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: | Vs Gradius |
| Next game: | A-Jax |
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.
Contents
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
WIP
