I'm used to the NES version too! Great game, it is part of my childhood and I miss the pharaoh level and king Tutankamon's head and also the green snake surrounding the last boss🙂

Problem with this game is once you lose your power ups after 1min in, the game becomes impossible to even power up again

I played Life Force’s Arcade Archives port on my Nintendo Switch; the Fortress Valis did me in more times than I can count on runs where I didn’t spend credits on extra lives.

The arcade version "feels" like the NES version, but it is an overall better experience.

Yes😂

The Famicom version is a slightly better port, in my opinion, because it shows you all of the names of the power-ups, just like in for example "Gradius 3". This is a lot more convenient than only seeing one name at a time.

Salamander's plot is pretty much a repeat of Gradius, except that the bad guy is a sentient fortress planet named well.. Salamander. It's not clear *why* exactly it's called Salamander, though it presumably has something to do with the game's love of fire/dragon imagery. I guess. Maybe it came out of a star. You are not, however, inside of anyone's body for most of the game. Even then Stage 1 is probably just a generic Gradius cellular level. Life Force on the other hand just took stage 1's cellular theme and ran with it, making up a crazy BS story about you saving a biomechanical soldier hero dude. ...though if some of his anti-biotics are people in ships, why hasn't anyone just told them "it's Vic Viper/USS Light-Speed (the f***) idiots, don't shoot"? Dammit Konami your laziness is getting people killed!! not even gonna get into the Japanese Life Force...

They probably also shouldn't have made that thing you're flying out of (its brain?) explode too. Kind of seems like that defeats the whole purpose of destroying that giant tumor a minute earlier.

I thought it was suppose to take place in some huge monster that has been eating planets?

@@SmugMatty That's the storyline of NES version.

@@pisfool3860 There's also an 80's anime Salamander. I'm not sure which one came first. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. Its on KZfaq.

and Paperboy, and Hard Drivin', TI Speak and Spell and pretty much everything that used a speech synthesis chip in the 80s.

And Roadblasters

Body blow! Body blow! Uppercut! Body blow! Body Blow! Right Hook! Knock him out!

Nintendo used the same voice chip for the Punch-Out!! arcade trilogy that Konami used for most of their 80s arcade titles (including Life Force), the Sanyo VLM5030

“come on! stand up and fight!”

Sentinel XR 1 has one HELL of a diet...

Salamander was the non-weird version :P all the other variants changed the story dramatically. This version later got re-remade in Japan also as "Life Force" and looked even meatier.

It's basically Innerspace the game.

i agree, it's a staple in ones memory.

Yeah, it's a lot better.

Search "Arcade longplay salamander deluxe pack" on youtube, it covers Japanese life force

That's heartburn, *obviously*. XD

If I had to write it, I'd justify it like this; Sentinel XR 2, being a cyborg, doesn't have a normal stomach, more like a miniature power plant.

Having the flame eruptions be telegraphed with an audio cue like in the arcade game would’ve been nice. Especially would’ve been helpful in Gradius II as well, in which flame eruptions appear on the FIRST FUCKING LEVEL!!!

Japanese Life Force actually had some effort put into it, and a much better plot. I think it's actually considered canon in Gradius's timeline.

Ja

@@Laserbryte Salamander, Japanese Life Force, and Salamander 2 are canon to Gradius verse This game seems like own game

@@Laserbryte Actually, I think the whole plot of fighting around in the body of some kind of war cyborg is much cooler...

You know you're playing a Gradius game, don't even expect otherwise.

Outside Japan 1986

Maybe your arcade had it on easy for some reason. Or maybe you have repressed memories from it kicking your butt and you only remember the easy parts. I had that happen with Twin Cobra.

A lot of arcade games could have their settings configured by a hidden interface which only the arcade staff were supposed to know how to access, sometimes in great detail, making the game harder or easier in various ways.

Enter stomach inner chamber. Warning. Warning. Danger zone. Acid flame. It is a continuation of these.

Flame Eruption

Paul Tuason I didn't understand for a long time. Thank you！

Ah, so the scream in Gradius v originated here!

As a kid that was the death of me in the arcade. If I was able to get past the super suddenly tough 4th boss, this section was the end. Its like they decided it was time to get paid if you got that far. Otherwise, I loved getting a good 10 minutes out of my quarter.

Same company, similar graphics, and sound effects.

its the same program as gradius the main software probly fujitsu i would imagine being late 80's

It's a spin off to Gradius.

Sounds like it's using the same Yamaha YM2612 synth, it was used in many arcade machines. Some people think the YM2612 is harsh sounding, and it can be, but I think it can sound quite fantastic.

A weird retro-fitted plot synopsis.

tibuking Fudge No, the arcade version is much superior.

NES version is only better if you like harder difficulty, it's harder then the hardest arcade difficulty. Or if you like 8-bit tunes.

+DrewPicklesTheDark O.o The NES version is much easier than the arcade version. I can crush that thing in my sleep.

No, the NES version is much superior.

TheFabio that's just your opinion dude

81GhostSlayer I LMAO'd/cringed on that part!

Salamander and Life Force are spin offs of Gradius.

***** I think the MSX versions are part of the spin offs. I know the MSX version of Salamander was pretty lengthy.

Thanks, i've only played gradius III

***** This version is my least fave, next to it's Japanese counterpart, Life Force. I just find both rather lazy and eeeh. Consideirng I think Japan's Life Force came out in 1986/7? Kind of had that Innerspace thing on it?

I couldn't say without trying it, but while having four options for five times the firepower would be advantageous through volume, the game obviously can't actually handle the player blasting out 5x lasers and missiles at all times. I can only assume that it becomes a total slideshow if you're playing with a pal and you both get full options, blasting with reckless abandon. It'd be interesting to see a game like this overclocked or something, so you can see it without slowdown, but there's points where it looks like the player is meant exploit the slowdown in the face of massive enemy projectile spam, and that you wouldn't be able to react fast enough otherwise.

POAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH

RIP Wario ❤

Now it's at 10.

@@marioghernandez4960 Make that 11.

The greatest scream in gaming history.

that just scared the fuck outta me...lol

Orgasm

In Gradius V the Zelos Force returns as a regular enemy and they scream after they are killed

Both are good versions

pstuddy that's just your opinion