SALAMANDER - The planetary system Latis is in danger !

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If you find Nemesis 2 difficult, I disadvise to try Salamander, a game released in 1987 by Konami. You would indeed risk to go really into hysterics, when you are confronting terrible enemies who implacably await you at each turning of an adventure which exceeds the universe of traditional shoot' em up. On musical side, SCC sounds are always present and will enhance your crazy adventure. You will need them as moral support !

You need not only to thwart a serie of mortal traps, you need also to find the chapters of a prophecy and to decipher them. The displayed message is conceived to give tips about the elimination of more and more grasping and sophisticated bosses.

The first chapter of this prophecy is in the game manual and announces the invasion of the planetary system Latis by the powerful malefic forces of Salamander :

When the giant devil who lives in the sea of flames awakens, an insane force will appear and heaven and earth will be swallowed up in darkness. The devil will be reborn with green skin and five eyes and will bring about two catastrophies.

To make the things even more difficult, the game alternates or mixes horizontal and vertical scrolls, whereas all the other games of the Nemesis saga proceed only on the horizontal level. However, it is possible to play here in dual mode, so you can multiply your chances to reach the end of this diabolic game.

Your missiles are now bidirectional according to your position on the screen, your laser can be normal or resemble to progressively increasingly large circles (Ripple Laser) and you can have 4 options instead of 3 (with exception in dual mode: maximum 3 for both players as a whole).

The Nemesis 2 core stages are replaced by capsules of energy, no less than fifteen capsules are required to get increasingly effective weapons: Hawkwind Missile, Meteor Laser, Screw Laser, Homing Missile, Double Laser, Triple Laser, Arming Ball (the three last ones are usable only in dual mode).

On the other hand, Salamander kept, as in Nemesis 2, the possibility of acquiring special items for a limited time at certain locations of the game: Scroll Stop which stops temporarily the scroll in stage 1 (planet Latis), Option Hold which positions your options on fixed locations in relation to your vessel, Spark Light which switchs on back the light on planet Lavinia, Trample Missile, an one-way missile to collect on Lavinia, it can destroy walls as fast as a flash.

In dual mode, two other special items are accessible and usable : Option Chain which creates a link between the options of each spaceship and Combination which allows to merge both vessels in a single vessel, with fire power multiplied by ten for a limited time; a player cares for the movements, the other player is busy with shoot and weapon's choice.

The game includes 6 normal stages. It is faster on a Japanese machine, because the VDP is then in 60 Hz mode instead of 50 Hz European mode.

Stage 1 (planet Latis) is inhabited by strange giant crabs which want to catch you in their mortal grips. On the 2nd screenshot below, the green item is Scroll Stop. This stage indeed disturbs by 2 vertical scrolls, only the first can be somewhat delayed.

Stage 2 (space station Zot) proceeds entirely in vertical mode, in a hostile universe, full of meteorites; the boss is a robot, it seems to be the metallic version of stage 1 boss. Once finished stage 2, you have a limited time to decide towards which planet you want first to go : Eioneus (stage 3), Lavinia (stage 4) or Kierke (stage 5); the radar indicates the difficulty level you can expect on the concerned planet.

Stage 3 (planet Eioneus) is a mountainous universe, full of enemy bases to destroy, one of them hides a secret place which will give you the fourth chapter of prophecy :

The great devil came from the ground .... His wicked power dwells in a blue nucleus ....

Stage 4 (planet Lavinia) returns mainly to the horizontal mode for a metallized world, full of traps of any kind, power failure, death rays, racing cars which sink on you, robots decided to destroy, this game is without any mercy ! Note also that, after a vertical scroll, the destruction of an enemy base opens a secret passage towards the second chapter of prophecy:

The devil came from the huge sphere and he was protected by a copper shield. If the white nucleus is destroyed the shield will disappear ....

Stage 5 (planet Kierke) is entirely horizontal and proceeds in a strange, mysterious underwater universe. The boss is particularly grasping and requires really much force and patience. This stage also includes an enemy base whose destruction opens the passage towards the third chapter of prophecy:

The huge sphere will come from the ground and attack everyone. The shining blue ball has the power to control the armor ....

Stage 6 (planet Odysseus) is the fortress of Zelos, the chief of the terrible Salamander organization. No need to say this final stage is certainly not more resting that the other stages, you will need fast reflexes to survive! The Easter Island statues are back, they were present in Nemesis 1 but not in Nemesis 2. This stage is almost entirely vertical, with exception for a horizontal double scroll. The destruction of a base just before this scroll will give access to the fifth part of prophecy :

The five eyed green devil can be killed only by the crystal ....

How to avoid the bad end

Finally at the end of this so difficult game ? You could mean it, but here comes the more frustrating moment of all the game : your vessel is destroyed, your mission is a total failure and Venom, reincarnated, is laughing at you !

You want almost to throw this damned game out of the window, but you are reminded to not give up and invited to read again the last passage of the prophecy. Oh no, the “five eyed green devil” is this bastard Venom, who was viewed as dead at the end of Nemesis 2. The true Master of Salamander, it is him!

There is only one left solution : play again Salamander when caring to insert Nemesis 2 in slot 2.

To get full power and beat Venom, you need also to find a crystal on one of the 3 “central” planets (Eioneus, Lavinia or Kierke). Apparently, this crystal is always on Eioneus, after destruction of an enemy base and crossing on the destroyed site.

The secret stage

If you have found the crystal, this secret stage or stage 7 is intercalated just before the final stage. If we except the insertion of an additional boss, the machinery installed by Venom, this stage is identical to the final stage of Nemesis 2.

Hints and tips

To play intelligently when you are asked to choose between 3 planets, it is advised to initially select the planet with the most enemies according to radar's indications. If you choose the least armed planet, you will regret it afterwards as the following planets will be more difficult.

At any moment, if you play in normal mode, alone or with another player and don't have any special item, you can go to the dual mode, by pressing F1, then F5. In this mode, if one of the players dies, the other player keeps the power and all items he has.

You can misuse this function as following :

* to take and keep indefinitely the item option hold whereas you are in normal mode, press on F1 and F5 before taking this item, so you will keep it if the second player dies afterwards;

* to optimize your fire power, play in dual mode to accumulate the maximum of power during stage 1, then invite player 2 to commit suicide before the scroll part in stage 1, so you will have the opportunity to play twice the beginning of the stage and collect at the same time in double all that reinforces your equipment.

Pictures of the Japanese package

blueMSX and openMSX cheats

With the emulators, you have an advantage : you can cheat ! The weapons reserved for the dual mode are even accessible in normal mode and the special items can become permanent instead of conceived for a limited time ! However, use these cheats with intelligence, for example to train with a specific stage or try out the effectiveness of a weapon.

The cheats scroll stop and spark light should be used only respectively for the first part of stage 1 and for the planet Lavinia, otherwhise the game is blocked.