Life Force

Life Force
Arcade flyer.
Japanesetitle	ライフフォース Raifu Fōsu
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Series	Salamander
Platform(s)	Arcade NES
Release date(s)	1988 August 1, 1988
Genre(s)	Horizontal/Vertical scrolling shoot'em up
Mode(s)	1 or 2 players (simultaneously)

Life Force (ライフフォース, Raifu Fōsu) is a ported version of Salamander, originally released for arcades, which had many updates in both design and plot. It also saw a release on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1988.

Life Force was in many ways an updated Salamander; some elements, such as levels and bosses, were removed to make space for new content. Interestingly, most of the level graphics and enemy sprites from Salamander were used in favor of the ones used in Life Force, and it uses the Gradius power-up bar. The game was practically identical to the NES port of Life Force, 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 3 to 30.

Plot

Two years have passed since the battle against the Bacterian star system...

To the planet Gradius which regained peace, an unprecedented crisis has arrived. The unknown super-organism "Life Force" suddenly appeared in space!! It's a gigantic creature which absorbs all substances and continues to grow without stopping. In the meantime, planet Gradius will be absorbed too! People entrust their last hope into the super spatio-temporal fighter Vic Viper.

Differences from Salamander

Life Force changes the plot from Salamander by adding an opening text which establishes the game to be set inside a giant alien life-form infected by a strain of bacteria. Stages which featured star field 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 too:

• "Speed-Up" to "Hyper Speed"
• "Missile" to "Destruct Missile"
• "Ripple Laser" to "Pulse Laser"
• "Force Field" to "Shield"

NES version

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 also 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 Plus for the PlayStation and Saturn, as well as in Salamander Portable for the PlayStation Portable.

Stages

Arcade

Stage	Name	Boss	Music
1	Stomach Muscle Zone	Golem	Power of Anger
2	Kidney Zone	Zylom	Thunderbolt
3	Stomach Inner Chamber	Intruder	Planet Ratis
4	Liver Zone	Fortress Valis	Slash Fighter
5	Lung Zone	Gaw	Combat
6	Brain Area	Zelos Force	Destroy Them All

NES

Stage	Name	Boss	Music
1	Bionic Germ	Golem	Power of Anger
2	Volcano	Fortress Valis Cruiser Tetran	Starfield
3	Burning Chaos	Intruder	Planet Ratis
4	Organic Speed Zone	Giga	Burn the Wind
5	Temple Zone	Crash Bam Tutankhamon	Thunderbolt
6	Fortress Zone	Salamander Zelos Force	Destroy Them All

New enemies

• Fireball
• Prowler
• Jelip
• Bamda
• Tubles
• Zacron
• Potato Cell
• Small Bone
• Stones
• Rush
• Bibi
• Triangle

Gallery

Famicom cover.

NES cover.

Trivia

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

External links

• Title at MobyGames
• Title at GameFAQs