I recently played Salamander on the Turbografx-16 and was shocked by how utterly different it was from Lifeforce.  I think I read somewhere that the Famicom release of the game retained the Salamander name.  I wanted to know if that game also differed significantly from Lifeforce, if it is closer to the arcade version, or if it is more like its own game entirely.

It's called Gradius II iirc. Totally different then Life Force. I played it a while back so correct me if i'm wrong here guys.

NESaholic wrote on 15. Jan 2008 at 12:47:

It's called Gradius II iirc. Totally different then Life Force. I played it a while back so correct me if i'm wrong here guys.

If it's Gradius II, then it is completely different.  Lifeforce at least shares similar levels and music to Salamander, Gradius II is nothing like Salamander.

To settle the debate once and for all. ;)

Salamander=Life Force
Gradius II=Unreleased here in the United States.

Yes, yes; but what I'm wonder is if Salamander (Famicom) is different from Lifeforce (NES).

Werdna wrote on 18. Jan 2008 at 15:18:

Yes, yes; but what I'm wonder is if Salamander (Famicom) is different from Lifeforce (NES).

From what I've played, it really isn't much different, but then again, I haven't played as much of Salamander as I'd like to admit I have. But from what I've plated, there really wasn't much of a difference.

FamicomJL wrote on 17. Jan 2008 at 02:12:

To settle the debate once and for all. ;) Salamander=Life Force Gradius II=Unreleased here in the United States.

Thanks for clearing that up, honestly was in heavy doubt.

Salamander on the Famicom and Lifeforce on the nes are pretty much the same other than the power up bar's graphics being different.

Lifeforce is the US arcade version of the Salamander JP arcade version. I think that just some of the background graphics were changed.

The famicom/nes versions were a reworking of the arcade salamender/lifeforce, where the tg16 release is much closer to the arcade. Stuff was cut/added to the famicom/nes versions.

The Famicom version of Salamander/Life Force also has different endings depending on how well you did. One of them shows that your pilot is a woman...

wrote on 21. Sep 2008 at 06:34:

The Famicom version of Salamander/Life Force also has different endings depending on how well you did. One of them shows that your pilot is a woman...

Perhaps Samus has a 2nd job?

To update on this, the only significant gameplay difference is that in the Famicom version you get 3 options instead of 2 in Lifeforce. Rare occasion where the Japanese version is easier (slightly--calling Salamander easy is like saying that a guy that is paralyzed from the nipples down is less paralyzed than a guy paralyzed from the neck down.)