Hi guys,

Salamander is obviously the best game of all time (no matter what your poll from 2003 said jk

I've never managed to complete the game though. I can get to (what I think is) the final guardian, which comes up from below you.

I'm pretty good at the game - I can get through to this point even if I die *anywhere* in the game (yeah, even halfway through Lavina) but even when I get through to this guardian with 4 options, homing missiles, screw (or meteo or ripple, I've even tried normal, lol ) But I just can't seem to put this guy down. We fight for ages and eventually my options just seem to disappear and then I know the end is near....

Any hints?
- Do I just need to keep blasting away?
- Am I missing something obvious?
- Where should I shoot?
- With what weapon?

I know the cryptic clues you pick up through the game from the oracle are supposed to help, but I don't seem to see how :/


Any help would be appreciated, this has been bugging me for over 15 years


I also heard there's a whole extra level afterwards and alternate ending, if you have Nemisis 2 plugged in, but sadly I guess that's one I'll never see as my old MSX only has 1 port.

Just curious: what MSX is that?

I don't have it handy (it's in the UK, I'm in Australia right now...) so I don't have the details of the model...

It's a Sanyo... Just labeled 'MSX' - so I guess that makes it an MSX1... 32K memory. Seperate Sanyo cassete tape drive that hooks up using audio jacks.

I vaguely remember reading once that I could get some sort of adaptor to handle two roms (connecting to one of the io ports on the back?) but I never really needed to check it out. I've got salamander, konami soccer, kings valley, knightmare and road(rage?/racer? straight up racer... green cars drive straight, blue ones try to ram you...) plus a bunch of tape ('Soccer Boss' anyone?) so I never really needed anything else I've got a copy of Metal Gear floating around too that I picked up at a car boot sale, but was disappointed to discover it was MSX2 only



edit: now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure it has 64k, not 32k (I musta been thinking of my old Dragon32 for a second)

edit2: you know what, I think it IS 32k... I've got quite a clear mental picture of the little cirular plastic 'plug' labelled 32k the goes in one of the corners...

I believe that you are talking about the damn big eye. It's not the final guardian, you will have to fight a huge ship after you beat it. That ship is actually much more easy than the eye itself. It's much like the Eioenus boss, but a bit bigger (Force Field will save you there).

About the eye itself... The best way to beat it is having a nice amount of speed in your ship, and know how the eye will move. As you have noticed, option-eaters will come from the rear. Try to not let them to eat your options or you will have a real hard time trying to fight the boss. The eye is very resistant, so you will have to give him lot's of shots before it dies.

After that, the ship that I told you in first place will appear. No special aid here, just watchout enemy bullets and blast it off. After that, you will complete the game... but... you will discover that the game hasn't actually ended!!!

Get a Nemesis 2 cartridge and insert it on the slot 2, with Salamander at slot 1. If you though that the eye was a difficult boss, prepare to see the real boss of the game XD

Isn't that just a Sanyo MPC-100, with 64k? LIke this:



They have an expansion bus at the back, which can be easily converted to a normal MSX slot indeed.

Karloch:
Thanks for the tips, I'll have another go soon... Tempted to use an emulator to use save states... But I must be strong and resist
I don't have Nemesis 2, or the adapter I need, so I guess I'll never see the final ending unless I use an emulator

Manuel:
Thats the one, thanks for posting the pic, I'd recognise it anywhere! I guess it IS 64k after all, lol....
But what do you mean when you say "just a Sanyo MPC-100"?! "just" indeed, pfft. It's not "just" anything, I love that box ;-)

I meant that it's a very common machine.

64 kb yes snif my old msx snif snif

The EYE indeed. very easy.... don't bother.

Just line up your options at the bottom of the screen and put yerself lef or right of the screen (don't move or yer options will follow yer ship)
when the eye rises, start shooting already. you'll 'ave 'm dead before he can even release 1 optionkiller . stay at the bottom and move around from left to right to avoid collision with the body.

the next boss, not that hard. Same tactics. line up her options and BLAST I say (what's them little lasers) Just move with the ship and stay between the lasters. it's not that hard at all. oh, you have SCREW lasers, don't ya? (they KILL before you even know what they killed)

Salamander, best shooter ever. And, after practise, VERY VERY doable with just one live.
Oh, that extra stage (when nem2 in other slot) is in one of them 3 aligned planets (those you have to choose from which to fight first)
I believe it's hidden in that blue stage (vertical flight) in one of them "eyes" in de middle of the screen. But you have to obtain the blue crystal to see the GOOD end demo (which you get at the end of the extra stage which is the last stage of nemesis 2 btw)

good luck beating that monster!

Quote:

Karloch: Thanks for the tips, I'll have another go soon... Tempted to use an emulator to use save states... But I must be strong and resist I don't have Nemesis 2, or the adapter I need, so I guess I'll never see the final ending unless I use an emulator Manuel: Thats the one, thanks for posting the pic, I'd recognise it anywhere! I guess it IS 64k after all, lol.... But what do you mean when you say "just a Sanyo MPC-100"?! "just" indeed, pfft. It's not "just" anything, I love that box ;-)

I used CAS save back in the years while practising that game (yup, salamander has save options... or was it bcuz I had GAMEMASTER inserted too? hmm, don't remember)

Game Master and especially Game Master 2 can be very helpful for these matters indeed.

Quote:

Oh, that extra stage (when nem2 in other slot) is in one of them 3 aligned planets (those you have to choose from which to fight first) I believe it's hidden in that blue stage (vertical flight) in one of them "eyes" in de middle of the screen. But you have to obtain the blue crystal to see the GOOD end demo (which you get at the end of the extra stage which is the last stage of nemesis 2 btw)

If you find the blue crystal, the extra stage (against the real master) appears before the last stage (against Salamander). It's indeed just like the final stage of Gradius 2, but with an additionnal boss. Then comes the last stage, the big eye, the last boss and the GOOD end demo.

Without Gradius 2 in slot 2 and without the blue crystal, you'll get a BAD end demo : the real master will laugh at you

In my memory, you can simulate a konami cartridge.

Turn on your MSX
When basic is ready, Put your cartrigde on the slot (quickly, left to the rigth)

The code is :
Out &hfe,2
Poke&h...,..

I don't remenber the code.

When you play the stage of nemesis2, graphics are really ugly and the stage is easiest.

Quote:

Turn on your MSX When basic is ready, Put your cartrigde on the slot (quickly, left to the rigth)

I do not recomend you to do that. That is quite dangerous for you MSX, you can toast it. This kind of advices should be given with some care.

Quote:

I believe it's hidden in that blue stage (vertical flight) in one of them "eyes" in de middle of the screen. But you have to obtain the blue crystal to see the GOOD end demo (which you get at the end of the extra stage which is the last stage of nemesis 2 btw)

Don't you mean the Crystal Breeze?


btw, Defeating the Boss with 2 players is even easier... the option eaters come after the same ship everytime (i think they always go for player1) so have player 2 get all the options, and let him blast the eye from the bottomright corner, while the first player stays in the topleftcorner dodging the option killers, which is very easy when you have enough speed.

With single player mode it's as Ro says: kill it before it even has the chance to release those buggers...