Life Force Revisited - Same Name, Different Game (US vs. Japanese Arcade Comparison)

[@LunaManar]

The naming madness that is Gradius/Nemesis/Gofer no Yabou/Vulcan Venture and Salamander/Life Force will never cease to make my head spin. I wish there were a site or wiki page somewhere that actually detailed all the different variations and offered condensed maps/mechanics for comparison of each title. It would help me keep them straight. That said, I adored NES Life Force, and later all the Salamander/Life Force variants on MAME. That label/box art is one of might all-time favorite pieces of video game artwork, too. It's been my avatar icon on Steam since 2012 now. Love this video, thank you for making it!

[@thewingedavenger1007]

I'll never forget this one. I went to my local mall, walked into the Space Port arcade, and Life Force immediately caught my eye. I put a quarter into the machine, and the voice said, "Destroy the mall", so I stole a bulldozer and attempted to complete that mission. I only managed to destroy about 10% of the mall when I was apprehended and locked in an asylum for the criminally insane, where to this day I spend my time writing comments on KZbin channels.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

That took a turn.

[@ProjectGenesisMusic]

Life Force on nes was my introduction to the series, but as I got older the ability to respawn right where you died instead of stopping the game and starting at the begging of the level is the big factor of why I prefer Life Force, Salamander 2, and Gradius 5 over all the other entries. Especially now that my Gradius skills have deteriorated over the years and I'm less patient in my older age haha

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Heard that.

[@zanegandini5350]

You started out around 2011? Man, I was only 12. You're right about AVGN being popular back then, that would have been around the same time I became obsessed with his videos. That's also around the time I got my NES from my buddy, and started messing around with emulators such as ZSNES and Kega Fusion, and went down the rabbithole of old games in general. It's a shame I didn't find out about this channel until around 2018-ish, because I would have loved it just as much back then.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Yep, February 2011!

[@starlightrevenant]

I remember playing the Salamander and Life Force games years ago on the Japan-only PSP Salamander Portable collection - which that compilation with games ported by M2, was the reason I also discovered the Nemesis 2 MSX game and played the arcade-perfect Salamander sequel from that compilation.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

It's a great collection, really.

[@TexasHollowEarth]

Salamander Collection was originally released for the PS1, also only in Japan. I used to own it.

[@AaronKraten]

Cool video ! I played the lifeforce American arcade game in the 80's and always thought it was cool and very different from the Nes version. your video sheds a lot of light on the different games. Years later I tracked down the Arcade pcb my candy cab. Such a great time of Konami's carrier . Thunder Cross 1 and 2 is a cool Gradius esc series konami made in the arcade as well. Thanks for making such cool content.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thanks for watching!

[@joshmiller887]

I was just playing life force 2 nights ago. It requires some memorization that I don’t love, but man, once you’ve got it...you’ve GOT IT.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Definitely!

[@HybridAngelZero]

As a kid, I always thought Life Force was Gradius II, since I knew the Game Boy version of Gradius had been renamed Nemesis, and Konami had a weird habit of doing both same name different game and same game, different name back then, that was the conclusion I came to xD Also, thank YOU, Joe, for taking time out of your life so frequently over the course of this last decade to bring us cool videos

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@ZerotakerZX]

Yes, thanks for stuff. I wish this channel was much larger, but quality doesn't mean popularity and vice versa nowdays.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thank you!

[@mistyknightsbionicarm]

@@SameNameDifferentGame to their point. When people ask me what stuff I watch on yt this channel is what I yell first. But outside of that what could we do to get the word out.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

@@mistyknightsbionicarm Post the link on your socials, if you have 'em! Tell your Twitter friends, etc.!

[@DonnyKirkMusic]

I am glad that KZbin has all of these small channels, but its the main reason why I'm addicted to this damn site lol.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

@@DonnyKirkMusic I'll take it!

[@ebbderelict]

I first experienced Salamander with the C64 version. I've since played Lifeforce via the Konami Arcade Classics... thank god for save states.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

100% this.

