 Salamander / Lifeforce Level 1 - Organic Art
Possibly the first use of truly 'organic' graphics, level one is quite a change from the normal shoot-em-up fare. Some of the scenery 'grows' towards you, and at one point giant teeth erupt from the floor and ceiling to impale you. After shooting lots of passive expanding blobby things (you should be able to get every one) you get to the dreaded regenerating pink goo. This stuffs regrows soon after you shoot it away, so line up your multiples behind you and clear a path. The boss for this level is a giant brain. End-of-level brains have since become something of a cliché, but then it was fresh and new, the choice for a new generation. Hang around underneath it whilst it grows its arms, then move in front and shoot the eye. Level 2 - Asteroids
The first vertically scrolling level, you must avoid the indestructable asteroids (or, if you're playing Lifeforce, the indestructable gooseberries). Watch out for a mid-level appearance from the Epilepsy Ship, which makes the screen flash in an annoying way. Also worthy of note are the blue aliens which explode into deadly shards. Position yourself directly underneath them before firing to avoid these fragments. At the end, Mr Twirly make his entrance. He has the standard 3-gate core (you'd think the aliens would have noticed this design flaw by now), and is easily defeated by circling around him. You might like to try 'dangling' your multiples across his body for a quick kill. In Lifeforce, you fight Mr Twirly-Brain. He looks slightly different but the tactics are the same. Level 3 - Chromosphere
Now you are flying across the surface of a star, avoiding the huge arching prominences and shooting indefinable blobby things. This is the easiest stage in the game, as you can sit in one spot (see picture) for most of the level. You only need to move to avoid a repeating prominence near the end. In Lifeforce, this level is blue and looks completely crap. Your final opponent is the Salamander itself. Rather odd that he should make such an early entrance in his own game, but perhaps he was bored. Let him curl around you and keep firing. Eventually he'll start grunting and then explode. The Salamander went on to star in Vulcan Venture, and also has a small role in Konami's PlayStation RPG Vandal Hearts. He is currently presenting a daytime chat show which explores the problems faced by giant space monsters. Level 4 - Canyon of Despair
Something like level 1 of Nemesis turned on its side, this stage features destructable terrain and curious sideways-firing volcanoes. Watch out for a nasty shower of small meteors, followed up by some asteroids which break up if hit (hint : don't hit them). On this level and level 6, you ship can fire an extra missile that drops down into the distance. Use this to destroy the generators that litter the valley floor. The boss on this level is the much reviled Room of Doom. Three cores are lined up at the top, and they shower you with bouncing blue balls before opening up. There is some set of circumstances which makes them open before they start firing, but I've never been able to discover what it is. This is probably the hardest boss in the game. Level 5 - Some More Asteroids
More unhelpful lumps of rock, fewer than in level 2 but faster moving. The fragmentation aliens from level 2 reappear, as does the Epilepsy Ship. Near the end, beware of the circles of aliens which beam in around your ship. Quickly moving backwards and forwards seems to be the best option here. The twin streams of aliens which come next can be avoided by moving to the very front of the screen. This level's boss is a rather dull spaceship which spits a few aliens at you until you blow up its nose. Then it fires a few weedy bullets until it dies. If you're unlucky (or crap), it will fire a blue bouncing ball at you. In Lifeforce you have the slightly more interesting SkullShip. It looks quite hard until you shoot its face off. Level 6 - City of Fear
The final conflict. Watch out for the deadly ground-to-air pink stuff, and cameo appearances by the Nemesis mothership and some bouncy Easter Island heads. You can avoid the Nemesis ships by flying to the extreme top of the screen. If you dangle your multiples behind you, you should be able to destroy them as well. In Lifeforce, however, this loophole has been closed. When you hear the warning sirens and the 'Danger! Danger!' voice, the end is near. The ultimate enemy is the less-than-terrifying Black Pudding of Death. He comes on from behind you, but offers no resistance whatsoever. Take out his supports and he falls screaming to the city below. Now the scrolling speeds up and you must avoid the barriers which shoot out from the sides of the screen (quite nasty, this bit). If you survive, sit back and watch the planet explode. If you're on Lifeforce, sit back and watch the strange plant thing explode. Now do it all again!
Try Again Interestingly, the levels change a bit on your second run. Level 1 has some extra 'growths' in it, and more regenerating gunk. There's also less space in the brain's cavern. In level 3, all of the prominences flare continuously, so you must dodge around quite a bit. In fact, all of the levels are substantially harder. And on and on! |
