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Salamander Salamander - Japanese Logo - Katakana / Kanji

Salamander - Cabinet - Video Game Marquee

Description

Pilot your micro spacecraft through a space, eliminating the enemies, comets and other assorted obstacles. Collect the energy capsules to power-up. Defeat the end-bosses that appear at the end of the levels.

Salamander was produced by Konami in 1986.

Konami released 434 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1978. Konami was based in Japan.

Other machines made by Konami during the time period Salamander was produced include: Ping Pong, Scooter Shooter, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Twin Bee, Shao-lin's Road, Bass Angler, Castlevania, Double Dribble, Goonies, The, and Gradius (PlayChoice)

Specs

Name Salamander
Developer Konami (Japan)
Year 1986
Type Videogame
KLOV/MOG # 9410
Class Wide Release
Genre Space
Monitor
Conversion Class JAMMA
# Simultaneous Players 2
# Maximum Players 2
Game Play Joint
Control Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
  • Joystick: 8-way
  • Buttons: 2 - Shoot|Missile
Sound Amplified Either (Mono or Stereo)
Cabinet Styles
  • Upright/Standard

Game Play

Move your spaceship using the 8-way joystick and destroy the enemies by pressing the shoot button. Pick-up the energy capsules to increase your power. Choose from the following power-up options:

  • SPEED UP: Five speed levels.
  • MISSILE: Press missile button to launch.
  • LASER: Your forward rockets turn into deadly lasers.
  • RIPPLE LASER: Use shoot button to fire.
  • FORCE FIELD: Protect your ship with barriers.
  • MULTIPLE: Increase your fire power by up to four times.

You can obtain multiple special powers but you cannot have LASER as well as RIPPLE Laser.

Salamander KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 3.98 (1 vote)

Fun Factor: 4.20

Overall Like 4.00
Fun (Social) 4.00
Fun (Solo) 4.00
Collector Desire 5.00

Technical Rating: 3.75

Gameplay 4.00
Graphics 4.00
Originality 3.00
Sound/Music 4.00

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

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Images

Miscellaneous

There were three versions of this game made: Salamander, the original Japanese release; Lifeforce, the U.S. version; and Lifeforce the Japanese re-release. Salamander was originally a spin-off of Gradius, but with a simplified power-up system and overhead stages. Lifeforce, the U.S release, is just like the Japanese original only with slighty different color palletes. The Japanese re-release has more organic looking graphics (since this version is supposed to take place in a planet eating) and adopts the Gradius power-up system.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Salamander Census

There are 15,264 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,669 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,973 machines (7,000 unique titles).

Common - There are 29 known instances of this machine owned by Salamander collectors who are active members. Of these, 4 of them are original dedicated machines. 25 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Wanted - There are 2 active VAPS members currently looking for Salamander. There are 3 active VAPS members looking for Salamander boards sets.

This game ranks a 10 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

This game ranks a 7 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census want list records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Flyers

Technical

For mono sound output, a jumper block must be installed on CN3. This will route the sound to the standard JAMMA pins. For stereo sound, move the jumper block to CN2 and the output will be routed to CN5. Pins 1 and 2 are the left channel audio while pins 3 and 4 are for the right channel. NOTE: mono and stereo sound cannot operate simultaneously.

Manuals

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