Salamander/Life Force Review
Intro
After completing my review of my opinion on the worst Gradius game, I have been hungry for more things to rant about. But, I had to stop and think for a moment: what other Gradius games do I need to bash about? Is there any other Gradius game that needs to be caught out there? As we all know, most of the Gradius games have cooked with each entry. Gradius II, Gradius V, and of course, Gradius Gaiden, but I have already reviewed this masterpiece quite recently. However, due to MrWarm on one of the Backloggd servers I’m in, they reminded me of another Gradius game that I need to tackle next, but this time, it’s a spinoff of the main series. Enter 1986’s Salamander. Or in the US, it’s called LifeForce. but it’s also known as LifeForce in Japan, too---
Alright. What’s going on here? Why are there 2 Life Forces? There should be only one! Don’t worry about the confusion, because before I even start talking about the games, we want to address this common issue that everyone is wondering about for these games, but first! Let’s talk about that success of the original Gradius.
Name Confusion
After starting off with the og, people have loved the heck out of this game. As simple, yet as addicting as it was, it managed to beat other shumps at the time. The only one that I can think of at the top of my head was Xevious and Scramble, and honestly, come to think about it, Scramble was also made by Konami, and I believe that the game also had its form of success? I don’t remember. But for the original Gradius, it managed to pile up tons of quarters from the arcades of ‘85 and ‘86, and Konami knew that they had to make another game featuring the peculiar Vic Viper, but although this isn’t really a sequel to the original gradius, it’s like what I said earlier: it’s more of a spinoff. We start off with the original 1986 Japanese Salamander, the game that started the__Vic Viper_ with another ship, the Lord British (also known as the red ship in the US LifeForce). They don’t play much different outside the Lord British looking a lot pointier I guess, and you progressed through the game going from left to right, and--already new to this series overall--from down to up. This game was also unique in that if you had another person waiting in line for you, they can come up on for some glorious 2 player action without having to take turns!
After JP Salamander comes [US LifeForce], to which I would honestly call the game a prototype of what’s coming in a year later. And why is that? LifeForce is just a 1:1 port of Salamander without any major changes put into the graphics, and most importantly, the gameplay. It’s still Salamander at the end of the day outside there’s new dialogue for the altered stage names you’re apt to sound more organic, but nothing is actually organic here outside of the first stage. Also, some of the names of the weapons have changed:
Speed Up= Hyper Speed
Missile= Destruct Missile
Ripple Laser= Pulse Laser
Force Field= Shield
And finally after US Lifeforce, we get JP LifeForce released one year after in 1987. Remember how I said the US one is more of a prototype? That’s because it borderline is when you compare it to this one. The stages are the same, but the gameplay goes into the roots of Gradisu this time, and most of the graphics and music were changed for that organic feel. Now this seriously feels like a Life Force! That’s all there is too this explanation though. For this review, I’ll only be covering the JP Salamander and the JP Lifeforce because those are the two unique versions of the game.
Story
Salamander
Life Force
Gameplay (Salamander)
Unlike the original Gradius, this one takes a more direct approach where instead of obtaining capsules to advance through the slot, this one takes in the upgrades directly, making things a bit easier for the player to progress through the stages. And don’t worry about which items are which, cause in the attract demo, it introduces the weapons that the enemies drop. As far as the weapons go, new to this series is the Ripple Laser, where it is a laser that gradually gets bigger over time. Other than that, that’s all there is to about the mechanics of this one.
Gameplay (Life Force)
Other than some name changes to the pre-existing weapons, LifeForce simply brings back the Gradius Slot system, which works just as you expect. Although my only complaint is about how the Shield works. The shield doesn’t go in front of the ship, but one part of the shield will be in the front, on the left, and on the right. I know this game came before Gradius II, but if they were planning to make the “force field around the ship” shield, why couldn’t they just make it that instead of making it look unconventional and unsafe? Most of the time you’re going to be losing them instantly because the hitboxes for them are already huge on their own.
Something that I do want to point out before I get to the indivutial stages us that this game is similar to Gradius IV where I believe that the game goes a bit faster than any of the other Gradius Games, even with the wait level being high. It’s probably because the stages weren’t meant to last for long because it really is an Arcade game overall. They can’t jabe a stage that’s too long to beat without dying because it would take up more on the Arcade then why you’re normally supposed to have.
