Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus

From Sega Retro

n/a

  • Main title
  • Salamander
  • Life Force
  • Salamander 2

SalamanderDeluxe title.png

SalamanderDeluxePack Saturn JP SSTitle Salamander.png

SalamanderDeluxePack Saturn JP SSTitle Lifeforce.png

SalamanderDeluxePack Saturn JP SSTitle Salamander2.png

Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Konami
Developer:
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Game total: 3
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (2 tracks)
Genre: Compilation, Shooting[1][2]

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Saturn
JP 		¥5,8005,800 T-9520G
Non-Sega versions

Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus (沙羅曼蛇 ＤＥＬＵＸＥ ＰＡＣＫ ＰＬＵＳ) is a compilation of the three Salamander games, all developed and published by Konami as spin-offs of the Gradius franchise. The compilation never left Japan. The games are identical to their arcade counterparts, bar a few touch-ups.

Games included

  • Salamander
  • Life Force
  • Salamander 2

Story

Salamander

Latis is a planet covered by water. A prophecy tells of a giant dragon that will travel from thousands of light years away and swallow the heavens and the earth.

The Salamander Army of the Bacterian Cluster has invaded the planet, and the Latis army is helpless to resist. The Prince of Latis has entered the battle in his starfighter, Lord British, but he was overwhelmed and asked from help from the planet Gradius, which is said to have defeated forces from the Bacterian Cluster before.

Life Force

Two years after the war with the Bacterian Cluster ended, peace has been restored, but planet Gradius is now facing an unprecedented crisis as a super organism called "Life Force" has appeared in outer space. It is an enormous life form that absorbs everything it touches and grows continuously. The Vic Viper must destroy it before it consumes planet Gradius as well.

Salamander 2

In the Interstellar Year 0999, the subspace life form "Tomb" begins its invasion. Its appearance causes a plague throughout the universe, and numerous planets that were colonized by mankind are swallowed up by the subspace. The people who managed to escape launch a counterattack, using their home planet Gradius as a base of operations.

Gameplay

Salamander

Salamander is the 1986 sequel to the 1985 game, Gradius (before Konami produced a more direct sequel, Gradius II in 1988, thus relegating Salamander to a spin-off). It is a one or two player cooperative spaceship shooter, in which player one controls the Vic Viper from Gradius, and player two controls (the debuting) Lord British. Two-player games can be started from the main menu or by pressing  START  on a second control pad at any point during gameplay. While gameplay is broadly similar to Gradius, Salamander has a different and more traditional power-up system, in which players simply pick up upgrades left behind by destroyed enemies, rather than collecting glowing orbs to increment through a predetermined list. It also differs from Gradius by swapping between horizontal and vertical scrolling stages.

The ship can be moved in any direction using the D-Pad. It shoots with B (or Y for rapid-fire). The main weapon can be upgraded to the Laser, which shoots long lasers that pierce through multiple targets, or the Ripple Laser, which shoots ring-shaped projectiles that expand as they travel to cover a large area. Players can obtain an upgrade that augments the ship's main weapon with missiles, which are fired above and below the ship with C (or Z for rapid-fire). Power-ups are collected as items that are sometimes dropped when enemies are destroyed. The ship can additionally collect up to four options, called "multiples," that follow it and replicate its fire. Multiples spread out when the ship moves away from them, allowing them to cover a wide area.

The ship is destroyed if it takes a single hit from an enemy or collides with terrain. All power-ups are lost when the ship is destroyed, but multiples can be collected again. It respawns instantly if the player has extra lives remaining; otherwise, the game ends. There are no continues and no extends, but players can set the number of starting lives from the options (between 2 and 7) before starting the game. After finishing the game, it loops from the beginning at a higher difficulty. There are six difficulty levels (Saturn Easy, Easy, Normal, Difficult, Very Difficult, and Saturn Difficult). There are also options to toggle the slowdown from the arcade original ("Wait Control") or to stretch the image to fit the width of the screen.

