The End, 1980 Konami/Stern

Channel:

crazyclimber80

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Published on September 12, 2018 10:34:35 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-34ePnQPR5A

Game:

Salamander (1986)

Duration: 11:01

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12

Rather blah initial offering by Konami (they had previously been known as LEIJAC). Reminiscent of GALAXIAN, aliens will swoop down towards your ship and collect bricks that are either above (in the Konami original version) or below you (in the Stern-licensed version seen in the US), then return them to the top and try to spell the word END brick by brick. If they succeed (and they eventually will) your game will end, regardless of how many lives you have left. That's pretty much it; your spaceship has a fast laser that you use to prevent the aliens from building the END word with their ill-gotten gains. When the bricks are used up they will be quickly replaced. Shooting an enemy when they have a brick will double their value. The scoring for the Konami original is lower than the Stern version, and thus the criteria for an extra life is different (5,000 for Konami, 10,000 for Stern). Eventually the alien ship that the aliens jump off of will fire a single shot at you, one at a time. Also, the ship will eventually stop making an appearance and the aliens will just jump down from the top of the screen. When all the aliens are destroyed you move on to the next wave and the bricks are replenished. That's really all there is to the game; I prefer the Konami original since you can use the bricks as a bunker, and also blast any alien trying to take a brick from a single remaining layer. Konami's fortunes under that company title would change the following year with several big hits, like SCRAMBLE/SUPER COBRA, FROGGER and AMIDAR.