Bionic Germ/Stomach Muscle Zone
The first stage is pretty straightforward. This is the beginning stage overall introducing you to the mechanics of each entry right away. For both Salamander and Life Force, both of the stages are organic themed, outside of the background of Life Force further emphasizing that feeling. Not much there is to say other than that if you got yourself ripple and enough options, you’ll be blazing through this stage and the other ones because a problem with this game is in the form of balance. At times you’ll be introduced to a new stage, and just as you approach the boss (which in the first stages case is the golem which is a brain with two arms attached to it that follows your movements), it’ll keep its eye open all of the time for an a quick kill. Saying it right now, the bosses will be the same but graphically different from each version of the game.
Meteorite Space/Kidney Zone
We now fly forward to the Meteorite Space/Kidney Zone and we’re introduced to rocks/Kidney stones that can’t be destroyed. It makes progressing through the stage harder for that extra bit of challenge, and there’s enemies that upon killing them, fire would come out of it’ personally they aren’t much of a nuisance because if you kill them quick when they appear on the screen, the flame that come out of it won’t reach you if you camp near the bottom of the screen. There’s also another enemy that flashes the screen, but I guess that’s it’s only attack because just like every enemy in Gradius, they die almost instantly. The boss for this stage is the Cruiser Tetran/Zylom, with the former being a staple Gradius boss from this game and on. It works by having four arms that spin counter clockwise while also shooting bullets from the theme of the arms. Although with this entry the arms are mad short, and it’s also pretty cheesy to beat cause all you have to do is line up the options to the eye of the boss and then you’re done. Zylon is just the organic variant without major changes.
Burning Chaos/Stomach Inner Chamber (Warning Warning, Danger Zone)
For Salamander, you are now in a fiery environment that is supposed to be the Planet Latis that the dragon destroyed. For some reason though, in Life Force, everything is tainted blue instead of another color? When I think of organisms and such, I believe pink, red, and skinny colored stuff would be used, but I don’t know where the blue would come in. There are quick bursts of fire that come in from the right, and honestly if you came somewhere between the bottom left side, you can go through the majority of this stage unharmed. It’s when the bursts of flame get quicker though is when you need to start to move so you don’t die. The boss which is the Dragon itself is also fairly easy. It makes an attempt to circle in on you but if you’re careful enough, all you need to do is to once again, position the options in the head of the Dragon for a quick defeat. It seems to me that they didn’t even make an attempt at making this game hard. All of the bosses seem to go down by very quickly, and the sense of challenge is just negated and it all boils down to just making the right movements without getting yourself killed. At least in Salamander, it’s a bit easier to collect all your items and such, but with the system of Gradius being present in Life Force, you’ll be up having a harder time grabbing all of the items that you’ve had back, especially on the stages following this one.
Volcano Area/Liver Zone
Alright folks... It’s time to put up the pitch works and torches because we’re entering the stage that begins my true rants. As we enter the Volcano Area/Liver Zone, we are met with some familiarity of the rock /life like stages within the first Gradius. For both games, this stage is the same exact thing, I don’t know why Life Force called this stage the liver zone if there’s clearly volcanoes, rocks, galore. Lazyy…… This one isn’t that bad as you have to be careful, but for some reason there’s no major changes to this stage in Life Force. However, the real challenge as to why I’ve brought up the pitch forks is with the Fortress Vails. This boss is RIGGED.
In Salamander, the cores that it spawns spawn infinitely making you constantly die and eventually game over in this part of the game, and the only technique that I can think of to prevent that from happening is to slowly position yourself just above in between the middle and the right core. This way, the cores will glitch into the wall making this stage easy to beat but for me? No matter how hard I try to make the cores stay, they eventually come out and they don’t disappear either. They stay with you until you beat the boss or you let the boss kill itself. The Boss is the same in Life Force, except there’s a fair cap to how many cores that the boss spawns making the boss much easier just like all of the other bosses in the game. I don’t understand why they had to make a sudden difficulty spike if majority of the game and its bosses were easy as hell that you couldn’t have possibly died at those stages of the game but this time in Salamander they will try forcing the death upon you.
