Salamander 2

Salamander 2 is a horizontal-scrolling shooter video game in which players control a starship through six scrolling stages in an attempt to destroy the hostile alien race "Doom" before they wipe out the planet Gradius and the remains of mankind. The first player controls the blue Vic Viper while the second player controls the red Super Cobra. Both ships are tasked with completing each of the game's six scrolling stages; these stages alternate between horizontal and vertical-scrolling planes. In these, players must shoot down constantly-moving formations of enemies while avoiding collisions with them, their projectiles, and moving obstacles such as asteroids and walls.

Stages conclude with a fight against a boss that is defeated by destroying its weak point. Completing all six stages allows the player to start back at the beginning, or "loop", to replay the game at a higher difficulty.

Salamander 2 is the arcade sequel to Salamander (1986) and the third installment in the Salamander series, itself a spin-off of Konami's larger Gradius franchise. The game was programmed for the Konami GX Type 2 arcade system board, which was also used for similar shooters like Twinbee Yahho! (1995) and Sexy Parodius (1996). Salamander 2 features a noticeably drastic change in art direction from Konami's other shooters, with darker, more washed-out color choices.

Its character designs and artwork were designed by company artist Mariko Tokida. She claims to have had difficulty designing these, particularly the first stage boss and moving asteroid obstacles, due to the enormity of the color palette, the complex sprite animation tools, and varying size limits. The Super Cobra ship is named after an older 1981 Konami arcade game of the same name that is loosely tied to the Gradius series.

According to Game Machine, a Japanese arcade game publication, Salamander 2 achieved a moderate level of success in arcades. However, the game was criticized by fans of the original Salamander for its inferiority and poor design. Game Criticism found it to be an average scrolling shooter that lacked any innovation, with badly-designed graphics and generic weapons. Electronic Gaming Monthly staff commented on the detailed visuals and fast-paced gameplay, though they expressed disappointment at the lack of any major changes to the standard Salamander and Gradius mechanics. Edge, in contrast, believed its graphics and challenge could help mark the return of more "hardcore" shooter fans into arcades.

Reception towards home releases of Salamander 2 was more positive. Rich Leadbetter of Sega Saturn Magazine, in his review of Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus, enjoyed its gameplay, graphics, and useful weapon pickups, in addition to its many callbacks to the original Salamander and Life Force. GameFan writers agreed; one wrote that it "hearkens back to the glory days" of Konami, and nicely contrasted from the developer's TwinBee and Parodius releases. Edge staff were enamored with the game's detailed visuals and parallax-scrolling backdrops, but believed it suffered from an overly-high difficulty and short length. They wrote that its problems made it a title that "fails to offer the finely tuned balance between success and failure on which the gaming experience depends."