Items

Items are dropped by reddish-colored enemies when they are destroyed or when an entire wave of enemies is destroyed.

Salamander Saturn, Items.png
 Speed Up
Increases the movement speed of the ship, up to 5 levels.
Salamander Saturn, Items.png
 Missile
Allows the ship to fire missiles upwards and downwards, concurrently with its main weapon.
Salamander Saturn, Items.png
 Laser
Changes the main weapon to long, piercing lasers. This item and the Ripple Laser are mutually exclusive.
Salamander Saturn, Items.png
 Ripple Laser
Changes the main weapon to ring-shaped projectiles that expand as they travel. This item and the Laser are mutually exclusive.
Salamander Saturn, Items.png
 Multiple
Creates an option, called a "multiple," that follows the ship and replicates its fire (including firing missiles). The ship can have up to 4 multiples following it. If the ship is destroyed, the multiples float in place and can be collected again.
Salamander Saturn, Items.png
 Force Field
Creates a force field at the nose of the ship that protects it from multiple hits.

Stages

Salamander Saturn, Stage 1.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 1 Boss.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 1.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 1 Boss.png

Bionic Germ

Salamander Saturn, Stage 2.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 2 Boss.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 2.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 2 Boss.png

Meteorite Space

Salamander Saturn, Stage 3.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 3 Boss.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 3.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 3 Boss.png

Burning Chaos

Salamander Saturn, Stage 4.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 4 Boss.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 4.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 4 Boss.png

Volcano

Salamander Saturn, Stage 5.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 5 Boss.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 5.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 5 Boss.png

Asteroid Hell

Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-1.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-2.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-3.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-4.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-5.png

Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-6.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-1.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-2.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-3.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-4.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-5.png

  • Salamander Saturn, Stage 6-6.png

Fortress Zone
The final boss is the Zelos Force, a big red orb that the players must destroy before it leaves (otherwise, the stage must be played again from the beginning). After it is destroyed, the rest of the stage is an escape sequence.

Life Force

Life Force is a modified version of Salamander that extends the premise of the first stage, where the Vic Viper flies into a massive alien life form, to the entire game. Some of the artwork, particularly the space stages and the mechanical enemies, was redrawn or recolored to maintain consistency with the new organic setting of the plot, though the stage layouts remain largely the same. The power-up system from Gradius was also re-introduced. As before, the game can be played by one or two players simultaneously, with player one controlling the Vic Viper and player two controlling Lord British. Two-player games can be started from the main menu or by pressing  START  on a second control pad at any point during gameplay.

The ship can be moved in any direction using the D-Pad. It shoots with B (or Y for rapid-fire). The main weapon can be upgraded to the Laser, which shoots long lasers that pierce through multiple targets, or the Pulse Laser, which shoots ring-shaped projectiles that expand as they travel to cover a large area. Players can obtain an upgrade that augments the ship's main weapon with missiles, which are fired above and below the ship by pressing C (or Z for rapid-fire). The ship can additionally collect up to four options, called "multiples," that follow it and replicate its fire. Multiples spread out when the ship moves away from them, allowing them to cover a wide area.

Power-ups are chosen by collecting glowing green capsules. Each capsule collected increments the power meter, a list of power-ups at the bottom of the screen, by one position. When the desired power-up is highlighted, the player can choose it with A or X (which also returns the power meter to its initial state where no power-up is highlighted). The list of power-ups is in a different order for each player.

The ship is destroyed if it takes a single hit from an enemy or collides with terrain. All power-ups are lost when the ship is destroyed, but multiples can be collected again. It respawns instantly if the player has extra lives remaining; otherwise, the game ends. There are no continues, but extends are given at 100,000 points and every 300,000 points after that, and players can set the number of starting lives from the options (between 3 and 6) before starting the game. After finishing the game, it loops from the beginning at a higher difficulty. There are six difficulty levels (Saturn Easy, Easy, Normal, Difficult, Very Difficult, and Saturn Difficult). There are also options to toggle the slowdown from the arcade original ("Wait Control") or to stretch the image to fit the width of the screen.

