, which actually changes as you progress. Pretty much every time you beat a boss in Salamander a robotic voice will say “go up” and you’ll switch from playing a horizontal shmup to a vertical one. This might not sound like much but it’s actually a really unique twist on the genre, and even in 2025 I can’t think of another series that does this.
Veteran shoot ‘em up players will be familiar with a lot of the games in this collection, but they won’t be familiar with Salamander III. This is because it’s an all new title, developed to feel like a direct sequel to the 1996 classic that you’d find in a Japanese arcade almost thirty years ago. It’s actually one of my favourite titles in the collection, because it really captures what makes all the shooters special in one package.
I was expecting the games in Gradius Origins to be very entertaining, but I wasn’t particularly prepared for how odd they are. You don’t exclusively blast run of the mill spaceships and aliens in Gradius, you also fight Moai heads that throw glowing donuts at you and flaming dragons. There’s a weird charm to the bizarre side of this series, and I love it all the more because of it.
Gradius Origins has a whole lot of laser based content awaiting shmup fans, and it’s not just the six games themselves you can dive into here. There’s also a lovely selection of galleries and music players to check out, but more impressive than this are how many versions of the games you can switch between. Almost all the games in the collection were slightly tweaked between regions, and you’re able to play whichever variant your heart desires here. There are even some weird prototypes included for those eager to check out every crumb of Gradius content, and I’m sure hardcore fans will greatly appreciate this.
For those less hardcore (like myself) there are also plenty of difficulty options to play around with. Most of the games have an easy mode which feels slightly less horrific, but if that’s not enough there’s an invincibility option that’ll let you see the entirety of a game (and listen to its banging soundtrack) without worrying about any pesky bullets. There’s also a rewind function that lets you correct any mistakes and stay alive, which is especially nice when one stray shot can spell the end of a good run.
Gradius Origins is a great time for fans of twitchy gameplay and space explosions, but it does have some issues. One of these is an issue with the collection itself, which just doesn’t quite feel very complete. Games like Gradius 4, 5, and Gaiden are noticeable by their absence, and it would be amazing to have a more complete collection so you could have all the games in one place. Otherwise the main other complaint people will have is with the brutality of the games, because even the easy modes are rather tough.
Gradius Origins is a wonderful way to experience a whole host of games in this beloved shmup series, and even a brand new one. The high octane action, unique charm and banging soundtracks of these games still hold up so many years later, so jump into Lord British and get blasting already.