Asteroid Hell/Lung Zone
The stages do not improve from that one, either. This one incorporates the rocks and stones from Stage 2, but with a horizontal perspective. Admittedly, this stage is somewhat forgettable, yet it's not easy. Movement is minimal, except to dodge the incoming projectiles. Noteworthy is the finale, where circles of enemies encircle the ship, and a lapse in attention can lead to demise. Following this, a barrage of projectiles from the last wave of enemies poses a significant threat, and without due care, a game over is imminent due to the game's challenging design. My disdain for this type of game design stems from its deceptive nature, luring players with the promise of a great game only to overwhelm them with random bullshit that the game expects for you to remember. Gradius I was like this too but it’s very minimal (or that I’m too used to playing the game that it’s easy). If they want to keep this game easy, you keep it easy, not make the game harder just because it's an Arcade game. The good thing about the last wave of enemies is that you can just camp to the top right making so that you won’t die. Same goes for Life Force.
For the boss, In Salamander, it’s a Death Core, while in Life Force, it’s simply Gaw. But this boss goes also make a return in later Gradius entities along with the latter, but more of the former. And every time it came back, they have done justice to making it just a batter boss than it just using a reskinned Death Core. This boss is pathetic that it makes an enemy come out very showly, and it shoots slowly. Boss. Gone.
Fortress Zone/Brain Area
And now the final stage in both the game. You’re finally in the area where the final enemy should be. But before you start attacking, you start fighting out 3 tiny Big Core Mark Is (featured from the original Gradius with the music intact) and the escape sequence with the sirens come in with Moai heads and the breaking floor stopping you from succeeding. There’s also enemies that sore fast bullets randomly but I gotten rid of them fast do I don’t much of a problem. While we wait for the boss to come from the bottom to its place (you’ll die if you get in it’s FoV), you just break the little wire that Zelos is on send then you finally shoot him down to end it all. You wait a longer and at this point you’re able to freely die if you want because this part of the game you’ll be done in no time seeing the pace you were just in get destroyed right in front of you. But I will say this though: If you don’t beg Zelos, you’ll have to restart this entire stage, making the same suffering mistake because you’ll without most of your items from the start of it. Credits roll as you leave the world to watch it explode at the end.
Conclusion
While this game wasn’t as bad as Gradius IV, the original Salamander/Life Force are definitely on the lower tier of Gradius games due to how strange the level and boss design are, and how you really need to keep this knowledge in mind when replaying this game. If you want a good port of Salamander, play the PC Engine version. Not only it’s a near perfect version, it also has a good deal of a challenge. It’s the best way to play the game imo. That's it from me. This review might be a little rough and such, but that is because this game is rough.
Intro
After completing my review of my opinion on the worst Gradius game, I have been hungry for more things to rant about. But, I had to stop and think for a moment: what other Gradius games do I need to bash about? Is there any other Gradius game that needs to be caught out there? As we all know, most of the Gradius games have cooked with each entry. Gradius II, Gradius V, and of course, Gradius Gaiden, but I have already reviewed this masterpiece quite recently. However, due to MrWarm on one of the Backloggd servers I’m in, they reminded me of another Gradius game that I need to tackle next, but this time, it’s a spinoff of the main series. Enter 1986’s Salamander. Or in the US, it’s called LifeForce. but it’s also known as LifeForce in Japan, too---
Alright. What’s going on here? Why are there 2 Life Forces? There should be only one! Don’t worry about the confusion, because before I even start talking about the games, we want to address this common issue that everyone is wondering about for these games, but first! Let’s talk about that success of the original Gradius.
Name Confusion
After starting off with the og, people have loved the heck out of this game. As simple, yet as addicting as it was, it managed to beat other shumps at the time. The only one that I can think of at the top of my head was Xevious and Scramble, and honestly, come to think about it, Scramble was also made by Konami, and I believe that the game also had its form of success? I don’t remember. But for the original Gradius, it managed to pile up tons of quarters from the arcades of ‘85 and ‘86, and Konami knew that they had to make another game featuring the peculiar Vic Viper, but although this isn’t really a sequel to the original gradius, it’s like what I said earlier: it’s more of a spinoff. We start off with the original 1986 Japanese Salamander, the game that started the__Vic Viper_ with another ship, the Lord British (also known as the red ship in the US LifeForce). They don’t play much different outside the Lord British looking a lot pointier I guess, and you progressed through the game going from left to right, and--already new to this series overall--from down to up. This game was also unique in that if you had another person waiting in line for you, they can come up on for some glorious 2 player action without having to take turns!
