A spin-off of the long running Gradius series,[1] the title retains most of the gameplay characteristics of its 2D counterparts including the same powerups and display system.

[2] Solar Assault is similar to other rail-shooters like Star Fox and Galaxy Force, where the player must move both horizontally and vertically.

The other major gameplay change is the ability to adjust the speed, which is necessary to time the avoidance of certain obstacles and enemies.

[3] Solar Assault Revised is an updated version of Solar Assault released later in 1997, and introduced a new arcade board that was co-developed by Konami and IBM which allows five boards to be stacked on top of each other, as well as several modifications to the game, like the all-new level "Fierce Blaze", new attacks to the "Speed Demon" level boss and a total revamp on the "Abyssal Forest" level, with a new color palette and some new enemies, making it much harder than the original.

The US version of the game was based on this one, just simply renamed as "Solar Assault".