[@paisleyboxers]

I LOVED this NES game and didn’t know it was an arcade game called Salamander until 2019. Thank you for putting so much work into this!

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thanks for watching, Paisley!

[@Angellmbrr]

For me, it was always "Life Force: Salander", just one title. but that was because I played the European game for the C64. I got confused seeing one name in the arcades and another on the consoles,... there was no internet that told me it was the same game, just different....NAME ;)

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Legit!

[@ctochtli2964]

Retry the whole level is the best way to learn how to play, if you continue exactly after you lose then never will be a improvement, and that's part of the experience, "just a little more far" each time and eventually the game is beaten, is a challenging experience and I love it.

[@JohnSmithAprilMay]

Man, I almost forgot about the music videos. I fist bumped the screen when "Do You Still Hate Me?" started playing over shmup footage. Then I realized you were from Milwaukee, and Racine-ass me fist bumped even harder. Good channel, grats on a decade.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thanks, dude!

[@MakopoweredGaming]

This is an awesome video - I really like the way you brought it back to the beginning of your channel! Congratulations on ten years!

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thank you!

[@MellowGaming]

Congrats on reaching the ten year mark dude. You consistently make some of the most worthwhile retro gaming stuff on this hellsite. Think I've been watching since You and Game Vs Game did that Street Fighter video. At least since then. The end of this video reminded me that it's Wrestlemania season soon. Looking forward to what Joey Pink will bring us.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@noneofyourbusiness4616]

You hate the word "Shemp?" "Shrimp?" :-) Congratulations on ten years of being awesome (well, that probably went on a lot longer, but we've only seen it for ten years). Your mention of "Scramble" brought back some memories. A couple of good 8-bit computer games in a roughly similar style were "Fort Apocalypse" (though the scrolling was not forced in that one -- basically a hybrid of Choplifter and Scramble) and "Zeppelin."

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Oh, no, I love Shemp (underrated Stooge, tbh) and shrimp!

[@UltimateMovieMaster]

I've been watching since I think 2017 when I stumbled across your Street Fighter II episode and I've gotten a ton of enjoyment out of the show, I've even added some games to my collection because of it. So thank you for and congratulations on 10 years of SNDG, here's hoping for many more. As for Life Force and the Gradius series in general I've really been meaning to play it more, really need to dig out my copies of Gradius III SNES and Nemesis GB.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

I'm glad you've enjoyed it!

[@stanleyteriaca2184]

Salamander. You can play both in the Konami Arcade Anniversary Collection for the Nintendo Switch.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

That's true.

[@Jenovi]

Awesome job, and almost 10k subs!!!! Amazing!

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

TWELVE TO GO!

[@LordTeaboBaggins]

I too hate the word 'shmup' it sounds like something my parents would freak about if they walked in on me doing a shmup

[@osurpless]

So, one might say that “your frothing demand” for that term “doesn’t increase?” www.lukiegames.com/Ikaruga-Gamecube-Game.html

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Seems possible.

[@Mintcar923]

People always tell me this about Shmup and Cute em up but these terms interestingly don’t bother me.. I personally can’t stand Walking Sim & J-RPG In any event I’ll always have an affinity for Konami being Frogger was my first game essentially in life at least as I recall.. And, I have such fond memories also of Super Cobra, Time Pilot and Yie Ar Kung Fu

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

@@Mintcar923 "Walking Sim" bugs me because it's annoyingly dismissive. I get "JRPG," though, I mean, Japanese RPGs are typically different from western ones in a number of ways.

[@Mintcar923]

@@SameNameDifferentGame I just call them Journey Likes even tho perhaps Journey wasn’t the first of its kind.. Additionally literally any rpg with any style under the sun from Japan can be technically called jrpg.. There was a guy I spoke to who said the new Tomb Raider was JRPG.. That would mean it’s in the same genre as Chrono Trigger.. I also believe it’s not fair to isolate Japan but only as far as rpg.. Nor lump everything else rpg together as “western..” Ridiculous terminology!!