After JP Salamander comes [US LifeForce], to which I would honestly call the game a prototype of what’s coming in a year later. And why is that? LifeForce is just a 1:1 port of Salamander without any major changes put into the graphics, and most importantly, the gameplay. It’s still Salamander at the end of the day outside there’s new dialogue for the altered stage names you’re apt to sound more organic, but nothing is actually organic here outside of the first stage. Also, some of the names of the weapons have changed:
Speed Up= Hyper Speed
Missile= Destruct Missile
Ripple Laser= Pulse Laser
Force Field= Shield
And finally after US Lifeforce, we get JP LifeForce released one year after in 1987. Remember how I said the US one is more of a prototype? That’s because it borderline is when you compare it to this one. The stages are the same, but the gameplay goes into the roots of Gradisu this time, and most of the graphics and music were changed for that organic feel. Now this seriously feels like a Life Force! That’s all there is too this explanation though. For this review, I’ll only be covering the JP Salamander and the JP Lifeforce because those are the two unique versions of the game.
Story
Salamander
Life Force
Gameplay (Salamander)
Unlike the original Gradius, this one takes a more direct approach where instead of obtaining capsules to advance through the slot, this one takes in the upgrades directly, making things a bit easier for the player to progress through the stages. And don’t worry about which items are which, cause in the attract demo, it introduces the weapons that the enemies drop. As far as the weapons go, new to this series is the Ripple Laser, where it is a laser that gradually gets bigger over time. Other than that, that’s all there is to about the mechanics of this one.
Gameplay (Life Force)
Other than some name changes to the pre-existing weapons, LifeForce simply brings back the Gradius Slot system, which works just as you expect. Although my only complaint is about how the Shield works. The shield doesn’t go in front of the ship, but one part of the shield will be in the front, on the left, and on the right. I know this game came before Gradius II, but if they were planning to make the “force field around the ship” shield, why couldn’t they just make it that instead of making it look unconventional and unsafe? Most of the time you’re going to be losing them instantly because the hitboxes for them are already huge on their own.
Something that I do want to point out before I get to the indivutial stages us that this game is similar to Gradius IV where I believe that the game goes a bit faster than any of the other Gradius Games, even with the wait level being high. It’s probably because the stages weren’t meant to last for long because it really is an Arcade game overall. They can’t jabe a stage that’s too long to beat without dying because it would take up more on the Arcade then why you’re normally supposed to have.
Bionic Germ/Stomach Muscle Zone
The first stage is pretty straightforward. This is the beginning stage overall introducing you to the mechanics of each entry right away. For both Salamander and Life Force, both of the stages are organic themed, outside of the background of Life Force further emphasizing that feeling. Not much there is to say other than that if you got yourself ripple and enough options, you’ll be blazing through this stage and the other ones because a problem with this game is in the form of balance. At times you’ll be introduced to a new stage, and just as you approach the boss (which in the first stages case is the golem which is a brain with two arms attached to it that follows your movements), it’ll keep its eye open all of the time for an a quick kill. Saying it right now, the bosses will be the same but graphically different from each version of the game.
Meteorite Space/Kidney Zone
We now fly forward to the Meteorite Space/Kidney Zone and we’re introduced to rocks/Kidney stones that can’t be destroyed. It makes progressing through the stage harder for that extra bit of challenge, and there’s enemies that upon killing them, fire would come out of it’ personally they aren’t much of a nuisance because if you kill them quick when they appear on the screen, the flame that come out of it won’t reach you if you camp near the bottom of the screen. There’s also another enemy that flashes the screen, but I guess that’s it’s only attack because just like every enemy in Gradius, they die almost instantly. The boss for this stage is the Cruiser Tetran/Zylom, with the former being a staple Gradius boss from this game and on. It works by having four arms that spin counter clockwise while also shooting bullets from the theme of the arms. Although with this entry the arms are mad short, and it’s also pretty cheesy to beat cause all you have to do is line up the options to the eye of the boss and then you’re done. Zylon is just the organic variant without major changes.
