Games of the 8-, 16- & 32-bit era

Salamander

Title	Salamander
First release	1986
Developer	Konami
Publisher	Konami
Platforms	Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, NES / Famicom, PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16, PlayStation, ZX Spectrum, Arcade ADB
Genre	shoot 'em up
Also known as	Life Force
Players	1–2 players
Co-op	Yes
ESRB rating	E Everyone
Releases	NES / Famicom: 1987-09-25 (NTSC-J), 1988-08-01 (NTSC-U) MSX: 1987-12-01 (NTSC-J) Amstrad CPC: 1988-12-31 (PAL) Commodore 64: 1988-12-31 (PAL), 1989-11-01 ZX Spectrum: 1988-12-31 (PAL) PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16: 1991-10-01
Wikidata ID	Q1370988

Konami's 1988 release features six levels that alternate between horizontal and vertical scrolling. Players navigate through these stages to engage powerful guardians, collecting power-ups from destroyed enemies to upgrade ship weapons, speed, and defenses. The gameplay focuses on balancing aggressive offense with evasion to combat the alien threat Zelos.

Description: REG-Vault, CC BY-SA 4.0

View on Wikidata Read on Wikipedia

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), gaps filled from REG-Vault and TheGamesDB and Arcade Database (ADB). Only retro platforms tracked by this site are listed; the year is the earliest release date recorded on Wikidata.

Sources

Wikidata (Q1370988) · last updated 2026-09-27 · CC0

REG-Vault (c64/salamander) · last updated 2026-10-01 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

REG-Vault (amstradcpc/salamander-2) · last updated 2026-10-22 · descriptions CC BY-SA 4.0

TheGamesDB (33788) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (122521,125780) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (6417,122449,122522) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (122523,125777) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (22395) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

TheGamesDB (1480,126697) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only

Arcade Database (ADB) (salamand) · last updated 2026-10-02 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · internal use only

Arcade Database ADB

MAME romset	`salamand`
Title at ADB	Salamander (version D)
Manufacturer	Konami
Year	1986
Genre	Shooter / Flying
Players	2
MAME driver status	GOOD

Artwork: ADB (Arcade Database); artwork © original manufacturer (Konami); snaps by ProgettoSnaps via ADB. Non-free, internal use only (hotlinked, not downloaded).

Scraping using Arcade Database by motoschifo · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · romset via Wikidata P2451 (wikidata-qid) · fetched 2026-10-02 16:28 UTC · filled here: platform

Source: REG-Vault (upstream not stated) · © Konami · internal use only

1 / 15 Box art Box art (front) 1

Image credits

Box art, Screenshots, Logos, Artwork (5): Source: REG-Vault (upstream not stated) · © Konami · internal use only. REG-Vault page

Box art (1): Source: TheGamesDB (user-uploaded, NTSC-J release) · © Konami · internal use only. TheGamesDB page

Box art, Screenshots, Logos, Artwork (6): Source: TheGamesDB (user-uploaded) · © Konami · internal use only. TheGamesDB page

Screenshots (3): Source: libretro-thumbnails (upstream libretro-thumbnails (art by developers/publishers; see repo README)) · © Konami · internal use only.

Sprites

No sprite sheets yet. Find sprites on The Spriters Resource ↗ /

Videos

MSX Longplay [011] Salamander

World-of-Longplays · MSX version · longplay · 33:00auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:41 UTC

Life Force (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

NintendoComplete · NES / Famicom version · longplay · 25:51auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:41 UTC

"Auto-matched" videos were found automatically (title + platform match via the YouTube Data API) and may occasionally be wrong. Videos are hosted by YouTube (embedded via youtube-nocookie.com; nothing loads from YouTube until you press play) and belong to their channels.