Games

PlayStation プレイステーション

Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus - 沙羅曼蛇 ＤＥＬＵＸＥ　ＰＡＣＫ　ＰＬＵＳ

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Game information

Salamander was the second game to feature Vic Viper (first was Gradius) and the first game to have a second ship called Lord British.  The games itself is a horizontal and vertical scrolling 'Shoot-Em' Up' with all the weapons from Gradius and a few added ones unique to this game (like the bomb that shots the ground on the second vertical scrolling level (4th level).  The game features lots of speech, very good graphics and it's two players at once which can be quite confusing at times (and you can only have four Options on screen at once, ie if one player has three the second player can only have one)

Life Force was the sequel  to Salamander (I use the word 'sequel' but its more of an update).  The levels are virtually the same as Salamander but the weapon selection is different, instead of just picking the weapons up like Salamander you have the same sort of weapon selection as Gradius (icon driven).  The game feature much more speech such as it names the levels you are on, some of the music is different and some level layouts are also different.

Game information

It took them 10 years but a sequel finally arrived. There is lots of excellent graphics and the music is very good (including tunes from Salamander, MSX version of Gradius II and one tune remix from Thunder Cross).  The game features only six levels, which is a bit short but some of the levels feature very nice graphic effects like the asteroid level with its rendered rocks.