Burning Chaos/Stomach Inner Chamber (Warning Warning, Danger Zone)
For Salamander, you are now in a fiery environment that is supposed to be the Planet Latis that the dragon destroyed. For some reason though, in Life Force, everything is tainted blue instead of another color? When I think of organisms and such, I believe pink, red, and skinny colored stuff would be used, but I don’t know where the blue would come in. There are quick bursts of fire that come in from the right, and honestly if you came somewhere between the bottom left side, you can go through the majority of this stage unharmed. It’s when the bursts of flame get quicker though is when you need to start to move so you don’t die. The boss which is the Dragon itself is also fairly easy. It makes an attempt to circle in on you but if you’re careful enough, all you need to do is to once again, position the options in the head of the Dragon for a quick defeat. It seems to me that they didn’t even make an attempt at making this game hard. All of the bosses seem to go down by very quickly, and the sense of challenge is just negated and it all boils down to just making the right movements without getting yourself killed. At least in Salamander, it’s a bit easier to collect all your items and such, but with the system of Gradius being present in Life Force, you’ll be up having a harder time grabbing all of the items that you’ve had back, especially on the stages following this one.
Volcano Area/Liver Zone
Alright folks... It’s time to put up the pitch works and torches because we’re entering the stage that begins my true rants. As we enter the Volcano Area/Liver Zone, we are met with some familiarity of the rock /life like stages within the first Gradius. For both games, this stage is the same exact thing, I don’t know why Life Force called this stage the liver zone if there’s clearly volcanoes, rocks, galore. Lazyy…… This one isn’t that bad as you have to be careful, but for some reason there’s no major changes to this stage in Life Force. However, the real challenge as to why I’ve brought up the pitch forks is with the Fortress Vails. This boss is RIGGED.
In Salamander, the cores that it spawns spawn infinitely making you constantly die and eventually game over in this part of the game, and the only technique that I can think of to prevent that from happening is to slowly position yourself just above in between the middle and the right core. This way, the cores will glitch into the wall making this stage easy to beat but for me? No matter how hard I try to make the cores stay, they eventually come out and they don’t disappear either. They stay with you until you beat the boss or you let the boss kill itself. The Boss is the same in Life Force, except there’s a fair cap to how many cores that the boss spawns making the boss much easier just like all of the other bosses in the game. I don’t understand why they had to make a sudden difficulty spike if majority of the game and its bosses were easy as hell that you couldn’t have possibly died at those stages of the game but this time in Salamander they will try forcing the death upon you.
Asteroid Hell/Lung Zone
The stages do not improve from that one, either. This one incorporates the rocks and stones from Stage 2, but with a horizontal perspective. Admittedly, this stage is somewhat forgettable, yet it's not easy. Movement is minimal, except to dodge the incoming projectiles. Noteworthy is the finale, where circles of enemies encircle the ship, and a lapse in attention can lead to demise. Following this, a barrage of projectiles from the last wave of enemies poses a significant threat, and without due care, a game over is imminent due to the game's challenging design. My disdain for this type of game design stems from its deceptive nature, luring players with the promise of a great game only to overwhelm them with random bullshit that the game expects for you to remember. Gradius I was like this too but it’s very minimal (or that I’m too used to playing the game that it’s easy). If they want to keep this game easy, you keep it easy, not make the game harder just because it's an Arcade game. The good thing about the last wave of enemies is that you can just camp to the top right making so that you won’t die. Same goes for Life Force.
For the boss, In Salamander, it’s a Death Core, while in Life Force, it’s simply Gaw. But this boss goes also make a return in later Gradius entities along with the latter, but more of the former. And every time it came back, they have done justice to making it just a batter boss than it just using a reskinned Death Core. This boss is pathetic that it makes an enemy come out very showly, and it shoots slowly. Boss. Gone.
