Salamander 2

31.03.1996
Like the original Salamander, and as opposed to the Life Force releases, Salamander 2 abandons the selection-bar based power-up system, in favor for a simplified system that focuses on powering weapons up based on specific icons. For example, the player cannot increase his ship speed until a speed icon is picked up; additional speed icons further increase the ship velocity. Several weapons, when additionally upgraded, turn into a 'super' weapon for approximately ten seconds. If the player has the ripple laser, and then gets another icon for it, the player will receive the high-powered Buster ripple for a short period of time. Options have been slightly changed with the arrival of 'option seeds', which are small options that orbit the ship firing only the basic initial shot. Two option seeds can combine into one full option. Moreover, options can also be sacrificed to utilize a short-term homing beam weapon. Several enemy bosses typical to Gradius games return, including the Brain Golem (the first level boss) and the Tetran (the second level boss). There are a total of six levels. Since the game is similar to its prequel, Salamander 2 does not use the Revival Start feature from Gradius (which pushes the player back to a pre-determined checkpoint if a life is lost), many people consider this title to be easier than other titles in the Gradius series due to this. Once the game has been completed, it starts its second-loop at a much higher difficulty. The music is also changed to remixed versions of Salamander's music in some stages. The first player's ship is called Vic Viper while the second player's ship is Super Cobra.
Year 0999 in the space calendar... The subspace life form Doom began its invasion. Their appearance caused distortions in the universe, sending multiple colonized star systems hurtling into subspace. Those who managed to escape with their lives fled to the home planet and final stronghold of Gradius, where they launched a counterattack. Now two super-dimensional fighters are taking off, the final hopes of all mankind riding on their shoulders. Vic Viper and Super Cobra! Prepare for takeoff!

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Part of collection:
Salamander (last 3 games)

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31.12.2003

19.06.1997

Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus bundles together the first two Salamander games as well as the enhanced version of the first one, Life Force, onto one disc.

06.12.1991

A version for the PC Engine was released on December 6, 1991. Based on the arcade version of Salamander, changes on this port include starting from a pre-defined checkpoint upon death in 1 Player mode, faster enemy animations, and improved music.

Part of collection:
Gradius (last 3 games)

21.04.2011

Otomedius Excellent is an Xbox 360 game and the sequel to the 2007 arcade game Otomedius by Konami, which is a spin-off of the side-shooting game Gradius series. It was released in March 2011 in Japan and early November of 2011. Otomedius Excellent features a single player campaign with a new story, and a Multiplay mode in which 2 other players can play in. Players with an Xbox Live subscription can play online with other players in Score Attack mode and check their scores against other players on the Leaderboard. Alternate costumes and new stages were made available after release.

20.11.2008

Otomedius Gorgeous is the Xbox 360 port of Otomedius Arcade, a side scrolling shooter by Konami which featured personification of space fighters from various Konami games like Gradius, Xexex, Salamander and Parodius. The name is a pun, being a portmanteau of the terms "otome" (meaning "maiden" in Japanese) and "Gradius". It was released for the Japanese Xbox 360 in November 20, 2008.

02.09.2008

Blast your way through levels filled with alien spaceships and otherworldly creatures in this retro side-scrolling shooter. Pick your weapons carefully and upgrade them to create a devastating arsenal of space-aged weapons that will aid you in your challenging mission. Players can post their high scores to worldwide leader boards via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and see where they rank against all the other Gradius ReBirth players. Test your skills with Gradius ReBirth and see if you have what it takes to beat this action-packed arcade shooter.

Part of franchise:
Gradius (last 3 games)

18.04.2019

8 Konami arcade classics of the 80s, from Nemesis to TwinBee. Including bonus eBook packed with new information never before revealed to the public.

27.11.2015

Arcade Archives: Life Force is a port of the shooting game Life Force. The player will challenge against the aggressions from the Bacterian special force known as Salamander. This title will include Salamander which is the Japanese version of the game, and Life Force which is rearranged as the Japanese version of Life Force that was released in 1987 in Japan.

29.01.2015

Arcade Archives: Gradius is a port of the shooting game Gradius. Players control the Super Dimension fighter Vic Viper and fight Bacterian with the aid of devastating power-ups. This shooting game is the first of a masterpiece series from Konami that had a major impact on later shooters.

