Reviews

Salamander as most people probably don't know is a game series related to Gradius, a series people might know. The basic premise of this anime is lifted from the Salamander game. Basically you have four pilots unrelated to the game that have to save their world from the Bacterians that are going to turn it into yet another new home for them. The plot is pretty thin and most of the episodes are talking and flying around in the Vic Vipers to shoot stuff. Just like a game. However it does flesh out some of the questions people might have had about why they are flying into living entrails for levels.

What I liked most about this, is that in some scenes you can see on the radar and projected layout the level designs lifted from the game. Also, it has Moai statues! (Something some of the games lacked and were missed by fans).

If your a fan of the games, this will be a nice anime to add to the overall universe of the games. For others, this anime may seem like many other 90s sci-fi anime from the time. For me I enjoyed the anime for what it was, a tie in to the game where you fly around and shoot stuff. Others might find the rice paper thin plot a bit slow and plodding with cliches all around and the characters annoying as one has the troubled past, one is a planetary leader, one is the "main character", and another gets kidnapped. It's pretty obvious on what happens to who.