Fortress Zone/Brain Area
And now the final stage in both the game. You’re finally in the area where the final enemy should be. But before you start attacking, you start fighting out 3 tiny Big Core Mark Is (featured from the original Gradius with the music intact) and the escape sequence with the sirens come in with Moai heads and the breaking floor stopping you from succeeding. There’s also enemies that sore fast bullets randomly but I gotten rid of them fast do I don’t much of a problem. While we wait for the boss to come from the bottom to its place (you’ll die if you get in it’s FoV), you just break the little wire that Zelos is on send then you finally shoot him down to end it all. You wait a longer and at this point you’re able to freely die if you want because this part of the game you’ll be done in no time seeing the pace you were just in get destroyed right in front of you. But I will say this though: If you don’t beg Zelos, you’ll have to restart this entire stage, making the same suffering mistake because you’ll without most of your items from the start of it. Credits roll as you leave the world to watch it explode at the end.
Conclusion
While this game wasn’t as bad as Gradius IV, the original Salamander/Life Force are definitely on the lower tier of Gradius games due to how strange the level and boss design are, and how you really need to keep this knowledge in mind when replaying this game. If you want a good port of Salamander, play the PC Engine version. Not only it’s a near perfect version, it also has a good deal of a challenge. It’s the best way to play the game imo. That's it from me. This review might be a little rough and such, but that is because this game is rough.
It's frankly amazing how much of a step up in quality Salamander is compared to Gradius I, the game is fast, dynamic, lively and legitimately fun to control all around. It's weird how much more dynamic the gameplay becomes when you have immediate access to your power ups instead of having to save up for them like in Gradius's power up system.
I'm also glad that the game ditched the 1cc-or-bust structure from Gradius 1 in favour of giving you lives in accordance to the number of quarters you put in.
I really enjoy this game... up to stage 4, that is. From stage 4's boss onwards the game becomes extremely unfair and really unfun as a result. Stages 1 through 3 had their fair share of bullshit, but they were usually isolated sections that only required memorization to beat unscathed and definitely not to the extend Stages 5 and 6 have as a whole.
Sadly I cannot recommend it, but I had my fun while it lasted.
I'm also glad that the game ditched the 1cc-or-bust structure from Gradius 1 in favour of giving you lives in accordance to the number of quarters you put in.
I really enjoy this game... up to stage 4, that is. From stage 4's boss onwards the game becomes extremely unfair and really unfun as a result. Stages 1 through 3 had their fair share of bullshit, but they were usually isolated sections that only required memorization to beat unscathed and definitely not to the extend Stages 5 and 6 have as a whole.
Sadly I cannot recommend it, but I had my fun while it lasted.
best shmup ever
My favourite side scroller shoot em up game ever, I have 95,% of all Japanese side scrollers ever made, played this in the arcades and had a crowd around me as I looped the game 3 times on a single 10p, got this on most consoles even ones I don't own, even on my phone I have the SNES and PS1 versions, also known as lifeforce this is my favourite game ever,
While the title doesn't say 'Gradius," This game is a Gradius game, as evidented by the Vic Viper and the plot involving the imfamous Bacterian Force.
This game is somehow EASIER than Gradius I, but the game gets rigged once the 4th stage hits. Unless you know what you're doing (and you're skillful), this game is a massive easy. Even on the hardest difficulty. Nothing can make this game harder outside of the PC Engine version.
This game is somehow EASIER than Gradius I, but the game gets rigged once the 4th stage hits. Unless you know what you're doing (and you're skillful), this game is a massive easy. Even on the hardest difficulty. Nothing can make this game harder outside of the PC Engine version.
I played the Japanese arcade version bundled with Konami Arcade Classics. An incremental upgrade from Gradius that follows a similar formula, flipping vertical and horizontal perspectives as the levels go on. The particular way the perspective flips here is super sharp in presentation, and there's a good set of upgrades. It is also insanely difficult, and I recommend playing the PC-Engine port instead; it's too bad that version isn't available, because for me it made Salamander a lot more enjoyable.
Initially played the arcade version with MagneticBurn but continuing was disabled on the last stage so we got mad and ditched lol. Very dumb choice to implement that. Looks crazy for 1986 though.