Items

Items are dropped by reddish-colored enemies when they are destroyed or when an entire wave of enemies is destroyed.

Life Force Saturn, Power-Up.png
 Power Capsule
Advances the power meter by one position.

Power meter

The power meter contains the following power-ups:

Life Force Saturn, Power Meter.png
 Speed Up
Increases the movement speed of the ship, up to 5 levels.
Life Force Saturn, Power Meter.png
 Missile
Allows the ship to drop missiles upwards and downwards, concurrently with its main weapon.
Life Force Saturn, Power Meter.png
 Pulse
Changes the main weapon to ring-shaped projectiles that expand as they travel. This item and the Laser are mutually exclusive.
Life Force Saturn, Power Meter.png
 Laser
Changes the main weapon to long, piercing lasers. This item and the Pulse are mutually exclusive.
Life Force Saturn, Power Meter.png
 Multiple
Creates an option, called a "multiple," that follows the ship and replicates its fire (including firing missiles). The ship can have up to 4 multiples following it. If the ship is destroyed, the multiples float in place and can be collected again.
Life Force Saturn, Power Meter.png
 ?
Creates a force field that protects the ship from multiple hits. The ship can have up to 3 force fields protecting it; the first is placed at its nose, the second above it, and the third below it.

The item order for the second player is different: Missile, Laser, Multiple, Pulse, Speed, ?.

Stages

Life Force Saturn, Stage 1.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 1 Boss.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 1.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 1 Boss.png

The Stomach Muscle Zone

Life Force Saturn, Stage 2.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 2 Boss.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 2.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 2 Boss.png

The Kidney Zone

Life Force Saturn, Stage 3.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 3 Boss.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 3.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 3 Boss.png

The Stomach Inner Chamber

Life Force Saturn, Stage 4.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 4 Boss.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 4.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 4 Boss.png

The Liver Zone

Life Force Saturn, Stage 5.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 5 Boss.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 5.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 5 Boss.png

The Lung Zone

Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-1.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-2.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-3.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-4.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-5.png

Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-6.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-1.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-2.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-3.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-4.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-5.png

  • Life Force Saturn, Stage 6-6.png

The Brain Area
The final boss is the Zelos Force, a big red orb that the players must destroy before it leaves (otherwise, the stage must be played again from the beginning). After it is destroyed, the rest of the stage is an escape sequence.

Salamander 2

Salamander 2 is a true sequel to Salamander, sharing similar gameplay but with more elaborate graphics and stages. It was released in 1996, ten years after the release of the original, and it was the latest entry in the Gradius franchise at the time this collection was released. As with its predecessors, it is a shoot-'em-up that can be played by one or two players simultaneously. Most stages are side-scrolling, but two stages switch to an overhead view. The first player controls the blue Vic Viper and the second controls the red Super Cobra. Two-player games can be started from the main menu or by pressing  START  on a second control pad at any point during gameplay.

The ship can be moved in any direction using the D-Pad. The playfield is slightly taller than the viewable area, so the screen scrolls when the ship near the top or bottom. The ship shoots with B (or Y for rapid-fire). The main weapon can be upgraded to the Laser, the Ripple Laser, or the Twin Laser. Players can obtain an upgrade that augments the ship's main weapon with missiles that are fired above and below the ship (which are fired simultaneously with the main weapon rather than having a separate button, as in the previous entries). Power-ups are collected as items that are sometimes dropped when enemies are destroyed. Collecting an item for the already equipped weapon temporarily empowers the weapon. Large, brightly-colored orbs called "options" can be obtained, which follow the ship and duplicate its main weapon. There are now also smaller orbs named "option seeds," which encircle the ship and augment its fire, but only with standard bullets instead of replicating the upgraded weapons. Options can be launched at enemies with A, C, X, or Z, transforming into powerful shocks of lightning that home in on nearby targets. Holding the button for longer before releasing launches multiple options. The option can be collected again as an option seed after it is launched. Option seeds spin around the ship in a larger circle before dissipating instead of launching.

