Take Flight In Gradius Origins This August

Konami Digital Entertainment has announced that the Gradius Origins collection is coming to Nintendo Switch, news that was shared in this week’s Nintendo Direct presentation.

Gathering the earliest games from the Gradius series, these 2D shoot ’em up classics embody nostalgic gaming that harkens back to the 1980s.

The series is known not only for its side-scrolling spacecraft battles but also for introducing the legendary “Konami code.” First appearing in the original 1986 Japanese Famicom version, the cheat code (↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A) unlocked a crucial power-up boost and went on to become iconic.

The collection will also introduce Salamander III, the first new entry to the series for more than 15 years. Its storyline takes place after the events of the Salamander Wars that played out in Salamander (1986). Bacterian troops have once again attacked the planet Lattice. Forced to face the enemy amongst the stars, a fighter pilot from Lattice sets off to fight the Salamanders alongside the Big Viper – Type R.

Gradius Origins will include seven games with 18 different regional versions, complete with modern-day quality-of-life features such as competitive online leaderboards, rewind abilities, quick save/load functions and reduced hit detection.

Gradius Origins will be released digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch worldwide on 7 August 2025.

Games Included In Gradius Origins

Gradius
- Gradius JP ver
- Gradius Bubble System ver
- Nemesis NA ver
- Nemesis EU ver
- Nemesis NA Proto ver

Gradius II
- Gradius II Gofer no Yabou JP Early ver
- Gradius II Gofer no Yabou JP Mid ver
- Gradius II Gofer no Yabou JP Late ver
- Vulcan Venture NA ver

Gradius III
- Gradius III Densetsu kara Shinwa e JP Old ver
- Gradius III Densetsu kara Shinwa e JP New ver
- Gradius III ASIAN ver
- Gradius III Densetsu kara Shinwa e JP AM Show ver
Salamander
- Salamander JP ver
- Life Force NA ver