The PC Engine version is better. Much less bullshit in terms of design, but also now it's checkpoint based! Why?? This port was released in 1991, so it's not like instant respawn in shmups was still uncommon. Since I play most of my old shit with savestates though, I guess it wasn't a problem for me specifically. It's just a pet peeve in shmups, I suppose. Otherwise yeah, better to try this version.
The PC Engine version is better. Much less bullshit in terms of design, but also now it's checkpoint based! Why?? This port was released in 1991, so it's not like instant respawn in shmups was still uncommon. Since I play most of my old shit with savestates though, I guess it wasn't a problem for me specifically. It's just a pet peeve in shmups, I suppose. Otherwise yeah, better to try this version.
You could do a lot worse than "not quite Gradius II"
I really like how the "Lord British" from Ultima is a playable ship in this game alongside the Vic Viper from Gradius. It's already complete nonsense that you fly into space in Ultima, but for that same ship to just bump into Gradius and be like hey, I'm here to blow shit up, mind if I join you? Wild.
I really like how the "Lord British" from Ultima is a playable ship in this game alongside the Vic Viper from Gradius. It's already complete nonsense that you fly into space in Ultima, but for that same ship to just bump into Gradius and be like hey, I'm here to blow shit up, mind if I join you? Wild.
Alright for an 80s shmup. I played Gradius II not too long ago and it was a bit more impressive than this visually. The actual gameplay is probably weaker too, since there's less to do, and it introduces a lot of frustration early on. Save scumming this one allowed for me to beat it, though I can't imagine trying to beat this legitimately. Especially in later levels where it cranks up the malice with some of the situations. Overall, it's a bit of fun to play around with, but it doesn't do anything particularly special. 2/6
Minus half a star for that bullshit Stage 4 boss
Just as good as Gradius for all the same reasons: a cohesive package with a variety of levels, a great soundtrack, and good controls.
A really good game when first seeing everything, but going for a 1cc and having to do stage 3 over and over with 0% chance of failure once you memorize it gets incredibly boring, also very hard - sometimes impossible to recover after death, still overall good (mostly stages 1, 4 and 6).
Unlike Arcade Gradius I never really cared for this game that much. I hate what they did to the weapon upgrade system. It removes all the strategy and decision making that made gradius great.
Plays kinda like Gradius, but with a mix of horizontal and vertical shooting stages. Didn't leave as much of an impression as the Gradius games however. It's okay, just not something I'd come back to.
It's alright and feels satisfying to play I just hate that I die super easily from such minor things and the game starts you back at the beginning of the segment instead of just letting you spawn back in. My own fault for being shit though
So I actually played the version of this called Life Force but as far as I can tell the game is identical, just regional naming and frankly the cover for Salamander is superior so I'm logging it as this. I played it on the Konami Arcade Classics Collection anyway which lists both names regardless though Life Force is the American rename and I am from the UK in which it was released as Salamander back in 1986...
Anyway I'm rambling, this is a spin off to Konami's original Gradius and indeed it's pretty clear from the start. Pretty sure one of the music tracks is from Gradius or at least incredibly similar. It has a couple of features that stood out as a shoot 'em up for me though:
Firstly this game is a bit like playing a shoot 'em up of Inner space which came out in 1987. Must have been a theme back then of tiny ships in organics. I love at the start of each level a voice says "entering stomach lining", "entering kidney zone" etc. Just a shame the art design on a lot of levels doesn't really reflect that and you wouldn't know except for the voice.
Secondly, it actually mixes horizontal side scrolling shooting sections and vertical scrolling sections and both are handled very well and don't just feel like a gimmick but interchange very smoothly. For 1986 strikes me as very impressive tech.
The game looks pretty good generally actually though in some ways it is a step down from Gradius. The power ups a re less impressive with the satellite ships known as multiples just being blue lights was a little uninspiring. They are also absolutely handicapping in a midgame boss when I was firing blue lasers from blue orbs at small blue orb weak points while they fire blue rubber balls the same shade bouncing around in a small area. Absolutely appalling design and it almost made me quit outright as I'm not even sure it's something you could memorize, just get good or get lucky. The final sequence is also awful like that that it's impossible to do on your first play without extreme luck as it's just cheap barriers sprining up to impede your progress at angles or parts of the screen if you're in the wrong place, "well tough luck kiddo! Put another coin in the machine" type of design some arcade games had I despise.
