Salamander

---

Salamander

Title screen

Developer:	Konami
Music:	Yoshiaki Hatano Miki Higashino
Program:	Hiroyasu Machiguchi Mitsuo Takemoto Toshiaki Takatori Ikuko Minowa
Art:	Jun Sakurai Miki Yoshikata Ikuko Bando
Release date:	Arcade JP: July 4, 1986 Arcade NA: August 1986 Famicom: September 25, 1987 PC Engine: December 6, 1991 Sega Saturn/PS1: June 19, 1997 / July 6, 1997 PSP: January 24, 2007 PS4: November 27, 2015 Switch: February 20, 2020
Previous game:	Knightmare
Next game:	Vs Gradius

Salamander is a horizontal-scrolling shoot-em-up developed by Konami in 1986, and is the first spin-off in the Gradius series. It introduced a simplified power-up system, two-player cooperative gameplay and both horizontally and vertically scrolling stages.

In 1987, the game was rereleased as Life Force; This brought back the power-up bar, along with some changed music tracks and redrawn enemies/backgrounds.

Gameplay Overview

Controls

Salamander is a 2-button shooter (3-button for Life Force). There are 6 stages, after completing all of them the game loops back to stage 1.

• A button: Fires the player's main weapon.
• B button: Fires the player's missiles.

Weapons

Instead of capsules, enemies drop modules that activate automatically. Excess modules can be picked up for 2k each.

Module	Effect
Speed Up	Increases movement speed. Can be stacked up to 5 times.
Missile	2-way missile. Travels across the ground and ceiling.
Ripple	Energy ring that becomes wider as it travels. Cannot pierce through enemies or be used with Laser.
Laser	Laser that increases with length when holding down the button. Cannot be used with Ripple.
Option	Orb that mimics weapons and movement. Can be equipped up to 4 times.
Force Field	Shield protecting the front of your ship. Absorbs a certain amount of hits and can be equipped up to 3 times.

Loops

Salamander loops infinitely. Upon a completion of a loop, the player is stripped of all their power-ups. Suicide bullets start appearing at loop 3, difficulty maxing out by loop 4. Almost every stage has changes.

Stage 1

Every other loop has different wall formations, membrane respawns faster.

Stage 2/5

Asteroids are randomized per loop and spawn faster.

Stage 3

Fire wheel placement is randomized per loop.

Stage 6

Extra moai and turrets, ground lasers randomized per loop.

Version Differences

Life Force (US)

North American version of Salamander; The changes made are mostly cosmetic.

Differences include the following:

• Starfield backgrounds were replaced with the webbing background used in stage 1.
• Most power-ups were given new names:
  • Speed Up > Hyper-Speed
  • Missile > Destruct Missile
  • Ripple Laser > Pulse Laser
  • Force Field > Shield
• It's a Power Up! header on the tutorial screen was changed to Weapon Selection
  • Additional Power Up descriptions in the tutorial were removed, leaving only the names visible.
• Voice clips were overhauled to match the updated power-ups and stage themes.
  • Additional voice clips describing enemy weaknesses/stage hazards were also added.
• Staff roll is omitted, the game instantly begins the next loop after the ending cinematic.

Life Force (JP)

Revamp of Salamander (JP) released in 1987.

• The game has overall been retextured to look more organic.
• Power-up system was changed to a Gradius-style meter.
  • 1P meter uses a arrangement of Speed > Missile > Pulse > Laser > Multiple > Shield; 2P meter is arranged as Missile > Laser > Multiple > Pulse > Speed > Shield.
  • Taking power-ups no longer grants a score bonus.
• Stages 2, 4, and 5 have new music tracks:
  • Fly High > Thunderbolt
  • Starfield > Slash Fighter
  • Burn the Wind > Combat
• Extend system added: First at 70,000 points, then every 200,000 points.