沙羅曼蛇
©Konami 1986,1991
Release : 1991-12-6 (¥6000)
HuCard (2 Mbits) KM91002
Shooter / Horizontal / Vertical
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Salamander is a shooter by Konami and conversion of their
own arcade game originally released in 1986. The players takes control
of an highly advanced space-fighter called the Vic Viper and fights
his way through relentless hordes of aliens and globulous brains. Power-up
icons are scattered throughout the game and upgrade the ship in
various ways - speed up, missiles, lasers, ripple lasers and force fields.
The game features a unique stage layout and alternates horizontal and
vertical levels. Each area is specifically engineered to create an
immersive gameplay from deadly organic tentacles to hostile fire snakes.
Finally, Salamander features a two simultaneous player option
and a second player can join the party and pilot the Lord British
space fighter. Interestingly, the two ships can even be controlled in single-player
mode.
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Interestingly, Salamander is
clearly set in the same universe than Gradius with similar
space fighters and power-ups.
The weapon system is completely different though and features
traditional power-up icons and no power meter (see Gradius for more
information). Salamander is a really confusing series to
follow. The original arcade game version was released in Japan in 1986 (picture on the left). However,
the American version (called Life Force)
features a different story and is set inside a giant alien life form.
Many stages and enemies were modified and gained a more organic appearance.
But most importantly, the power-up system was changed and featured
Gradius's power meter. This version was later re-released in Japan
as Life Force and with even more 'organic' content (Picture on the right).
The same applies to home ports of Salamander -
the Famicom version (1987) is a remix of both the
original arcade game and Life Force topped with exclusive content.
The MSX version (1987) is another conversion that shares little
in common with the original game - different ships and different
stage layouts. Salamander was also ported to the
Sharp X68000 (1988), Commodore 64 (1988) and
CPC (1988). Salamander was also included in
Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus for the Sega Saturn and
Playstation (1997) and was part of Salamander Portable
for the Playstation Portable (2007). The MSX version
of the game was featured in Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol.3
for the Playstation and in Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack
for the Saturn (1998).
Players will have to wait nearly ten years before they could play another
installment of the Salamander series. Salamander 2
was released in the arcades in 1995 and ported to the
Playstation (Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus, 1997),
Saturn (Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus, 1997) and
Playstation Portable (Salamander Portable, 2007)
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
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Programmer
K. Hashimoto
T. Tokuda
T.Kou
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Graphic Designer
R. Shogaki
T. Miyoshi
H. Morii
M. Suenaga
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Sound Designer
H. Muraoka
Producer
A. Nagata
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Special Thanks To
M. Fukunaga
And
AC Salamander Team
Presented
By
Konami
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Salamander is a blast to play. Both Gradius and
Salamander share a lot in common - ships, power ups and
so forth - and this is probably why I also rank Salamander so high in my
list of top shooters. I personally prefer Gradius's
power system which allows me to 'customize' my weapons a lot
more. This conversion is astonishingly faithful to the
original arcade game. Stages layout, enemies, bosses,
everything is here - only the soundtrack and sound effects have lost
their beautiful tints. The only real problem with Salamander
would have to be the slight slowdown and minor flicker which
appears in various stages but in any case this is far from a deal
breaker. All in all, here is another wonderful conversion from
Konami and an enduring classic.
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