Salamander (video game)

Did You Know?

• Salamander was followed by a sequel in 1996 titled Salamander 2, with M2 developing another sequel, Salamander III, for Konami's Gradius Origins collection on August 7, 2025.
• On April 23, 2026, Konami Arcade Games held the Salamander Lottery to commemorate the series' 40th anniversary, offering items with original illustrations and special postcards.
• In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly rated the NES version the 76th best console video game of all time, calling it one of the coolest shooters ever and one of the first big two-player simultaneous shooters on the NES.

Gameplay

The first player controls Vic Viper, while the second player pilots the debuting spacecraft Lord British, sometimes romanized as Road British due to ambiguity. The game has six stages that alternate between horizontal and vertical scrolling. Upon death, players continue from where they left off rather than returning to a checkpoint, as was traditional in Gradius. Single-player mode offers no continues; two-player mode provides two, adjustable via DIP switches. Power-ups are obtained by picking up capsules left by certain enemies, unlike the selection bar in other Gradius games, though the Japanese version of Life Force retains the selection bar. Many power-ups can combine; for instance, an option fires additional salvos of missiles or lasers if those upgrades are acquired. The ripple and laser are mutually exclusive. Only options survive a ship's destruction, floating briefly before disappearing, and a new ship can reclaim them.

Development

The arcade version was released as Salamander in Japan and Europe, and as Life Force in North America. The Japanese and European versions are nearly identical, but the American version adds an opening text establishing the game inside a giant alien life-form infected by bacteria. Starfield backgrounds were replaced with the web background from Stage 1 to fit the organic setting. Power-ups received new names: Speed-Up became Hyper Speed, Missile became Destruct Missile, Ripple Laser became Pulse Laser, and Force Field became Shield. Narration at each stage describes the alien body area, such as Enter stomach muscle zone. In 1987, Konami released an enhanced version in Japan bearing the American title Life Force, with all backgrounds and mechanical enemies redrawn organically. The power-up system was changed to use the Gradius-style gauge, and some music tracks were replaced; the gauge is arranged differently for each player.

Ports

Ocean Software, under its Imagine label, released licensed versions for Spectrum, Commodore, and Amstrad computers in 1988. The Spectrum and Amstrad versions were generally criticized, while the Commodore 64 version was highly praised, particularly by Zzap!64. Although missing two of six stages, the Commodore port features simultaneous two-player mode and easier gameplay, and is considered one of the best arcade conversions on that system. Salamander was ported to the Family Computer in Japan in 1987, combining elements from the original Salamander and the Japanese Life Force re-release, with some levels and bosses removed for new content. Most graphics and sprites come from Salamander, but the Gradius-style power bar replaces the instant pick-up system. North America received a port for the NES in 1988, nearly identical to the Famicom version except for lacking multiple endings, having two option power-ups instead of three, and being titled Life Force. The NES version was re-released on the Virtual Console for Wii on February 16, 2009, for Nintendo 3DS on January 23, 2014, and for Wii U on August 21, 2014. The European version, titled Life Force: Salamander on its cover, was released on November 22, 1989. The NES version uses the Konami Code to increase lives from three to 30. The first two levels of Life Force were profiled in the second issue of Nintendo Power in 1988, and the entire game was re-profiled several issues later.

Anime

A 1988 OVA miniseries by Studio Pierrot, directed by Hisayuki Toriumi, was released on VHS and Laserdisc in three episodes between February 25, 1988 and February 21, 1989. Licensed by British company Western Connection, the series is not canon; the MSX Gradius series places the events with Gofer over a two-hundred-year period after the crisis with Zelos and his Salamander Armada. In the miniseries, the Bacterians capture sentient life via a dark fog that changes inorganic matter into organic matter to create leaders for their space armada, and are crystal-like in origin. Noriko Hidaka voiced protagonist Stephanie. The Lord British Space Destroyer is named after protagonist Ike Lord British of planet Latis. The three volumes are based on Salamander, Gradius, and Gradius II respectively.