The ship is destroyed if it takes a single hit from an enemy or collides with terrain. All power-ups are lost when the ship is destroyed, but options can be collected again. If the player has extra lives left, the ship respawns immediately with temporary invulnerability. Extends are given at 200,000 and 500,000 points, and players can set the number of starting lives from the options (between 1 and 9) before starting the game. The game ends if the player runs out of lives, and there are no continues. After finishing the game, it loops from the beginning at a higher difficulty. The second loop has bonus music. There are eight difficulty levels (Easiest, Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Medium Hard, Hard, Very Hard, and Hardest). There are also options to toggle the slowdown from the arcade original ("Wait Control") or to stretch the image to fit the width of the screen.

Items

Items are dropped by reddish-colored enemies when they are destroyed or when an entire wave of enemies is destroyed.

Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
 Speed Up
Increases the movement speed of the ship, up to 6 levels.
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
 Missile
Allows the ship to fire missiles upwards and downwards, concurrently with its main weapon. Missiles slide along terrain.
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
 Laser
Changes the main weapon to long, piercing lasers. This item, the Ripple Laser, and the Twin Laser are mutually exclusive.
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
 Ripple Laser
Changes the main weapon to ring-shaped projectiles that expand as they travel. This item, the Laser, and the Twin Laser are mutually exclusive.
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
 Twin Laser
Changes the main weapon to twin parallel lasers that narrow as they travel. This item, the Laser, and the Ripple Laser are mutually exclusive.
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
 Option
Creates an option that follows the ship and fires alongside it (including firing missiles). Its weapon is also upgraded when the ship collects a weapon power-up. The ship can have up to 4 options following it. If the ship is destroyed, the options float in place and can be collected again. The option can be launched at enemies as an energy ray (then it can be collected again as an option seed).
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
 Option Seed
Creates an option seed that orbits the ship in a tight circle and fires alongside it. It only fires standard bullets. If two option seeds are collected, they form a single full option. Instead of being launched, the option seed can circle around the ship in a larger circle before dissipating.
Salamander 2 Saturn, Items.png
 Force Field
Creates a force field around the ship that protects it and lasts for 7 hits.

Stages

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 1-1.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 1-2.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 1-3.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 1-4.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 1-1.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 1-2.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 1-3.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 1-4.png

Sub-Life Space

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 2-1.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 2-2.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 2-3.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 2-1.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 2-2.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 2-3.png

Prominence Fortress

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 3-1.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 3-2.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 3-3.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 3-4.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 3-1.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 3-2.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 3-3.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 3-4.png

Bio Hazard

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 4-1.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 4-2.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 4-3.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 4-4.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 4-1.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 4-2.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 4-3.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 4-4.png

Giant Battleship

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 5-1.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 5-2.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 5-3.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 5-4.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 5-1.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 5-2.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 5-3.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 5-4.png

Asteroid

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-1.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-2.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-3.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-4.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-5.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-6.png

Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-7.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-1.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-2.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-3.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-4.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-5.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-6.png

  • Salamander 2 Saturn, Stage 6-7.png

Doom Fortress

Production credits

Salamander and Life Force

  • Programmer: H. 'Deluxe'ueda, H.Sato -Aki-, Akind.Takaki, Shutaro
  • Designer: T.Sagawa, Mariko
  • Sound: Yamane(Kai), AKT, Akira Yamaoka, Midnight Zombie
  • Movie Sound: Miki-up, Suzuki Kyouta, Akira Yamaoka
  • CGI Designer: Makoto Toyama
  • Movie Converter: Kenichiro Imaizumi
  • Logotype & Product Design: Yumiko Nozawa
  • Special Thanks: Original AC Staff
  • Supervisor: Halky
  • Producer: Kazumi Kitaue
  • Development by: KCET
Source:
In-game credits[3]


