Life Force
Japanese Name	Life Force
North American Name	Life Force
Release date	JPN 1988 NA August 1, 1988
Developer	Konami
Publisher	Konami
Platforms	Arcade NES
Chronology
Previous Salamander	Next Cosmic Wars

Life Force was ported version of "Salamander" that had a lot of updates in both design and plot. It saw a release on the NES in 1988 .

Life Force was in many ways a updated Salamander, some elements, such as levels and bosses, were removed to make way for new content. Interestingly, most of the level graphics and enemy sprites from Salamander are used in favor of the ones used in Lifeforce, and it uses the Gradius power-up bar. The game was practically identical to the NES port of Lifeforce, other than being titled Salamander and featuring an expanded Gradius-like power-up bar. These ports make use of the Konami Code, which in this instance increases the number of lives from three to 30.

Contents 1 Differences 2 NES 3 Stages 4 Bosses 5 Trivia

Differences Edit

Life Forces changes from Salamander in the game's plot by adding an opening text that establishes the game to be set inside a giant alien life-form which is infected by a strain of bacteria. Stages that featured starfield backgrounds had them changed with the web background from Stage 1 to maintain consistency with the organic setting of the plot. The power-ups are also given different names, with the "Speed-Up" becoming "Hyper Speed", the "Missile" becoming the "Destruct Missile", the "Ripple Laser" becoming the "Pulse Laser" and "Force Field" becoming the "Shield".

NES Edit

Konami later released an enhanced version of Salamander in Japan bearing the American title of Life Force which further fleshes out the organic motif. All of the backgrounds and mechanical enemies are completely redrawn and given organic appearances. The power-up system was also modified, with the Japanese Life Force using the same power-up gauge as the original Gradius. Some music tracks have been completely changed for this release. The power-up gauge is arranged differently for both players as well.

Both the original Japanese version and the enhanced Life Force release are included in the compilation Salamander Deluxe Pack for the PlayStation and Saturn, as well as in Salamander Portable for the PlayStation Portable.

Stages Edit

Arcade Stage 1: Stomach Muscle Zone Stage 2: Kidney Zone Stage 3: Stomach Inner Chamber Stage 4: Liver Zone Stage 5: Lung Zone Stage 6: Brain Area

NES Stage 1: Bionic Germ Stage 2: Volcano Stage 3: Burning Chaos Stage 4: Organic Speed Zone Stage 5: Temple Zone Stage 6: Fortress Zone

Bosses Edit

Arcade Stage 1: Gorem Stage 2: Zylon Stage 3: Intruder Stage 4: Center Core Stage 5: Gau Stage 6: Big Core X3, Jumping Moai, Zelos Force

NES Stage 1: Brain Golem Stage 2: Center Core, Tetran Stage 3: Intruder, Invader Stage 4: Giga Stage 5: Triple Core, Tutanhamanattack Stage 6: Jumping Moai, Salamander, Zelos Force

Trivia Edit

• Interestingly, Life Force takes place in Gradius year 6842, two years after Gradius III.

Gradius Video Games
Gradius series	Gradius • Gradius II • Gradius III • Gradius Gaiden • Gradius IV • Gradius Galaxies • Gradius V • Gradius ReBirth • Gradius VI
Nemesis series	Nemesis • Nemesis 2 (Nemesis '90 Kai) • Nemesis 3 • Nemesis (Gameboy) • Gradius: The Interstellar Assault • Gradius NEO • Gradius NEO Imperial
Parody games	Parodius • Parodius Da! • Gokujō Parodius! • Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius • Sexy Parodius • Paro Wars • Otomedius (Otomedius Gorgeous) • Otomedius Excellent
Other games	Scramble • Salamander (Life Force) • Flak Attack • A-JAX • Falsion • Thunder Cross • Space Manbow • Quarth • Trigon • Thunder Cross II • Crisis Force • Cosmic Wars • Xexex • Salamander 2 • Solar Assault • Gradius Arc
Fan games	Nemesis '94 • Garudius '95 • Manesis 99 Kai • G-Type • GR3 • Nemesis Online • Storm Assault • Salamander 3 • Shoot The Core • Xeno Fighters EX