The PC Engine version of Salamander was first released by Konami in 1991, and it demonstrates why NEC‘s small-form console was so ahead of everything else at the time. It has great graphics and sound, smooth scrolling, large objects moving around the screen, very little sprite tearing, responsive controls, and a simultaneous two-player gameplay mode.
Tag Archives: side scrolling
Salamander, MSX
The MSX port of Konami‘s classic arcade shooter, Salamander, was first released in Japan – on cartridge – in 1987. And although it shares the name and certain elements from the arcade game, this is a completely new version of Salamander, with a new storyline, new characters, ships and levels. It is sometimes referred to as “Salamander: Operation X“.
Atomic Runner, Megadrive/Genesis
A conversion of the 1988 arcade game, Atomic Runner Chelnov. Developer/publisher Data East dropped the “Chelnov” part from the title of the 1992 Megadrive/Genesis release, but the gameplay stays more or less the same.
You must shoot and jump your way through seven continually-scrolling stages, only stopping to fight bosses at the end of each.
Express Raider, Arcade
In Data East‘s 1986 Wild West-themed scrolling action game – Express Raider (aka “Western Express” in Japan) – you’re not trying to be the good guy; you’re actually the bad guy, trying to hold up a series of trains and steal as much gold and money as possible.
Splatterhouse, FM Towns
The FM Towns version of the controversial Namco arcade game, Splatterhouse, was developed and published by Ving – in Japan only – in 1992. It doesn’t suffer from any of the censorship, that some versions of the game do, and is a completely uncut and almost perfect port of the arcade original.
Crime Wave, Atari ST
Crime Wave is a side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter, developed by The Code Monkeys for Access Software and first published in 1990. It is reminiscent of the 1989 arcade game, Narc, and could in fact be described as a clone of that game.
Crime Wave, PC
Developed and published by Access Software in 1990, Crime Wave is a side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter for MS-DOS that uses digitised graphics for the backgrounds, sprites, and cut scenes. Crime Wave – it has to be said – looks and plays like a clone of Williams Electronics‘ 1989 arcade game, Narc, which it almost certainly is.
Choplifter XE, Atari 8-bit
This ‘enhanced’ remake of Dan Gorlin‘s Choplifter was released for Atari XE computers by Atari Corporation in 1988. It features improved graphics, but with pretty much the same gameplay as the original.
Choplifter, Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 conversion of Choplifter was developed by Ibid, Inc. and first released by Atari Corporation in 1987, and while it does at first glance look better than all the other Atari ports of the game, it unfortunately plays pretty poorly.
Choplifter, Sega Master System
The Master System version of Choplifter was developed and published by Sega in 1986, and it is closest to Sega‘s arcade version of the game. That said, it’s not as head-bangingly hard as the arcade version, but does have all the different stages, so could be argued is the best version of (the first) Choplifter around.
The King of Grabs 