Could be interesting

31.12.1987

Darius is a two-dimensional horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up set in a fictional future. Uniquely among shoot 'em ups, the game's screen is three times wider than conventional size, and the arcade cabinet uses an arrangement of three screens to accommodate it. The player controls an ornate fighter spacecraft, named the Silver Hawk, and must navigate through scrolling terrain while battling a variety of fighter craft, ground vehicles, turrets, and other obstacles throughout the game's stages (referred to as zones in the game). The ship's arsenal consists of forward-firing missiles, aerial bombs and a protective force field, all of which can be upgraded by power-ups (in the form of large, colored orbs) that are dropped by specially-colored enemies throughout the game's zones. When the player reaches the end of a zone, a boss appears, which must be defeated to proceed. Once the boss of a zone is destroyed, the player is given a choice of which zone to play next via a branching path. While there are 28 zones in total, only seven can be played in a single run. A Sega Mega Drive port was produced in 2019 that is pre-installed in the Mega Drive Mini as a bonus game.

31.12.2001

Castle of Shikigami is a dark, supernatural shoot-'em-up classic. Choose one of six characters and utilize their unique abilities to defeat the demons infesting modern-day Tokyo in this vertically scrolling shooting game. Use each character's shot, special Shikigami attack and bomb to conquer each stage and it's boss to ultimately discover who or what is behind "The Castle of Shikigami Incident".

01.02.1992

Gameplay is similar to the previous Truxton. Truxton II has six huge areas, each with a boss at the end; the game "loops" these six areas forever. Lives are given out at 70000 points, then every 200000 points after; players start with three. There are power-ups to increase ship speed, add a smartbomb to your stock, and change/strengthen your current weapon: red fires bombs in a small area around your ship, similar to the red weapon from Robo Aleste; blue is a homing laser, similar to the blue weapon from the original Truxton; while green fires wide-reaching salvos of green shots and more or less replaces the red weapon from Truxton.

01.03.1986

Darwin 4078 is an arcade game released by Data East in 1986. The game is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up like Xevious, but as the title indicates, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is incorporated into the gameplay.

01.02.1991

Strato Fighter, otherwise known as Raiga: Strato Fighter, is a 1991 video arcade game developed by Tecmo. It is a horizontal side-scrolling space shooter in which two players may play simultaneously. The game sets players in the year 2135 on a mission to save the Earth from colony-based, militant alien invaders using the MB-OG Raiga (Thunder Fang). The Raiga has the ability to spin around to attack enemies from behind. Power-ups can be obtained by destroying container ships. The craft's weapons include the Shotgun, Ion launcher, Vertical, Homing Missiles and Bomb attacks along with items such as Speed Ups, Shields and Extends. The spacecraft can also obtain an Option weapon called the Auto Guard; three types of Auto Guards were available such as the target locking Beam Rifle, the powerful Solid Shooter and the standard Blaster item.

01.07.1991

The players takes controls on one of two surviving fighters pilots, 'Jet' a male pilot and 'Nova' a female pilot and both flying the Icarus, a fast and powerful space-fighter, which comes equipped with a Standard laser. Two more weapons are available throughout the game - the wide shot (W) which spreads out in front of the ship and the Hurricane shot (H) which fires clusters of rotating balls of energy. Holding the fire button charges up a special attack and each weapon features a different energy blast and damage factor. The ships can also hold a maximum of two smart-bombs, one under each wing - although they can be activated by the players, they also do fall off easily and can be detonated by enemy shots. Interestingly, the Icarus can't collide with other ships or any part of the scenery - instead, it bounces off and only suffers damage from enemy shots. However, once the shield is depleted, the ship will fly out of control for a few seconds and grant the players a last chance to inflict damage to any remaining enemies before it explodes.

11.05.2018

Hyper Sentinel is a pure shot of pixel-perfect nostalgia, fusing iconic shooter gameplay with contemporary systems and mechanics; repackaging the sights, sounds and feel of the arcade to deliver the ultimate neo-retro experience.

31.12.1986

This is a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up, in the style of Gradius. You play as a helicopter gunship, and when you enter a building as a spaceman(who can shoot in eight directions). Interestingly, you can manually scroll up and down as the game scrolls right, but cannot scroll backwards. Destroyed enemies leave power-ups (improving your firepower), smart-bombs which trigger on collecting them, and floppy disks which you must collect to win the game. Another factor is your oxygen level, which shows as an air meter at the bottom (you can gain more air through each stage). There are end-of-level bosses.

30.09.2020

BroodStar is a classic arcade shmup with roguelike elements. Battle your way through hordes of enemy creatures, collecting upgrades and fighting terrifying bosses on a quest to destroy the living planet, the BroodStar.

17.11.2022

Galaxy Squad: Airplane Games Tired of playing traditional arcade space shooting game? Let Galaxy Squad bring you a new space shooting experience! Alien swarms attack are approaching, and it is your mission to protect the entire galaxy at this moment. In order to protect the earth from being attacked by enemies, you must save the universe from vicious enemies.