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Konami preps PSP shooter comps

  • By Walt Wyman, GameSpot
  • Posted Oct 20, 2006 12:07 pm PT

Japanese gamers to get collections for the Life Force, Twinbee, and Parodius series early next year.

Earlier this year, Konami stoked the nostalgia of many a classic shooter fan with its Gradius Collection for the PlayStation Portable. Now the company's delving further into its back catalog of old-school shoot-'em-ups with a trio of compilations for Sony's handheld. This week's issue of Weekly Famitsu reveals that Konami is planning to release three PSP shooter compilations--covering the Salamander, Parodius, and Twinbee series--each with four complete games from the late '80s and early '90s.

The Salamander series, which alternated between vertical and horizontal scrolling, was a popular spin-off of Gradius in Japan. It was sold under the name Life Force in the US, but somewhat confusingly, this was also the name given to a reworked arcade version of Salamander in Japan. As a result, Salamander Portable will contain PSP ports of Salamander, Life Force, and Salamander 2. As an added bonus, Xexex, a one-shot arcade game by the staff that created Gradius II, will be making its first console appearance ever.

Parodius is a lighthearted, horizontally scrolling shooter Konami created to poke fun at its own games. It enjoyed popularity among Japan's hardcore shoot-'em-up fans but saw very limited exposure in the West. The Parodius Portable collection will include Parodius Da, Gokujou Parodius, Sexy Parodius, and Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius.

Twinbee is another game that was popular in Japan but not aggressively exported. It too is a shoot-'em-up with cuter, more kid-friendly graphics. The second installment of the game was released in the US for the NES under the title Stinger. The Twinbee Portable collection will consist of Twinbee, Detana Twinbee, Twinbee Yahho, and Pop'n Twinbee.

All three titles are scheduled for release in January 2007. Each collection will retail for 4,179 yen, or about $35.

25 Comments

  • GodzillaX8

    Posted Jan 23, 2007 6:28 pm GMT

    To all the people who are somehow upset that these retro games are coming out: Shut up. These games coming to PSP means they are finally able to be imported with ease at a decent cost, as games on PSP are region free. These games have primarily never been released in the US before, so I'm personally excited for these compilations. So if you don't like it, don't import it, I can almost guarantee they're not coming out in the US.

  • thefjk

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 2:54 pm GMT

    wow!

  • jaanusd

    Posted Oct 23, 2006 9:55 pm GMT

    to bad that xexex can't use the sixisixis....

  • Charlie2688

    Posted Oct 23, 2006 4:20 pm GMT

    I NEED TO GET THIS!

  • Ivoryblaze

    Posted Oct 23, 2006 11:04 am GMT

    wow more rehashed games what a suprise........zzzzzzzz

  • boxcarracer565

    Posted Oct 22, 2006 9:22 pm GMT

    35 bucks for a 20+ year old game? you kiddin' me?

  • Supersonic2000

    Posted Oct 22, 2006 10:02 am GMT

    Please Konami for the love of God bring these games to America.

  • HafkOS

    Posted Oct 21, 2006 7:21 pm GMT

    Gamespot failed to mention that Konami is offering a 5th "Secret" game for each of the compilations. I would love to see the MSX Gradius games, Solar Assault, Thunder Cross, Trigon, or any other Konami shooters.

  • fierro316

    Posted Oct 21, 2006 2:29 pm GMT

    That's a lot of great classic shooters.

  • GFofgaming

    Posted Oct 21, 2006 1:04 pm GMT

    I am sick of retro games. There is just too many of these coming.

  • blackIceJoe

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 8:26 pm GMT

    I really hope these games come out in the US I do not want to import. I do not want to pay an arm and a leg. Even though they are good games I do just do not have the money for that.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 5:32 pm GMT

    well tahts a good price

  • WolfSkill5544

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 4:30 pm GMT

    cool

  • Shadow_Jones

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 3:08 pm GMT

    I hope they decide to release them here.

  • rbenns2

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 2:24 pm GMT

    Three shooter compilations, and not one of them is the one everyone wants. (hint: the one that starts with a C and ends with an A.)

  • Keldor73

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 1:42 pm GMT

    For everyone thinking they cant get them because they live in US or Europe, Think again ! You can import it, PSP has no region coding. You can play it !

  • Donkeljohn

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 1:40 pm GMT

    Hopefully we will get some of those compilations released over here. . . or mybe I'll just import them.

  • king-akt

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 1:22 pm GMT

    japan always gets the good stufff.

  • LordBrittish

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 1:19 pm GMT

    Hells yeah... Gradius is my favorite franchise of all time!

    I beat Gradius 3 on Arcade difficulty x3. (3 loops starting on arcade difficulty)

    I can honestly say it's the only game I've ever mastered.

  • blackthegame

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 1:07 pm GMT

    lmao

  • Vyse86

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 1:03 pm GMT

    Well, now I'm not sure what game I played but it was called Lifeforce and it was really great. Those old shooters were fantastic.

  • Greydawg

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 12:54 pm GMT

    Only in Japan?????????!?!?!? Grrrrrrrrr...

  • joeamis

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 12:50 pm GMT

    Lifeforce owned

  • methedemon

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 12:44 pm GMT

    nice

  • Dolacide

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 12:43 pm GMT

    Dang, psp gets all of the classic hits I want.

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