M2's emulation work is impeccable, a real treat for scoring fans. The content stays niche and fiendishly hard, but the new addition and museum mode justify the buy.
Your verdict
Category
Compilation2 players7+
Co-op
Description
A Gradius shoot 'em up compilation curated by M2 and published by Konami in 2025. It gathers several of the series' arcade classics, dressed up with filters, rewind and a stuffed museum mode, plus a brand-new original title. A meticulous tribute to the school of horizontal scrolling and its famous Option pods.
Gradius Origins review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
The Gradius series' electronic music is arcade classic: energetic synth melodies that galvanize the action and set the rhythm of memorization. The compilation faithfully restores these cult soundtracks, a treat for fans of sleek chiptune.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
The Option and power-up system, the series' trademark, offers gameplay of strategic depth unique to the horizontal shooter. Choosing your loadout, memorizing patterns and chasing the perfect score reward pixel-precise mastery.
The series is famous for its landmark bosses, from the Big Core to organic fortresses: walls of projectiles to memorize, weak points to strike with the right Option pods. These pixel-perfect fights, built for scoring, remain a benchmark of the horizontal shooter.
An underrated gem
Impeccable emulation, a stuffed museum mode and a brand-new original title: this compilation is a gem for fans of the horizontal shooter and scoring. The care M2 poured into it makes it a benchmark well beyond mere nostalgia.
Better with friends
Some titles in the collection allow two-player play: coordinating ships, splitting targets and managing Option pods as a team adds a tasty tactical dimension. A convivial way to approach these classics famed for being tough.
