Salamander (1p)(ARC, 1986)
Graphics-8 Sound-7 Control-7 Challenge-8.5/9* Story-5?
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9/9.5* Fun-6 Originality-6
Overall Score-5.5
*Life Force
+
2-player co-op
some good bosses
pretty good variation (changes between side view/horizontal scrolling and top down/vertical gameplay every other level)
escape/speed up segment in the end
decent voice samples overall (not the final boss's death scream)
mini-bosses, some large and detailed sprites, fun level hazards (regenerating wall, asteroid fields, torn floor plating, volcano eruptions, etc.), difficulty options (4 levels, coin worth (up to 7), lives per credit (up to 7), one new weapon (ripple), temporary shield power up, auto-fire (button mashing is a bit faster in side view parts - not top down parts?), partially destructible environments,
+/-
More traditional upgrade system (works a bit better except shields and speed power ups are too rare)
Can have 10+ credits despite the options being at 9 max
Gives you all lives at once instead of making you continue (see Moonwalker)
Respawn on the spot (the multiples/gun drones will move off screen quickly so you need to have died near the front end of it to grab them, lose all speed upgrades)
At the last level's bosses you can grab your gun drones/multiples more easily (they don't move off screen)
epileptic attack inducing enemies in two of the levels
-
Near impossible to recover later on (not much of a difference on Easy)
Inconsistent hit detection (unforgiving near most walls and when picking up power ups, otherwise somewhat forgiving, very small "debris" from destructible walls doesn't hurt)
Lots of slowdown (happens as soon as you're near full power and use both weapons at once)
No manual speed control (start out too slow after dying and end up too fast after fully upgrading)
No weapon inventory
Super easy final boss, heavy trial & error (some bullets blend into the background in the last level, level 1 regenerating wall - need to hold back on your shots to not get swallowed at full power, boss patterns, speed up segment, some annoying sfx (laser, "danger" repeated over and over near the end), uneven difficulty (spikes at level 4 boss and level 5 pre-boss segment), a bit short (six fairly short levels - last one is a bit longer though),
Life Force JP:
+
Easier level 4 boss
Sometimes a bit easier to recover since with the Gradius upgrade system you'll revert back to the speed slot if you had any unwasted points
More voice samples (sometimes funny, sometimes gives decent tips)
Changes three level music tracks (remastered versions of unused tracks from Salamander and they're very good if not better, third one (Combat) is almost identical though)
Second ship has a different upgrade table order (multiple is lower, speed higher)
+/-
Goes back to the gradius upgrade system (harder to get max gun drones/multiples, can't cycle backwards in the upgrade chain at will - super annoying when you want one power up but the game places two or more near each other)
Somewhat easier first boss?
Easier to rack up extra lives (doesn't offset the lack of continues)
-
No credits (!) and you can't give yourself a bunch of lives from the get go
The biological theme isn't quite fully realized
Minor bug with the power up system makes you not get one if you activate a power up while grabbing a new one (if you're at Shield and press as you're grabbing two power ups close to each other you get Speed and lose the second power up)
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9/9.5* Fun-6 Originality-6
Overall Score-5.5
*Life Force
+
2-player co-op
some good bosses
pretty good variation (changes between side view/horizontal scrolling and top down/vertical gameplay every other level)
escape/speed up segment in the end
decent voice samples overall (not the final boss's death scream)
mini-bosses, some large and detailed sprites, fun level hazards (regenerating wall, asteroid fields, torn floor plating, volcano eruptions, etc.), difficulty options (4 levels, coin worth (up to 7), lives per credit (up to 7), one new weapon (ripple), temporary shield power up, auto-fire (button mashing is a bit faster in side view parts - not top down parts?), partially destructible environments,
+/-
More traditional upgrade system (works a bit better except shields and speed power ups are too rare)
Can have 10+ credits despite the options being at 9 max
Gives you all lives at once instead of making you continue (see Moonwalker)
Respawn on the spot (the multiples/gun drones will move off screen quickly so you need to have died near the front end of it to grab them, lose all speed upgrades)
At the last level's bosses you can grab your gun drones/multiples more easily (they don't move off screen)
epileptic attack inducing enemies in two of the levels
-
Near impossible to recover later on (not much of a difference on Easy)
Inconsistent hit detection (unforgiving near most walls and when picking up power ups, otherwise somewhat forgiving, very small "debris" from destructible walls doesn't hurt)
Lots of slowdown (happens as soon as you're near full power and use both weapons at once)
No manual speed control (start out too slow after dying and end up too fast after fully upgrading)
No weapon inventory
Super easy final boss, heavy trial & error (some bullets blend into the background in the last level, level 1 regenerating wall - need to hold back on your shots to not get swallowed at full power, boss patterns, speed up segment, some annoying sfx (laser, "danger" repeated over and over near the end), uneven difficulty (spikes at level 4 boss and level 5 pre-boss segment), a bit short (six fairly short levels - last one is a bit longer though),
Life Force JP:
+
Easier level 4 boss
Sometimes a bit easier to recover since with the Gradius upgrade system you'll revert back to the speed slot if you had any unwasted points
More voice samples (sometimes funny, sometimes gives decent tips)
Changes three level music tracks (remastered versions of unused tracks from Salamander and they're very good if not better, third one (Combat) is almost identical though)
Second ship has a different upgrade table order (multiple is lower, speed higher)
+/-
Goes back to the gradius upgrade system (harder to get max gun drones/multiples, can't cycle backwards in the upgrade chain at will - super annoying when you want one power up but the game places two or more near each other)
Somewhat easier first boss?
Easier to rack up extra lives (doesn't offset the lack of continues)
-
No credits (!) and you can't give yourself a bunch of lives from the get go
The biological theme isn't quite fully realized
Minor bug with the power up system makes you not get one if you activate a power up while grabbing a new one (if you're at Shield and press as you're grabbing two power ups close to each other you get Speed and lose the second power up)