A playthrough of Konami's arcade shoot 'em up, Salamander 2, as it appears in "Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus," a compilation title released for the Sega Saturn in 1997.
Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus is a collection of games from Konami's Salamander series, and it includes arcade-accurate conversions of Salamander, Life Force, and Salamander 2. The collection saw releases on both the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation, but neither version saw an official release outside Japan despite being entirely in English.
If you're familiar with Salamander or Life Force (or the Gradius series, from which the Salamander games are an off-shoot), you'll immediately feel at home with Salamander 2. It's a traditional 2D shmup that sticks closely to Konami's tried-and-true arcade-shooter formula from the late eighties.
(You can find my video of the NES version of Life Force here: • Life Force (NES) Playt... )
The stages still alternate between horizontal and vertical scrolling, and the weapon upgrades are very similar to what we saw in the original game, but Salamander 2 brings in the twin laser and the ability to sacrifice option pods for power-boosted attacks.
Salamander 2 is substantially easier than Salamander, but it recaptures the feeling of the classic original nicely. The sequel instantly feels comfortable and familiar, tacky 90s window-dressing notwithstanding. In many ways it feels more like a reimagining than a true sequel, but I certainly didn't mind. The controls are tight, the atmosphere is heavy, and plenty of eyeballs float about in anticipation of being turned into geysers of blood.
The pre-rendered graphics really are a bit cheesy, but the game pushes some impressive sprite effects and background animation, and it looks much better in motion than it does in screenshots. And that soundtrack! I don't really know what else to say about it but that it's absolutely amazing.
That's pretty obvious though. It's 90s Konami, so of course it sounds awesome. Even Helen Keller couldn't dispute that.
...and no, that's not a deaf joke. I promise.
Big picture: when the game starts by sending the classic eyeball-with-flailing-arms boss at you, only to then have it immediately be eaten by a mutated yellow Kraid, how could you possible go wrong?
(Random thought: is it just me, or does that last boss look suspiciously similar to one of the bosses from Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire?)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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