It actually has unique bosses unlike Gradius and just feels a little better to play generally except for the insane slowdown at times when having four multiples out firing lasers. Stopping firing and going back to a good framerate can send you smashing into a wall though where you weren't ready for it. Still overall I like this more than Gradius even if it is incremental improvement and there are elements from both games I can still see in modern games just a bit rough in places.
Definitely worth a play if you have a spare hour or two.
+ Mixing vertical and horizontal elements is smooth.
+ Power ups are a little simpler than Gradius and the game is fairly smooth to play.
+ I like the idea of a small ship inside a body...
-...they didn't lean into it hard enough.
- A couple of sections have truly awful design.
- Some bad slowdown when too much going on (Konami Arcade Classics)
Anyway I'm rambling, this is a spin off to Konami's original Gradius and indeed it's pretty clear from the start. Pretty sure one of the music tracks is from Gradius or at least incredibly similar. It has a couple of features that stood out as a shoot 'em up for me though:
Firstly this game is a bit like playing a shoot 'em up of Inner space which came out in 1987. Must have been a theme back then of tiny ships in organics. I love at the start of each level a voice says "entering stomach lining", "entering kidney zone" etc. Just a shame the art design on a lot of levels doesn't really reflect that and you wouldn't know except for the voice.
Secondly, it actually mixes horizontal side scrolling shooting sections and vertical scrolling sections and both are handled very well and don't just feel like a gimmick but interchange very smoothly. For 1986 strikes me as very impressive tech.
The game looks pretty good generally actually though in some ways it is a step down from Gradius. The power ups a re less impressive with the satellite ships known as multiples just being blue lights was a little uninspiring. They are also absolutely handicapping in a midgame boss when I was firing blue lasers from blue orbs at small blue orb weak points while they fire blue rubber balls the same shade bouncing around in a small area. Absolutely appalling design and it almost made me quit outright as I'm not even sure it's something you could memorize, just get good or get lucky. The final sequence is also awful like that that it's impossible to do on your first play without extreme luck as it's just cheap barriers sprining up to impede your progress at angles or parts of the screen if you're in the wrong place, "well tough luck kiddo! Put another coin in the machine" type of design some arcade games had I despise.
It actually has unique bosses unlike Gradius and just feels a little better to play generally except for the insane slowdown at times when having four multiples out firing lasers. Stopping firing and going back to a good framerate can send you smashing into a wall though where you weren't ready for it. Still overall I like this more than Gradius even if it is incremental improvement and there are elements from both games I can still see in modern games just a bit rough in places.
Definitely worth a play if you have a spare hour or two.
+ Mixing vertical and horizontal elements is smooth.
+ Power ups are a little simpler than Gradius and the game is fairly smooth to play.
+ I like the idea of a small ship inside a body...
-...they didn't lean into it hard enough.
- A couple of sections have truly awful design.
- Some bad slowdown when too much going on (Konami Arcade Classics)
Muito pow-pow-pow, pouco pew-pew-pew.
Arcade: 3.5/10
PCE: 6.5/10
Impressive for 1986. Has more of the stuff I liked from Gradius 1 with less of the bad stuff. Feels really good to grab 4 options and wipe the screen clean. That said, it's still an 80's shmup, so there's a LOT of sections where progression is impossible without lots and lots of rote memorization for sections that come at you extremely fast. It also has that aspect of the Gradius series I really dislike where every stage feels done by an entirely different designer, and the overall aesthetic has no consistency besides the music. And goddamn TWO of this game's six stages are asteroid fields, good god
PCE: 6.5/10
Impressive for 1986. Has more of the stuff I liked from Gradius 1 with less of the bad stuff. Feels really good to grab 4 options and wipe the screen clean. That said, it's still an 80's shmup, so there's a LOT of sections where progression is impossible without lots and lots of rote memorization for sections that come at you extremely fast. It also has that aspect of the Gradius series I really dislike where every stage feels done by an entirely different designer, and the overall aesthetic has no consistency besides the music. And goddamn TWO of this game's six stages are asteroid fields, good god