Ava Brooks 
Jan 30, 2024
Salamander is a 1986 sequel to Gradius developed by Konami. Retitled Lifeforce in North America, is a side-scrolling shooting game reminiscent of previous games in the category. The original arcade cabinet was highly popular, ranking as the second most successful table arcade unit in Japan in August 1986.
Premise of Salamander
Salamander features two-player cooperative gameplay with the first player controlling Vic Viper and the second player piloting the debut spacecraft Lord British. Players can continue immediately from death, and power-ups are obtained by collecting capsules left by certain enemies. The Japanese version, Life Force, retains the selection bar mechanic.
Main characters
- Vic Viper
- Lord British
- Saber Tiger and Thrasher (Iggy Rock and Zowie Scott)
- Van Landroth Frehley
- Lars XVIII
- Super Cobra
- Galaxy
- Purple Emperor
- Red Devil
Other titles in the series
- Scramble
- Gradius
- Salamander
- Nemesis 2
- Gradius II
- Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction
- Gradius III
- Nemesis
- Gradius: The Interstellar Assault
- Salamander 2
- Gradius Gaiden
- Solar Assault
- Gradius IV
- Gradius Advance
- Gradius V
- Gradius NEO
- Gradius ReBirth
- Gradius ARC
- Gradius the Slot
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Salamander cheat codes
NES cheat codes
- 30 Extra Lives (Player 1): Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
- 30 Extra Lives (Player 2): Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start
- Steal Lives: In a two-player game, hold down A and B after dying to steal a life from your partner.
NES Salamander Glitch
A difficult glitch in the NES version allows players to gain 255 lives. In a 2-player game, set player 1's life to 0 and player 2's life to 1. Position the ships on top of each other, look like 1 ship, let player 1 die, and rapidly press A to steal a life from player 2.
Game Genie Codes
- SUNK-YAVI Infinite Lives – Both Players
- LEKG-APGA Invincibility – Both Players (1 of 2)
- EEUK-LOEA Invincibility – Both Players (2 of 2)
- GXNG-IPSP Keep pods after death
- TOKT-NZLE Start with 30 Lives – Both Players
- GZKGILVI Infinite lives
- PEKVNTLA Start with 1 life
- TEKVNTLA Start with 6 lives
- GZSGLTSP Keep pods after death
- PEKGPTAA Start with Speed
- ZEKGPTAA Start with Missile
- LEKGPTAA Start with Ripple
- GEKGPTAA Start with Laser
- IEKGPTAA Start with Option
- TEKGPTAA Start with Force Field
- PEUTSTAA Start at the volcanic stage
- ZEUTSTAA Start at the prominence stage
- LEUTSTAA Start at cell stage 2
- GEUTSTAA Start at the temple stage
- IEUTSTAA Start at the mechanical city stage
Level Passwords for Commodore 64
- Level 1 — POKE 23575,165 SYS 24019
- Level 2 — POKE 19721,165 SYS 24019
- Level 3 — POKE 23185,165 SYS 24019
Dual Mode Commodore 64 Code
If you are playing Player 1 game and want to switch to a dual-player game without having to restart then Press F1 to pause the game, and then press F5 to switch to Dual Game mode.
Stage 6: Mini-Boss Skip Arcade Glitch
In stage 6, move your ship to the top of the screen to skip the mini-boss section. Note: this glitch doesn't work in the Japanese re-release version.
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Salamander Unlockables
The real final level
To unlock the real final level and boss, you have to insert Gradius 2/Nemesis 2 in the second cartridge slot of the MSX while the Salamander game is inserted in the first slot. While playing, collect the 5 "Predictions" in each stage (except the first), and if done right, reach the real final level, face the real last boss, and get a good ending.
PlayStation 4 Unlockable Trophies
- Record score: The score has been posted to the online rankings in the “ORIGINAL MODE”.
- Mark high score: High score has been updated.
- Score 100,000 points: The score won 100,000 points.
- Score 200,000 points: The score won 200,000 points.
- Score 300,000 points: The score won 300,000 points.
- HI SCORE Player: The score has been posted to the online rankings in the “HI SCORE MODE”.
