Reviews

Basically , an R-Type clone without a character of its own .

A bad copy of a grat game ...

Conversion of the eponymous Konami coin-op. Not a bad job - much worse conversions were unfortunately made for the Spectrum - but even taking the limitations of our beloved computer into account, it's not a great effort either. Graphics and sound are merely adequate, and some levels have also been skipped. Gameplay only shows a fraction of the smooth, frantic experience of the coin-op.

Not an essential title in the Spectrum's gaming history.

Salamander is a challenge between difficulty and obstinacy.
After having accumulated lots of power up's with ease, the real game starts when you penetrate an organic space environment, riddled with swinging paws suddenly emerging from what look like walls made out of pinky gums. Learn to position yourself in order to strike the weak spots that each swinging paw has and shows, and you'll be able to get past this section with frequent success.
The next bit of space cavern is little more engaging. The passages become terribly narrow and you're at the mercy of strange protruding entities, shooting strange organic bullets at different speed, in an irregular way - which means you need to improve your reflexes, your technique... and your luck. This point is the first big obstacle. It took me dozens and dozens of attempts, before being able to get past it, and some other dozens before being able to get past it with a certain frequency - only to find myself back into the gummy environment, this time offering giant fangs moving in and out of the superior and inferior walls, creating another very-hard-to-pass moment. After a while, obstinacy lost its belligerence, and difficulty won. But maybe if you insist...

3,5/5

1987 Konami (UK)
by Andrew Glaister and Stuart Ruecroft

Conversion of the Konami arcade coin-op and the follow up to Nemesis. It's not a bad game by any means but the conversion could have been done better. The original coin-op is quite challenging and addictive, while the Spectrum version is just mildly. A few sections from the arcade game were also left out which is quite disappointing for anyone wanting to experience it fully, otherwise, in an age of PC emulators you are better of just playing the arcade coin-op emulated game, easily traceable online. Overall the game falls in the category of average games, where graphics, sound and gameplay are merely suitable.

It's a conversion of a Konami arcade game known in Europe as Life Force, so why they went with its Japanese title here I have no idea. It's published by Konami themselves as well who didn't have a good track record on the Spectrum it has to be said. Their first release Jail Break, another arcade conversion, was critically panned which was quite the start. The reviews for this were more mixed but leaning towards the more positive side, but I feel quite mixed about this as well, on the negative side however. The graphics are nice, I'm not going to mess with those, I mean the loading screen is gorgeous, not the monster, he is one ugly motherfucker, but it is brilliantly drawn and colourful, as are the whole graphics here. But the gameplay once more is a let down. It is slow, which you can tolerate as you get a speed up powerup if you're lucky, but it can be a major hinderance if you don't because it is brutal in its difficulty. Now for once I can say I can play the arcade game for comparison purposes, my son Rocco has this on his Xbox, so I had a go on it and let's just say as an arcade conversion, it is no way a good one. Renegade and Cabal are two Spectrum conversions that trounce the Arcade counterparts in every conceivable way, but Salamander however will not be among that list. Graphically, it is very nice, but for gameplay it is merely a bland difficult shell of its arcade self that serves as now fun whatsoever.