Salamander 2

  • Programmer: Akind.Takaki, Shutaro, H.'Deluxe'ueda, H.Sato -Aki-
  • Designer: T.Sagawa, Mariko
  • Sound: Yamane(Kai), AKT, Akira Yamaoka, Midnight Zombie
  • Movie Sound: Miki-up, Suzuki Kyouta, Akira Yamaoka
  • CGI Designer: Takahide Murakami
  • Movie Converter: Kenichiro Imaizumi
  • Logotype & Product Design: Yumiko Nozawa
  • Original AC Staff: Tango, Qchan, Satonyan, Masato Hijima, Sonshi Sdr, Kaori Nishimura, Yas, Motohisa Ando, You Takamine, Naoki Maeda, V Kobe Yzz, Takaaki "Q" Kumemura, K.Iwashita, Yamamoso Type2, Takeaki Hasegawa
  • Supervisor: Halky
  • Producer: Kazumi Kitaue
  • Development by: KCET
Source:
In-game credits[4]


Magazine articles

Main article: Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Edge (UK) NTSC-J
60
[5]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
65
[6]
GameFan (US) NTSC-J
83
[7]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-J
69
[8]
neXt Level (DE) NTSC-J
70
[9]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
68
[10]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
77
[11]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
89
[12]
Sega Saturn
 73
Based on
8 reviews

Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus

Technical information

Main article: Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Saturn
✔
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
518,413,728 1997-03-25 CD-ROM (JP) T-9520G V1.010

Extra content

This game has extra content which can be viewed when accessing the disc on a PC.

Saturn (JP) Extra files
Folder / File Type Size description
\OMAKE\24BIT Folder 51,931,704 It contains 11 wallpaper images of truecolor. 3 sizes each.
\OMAKE\8BIT Folder 17,345,592 It contains 11 wallpaper images of 256 colors. 3 sizes each.
ABS.TXT TXT (Abstract) 150 About this game.
BIB.TXT TXT (Bibliographiced) 85 About original game
CPY.TXT TXT (Copyright) 47 Copyright
KAIHATSU.DOC TXT 30,553 Messages from the developers.


References

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NEC Retro has more information related to Salamander
  1. ↑ File:SalamanderDeluxePackPlus Saturn JP Box Back.jpg
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/fb/segahard/ss/soft_licensee3.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-03-20 23:05)
  3. ↑ File:Salamander Saturn credits.pdf
  4. ↑ File:Salamander 2 Saturn credits.pdf
  5. ↑ Edge, "September 1997" (UK; 1997-08-18), page 88
  6. ↑ Famitsu, "1997-06-27" (JP; 1997-06-13), page 1
  7. ↑ GameFan, "Volume 5, Issue 8: August 1997" (US; 1997-xx-xx), page 20
  8. ↑ MAN!AC, "08/97" (DE; 1997-07-09), page 66
  9. ↑ neXt Level, "September 1997" (DE; 1997-08-22), page 74
  10. ↑ Saturn Fan, "1997 No. 12" (JP; 1997-06-xx), page 182
  11. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1997-21 (1997-06-27)" (JP; 1997-06-13), page 155
  12. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "Readers rating final data" (JP; 2000-03), page 11
Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus

SalamanderDeluxe title.png

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Gradius / Parodius games for Sega systems
Sega Master System
 Nemesis (1987) | Nemesis 2 (1987)
Sega Saturn
 Gradius Deluxe Pack (1996) | Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus (1997) | Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack (1998)
Sega Saturn
 Parodius (1995) | Sexy Parodius (1996) | Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius: Forever With Me (1996)
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