[@nintendonicholas9141]

The first video I watched of this channel was your sndg on super Ghouls and ghosts and I was hooked ever since. Thank you for pumping out the amazing content

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thank *you* for watching!

[@nintendonicholas9141]

@@SameNameDifferentGame no problem. If I may ask simple question, your old channel name was the same name of the website on the stick. Does that mean that you were the creator of said website?

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

@@nintendonicholas9141 I was one of them, yes.

[@demgutts]

One of the best gaming channels on KZbin, thank you for the hard work Joe. Miss the live streams

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

They're on another channel! We still do them every week! kzbin.info

[@hubertogarcia3377]

Great job dude, your channel should be more popular. Great videos

[@jonathanalvarez2909]

Been a fan of your show for years. Keep up the awesome work.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thank you so much!

[@jonathanalvarez2909]

Can't wait to see the return of the great one Joey Pink back for wrestlemania season.

[@braselthegamer]

Super informative video. Thanks man. Glad you took time to put this info out there.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thanks for watching!

[@thecunninlynguist]

Awesome! I acually watched the first ep not too long ago

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Glad you liked it!

[@jugghead82]

Life Force an amazing game, keep up the good work Sir Happy 10th Anniversary

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thank you!

[@SamuraiSam]

Thanks for doing a great job this decade! Here's hoping you're still going strong in 2031!

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thanks! Hope so!

[@st1ka]

YOU GOT RID OF THE FUTON?! HOW DARE YOU?!? Seriously though, I only discovered you like 3 years ago and I love your stuff xD

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

I gave it back to my parents and THEY got rid of it, technically.

[@lorddalek]

Can confirm, JP Lifeforce does not let you credit feed for up to 63 lives.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

I wouldn't lie to you!

[@Mojo7423]

My exposure was the old NES LifeForce which had the Contra feel to it in regards to power ups and continues as the Konami code worked on LifeForce.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Yeah, for sure!

[@theunkemptvaper6866]

I felt that thanks at the end it's such a small thing but I guarantee it made all your subs especially from a decade ago feel appreciated. I myself have been watching for about a year now. Oh yeah and I freaking hate the word shmup.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

I'm glad! Cheers!

[@bpelectric]

Congrats on 10 years!!

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thank you!

[@jasenweitekamp2036]

Great video! Been playing Life Force lately. You used the description "Cronenbrgian". Were you referring to David Cronenberg the film maker or were you referring to Sully Cronenberg the plumber who lives a couple of blocks away from me that continually steals my mail?

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

I believe in your ability to figure out the answer to that question on your own. (The plumber, obviously.)

[@dalesides1490]

Life Force was an awesome game. when I was a kid I was just goofing around and found out that the Konami code worked.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Yeah!

[@ceberuss_yt8266]

Great stuff! Thank you!

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thank *you*!

[@blackvalkyrie3521]

My favorite game game of all time, played almost all the ports, the arcade is still the best. Thanks.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Hell yeah.

[@renanmorimpastor708]

These shooter games are the kind I always wanted to be good about it, but I definitely suck at them (my strengths are more in fighting and survival horror games). Still, I like to see videos about it, and this channel always delivers. Cheers for the decade and one more cheers for the next one!

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Classic shoot-'em-ups are arguably the hardest genre out there! But they can still be fun if you suck! I suck at a lot of them (and even the ones I'm good at, I'm not nearly as good as a lot of other folks), and they're still pretty fun!

[@IgoByaGo]

God I love the music to this game. Great episode. I recently found your channel last year. Uh-oh Sega Lord X uses Batman on the Genesis as his end!!! *Edit* I am a dumbass, that is not the song from Batman. I thought it was late at night. Watched a Sega Lord X video and saw the outro and was like.. damn I'm dumb. I need to fix my comment and saw there was a reply on it.... Shame...

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Glad you're digging the channel! I know SLX uses Genesis Batman music, but I'm not sure what that has to do with this? I don't use Genesis Batman music anywhere in this video...

[@IgoByaGo]

@@SameNameDifferentGame Yeah, I watched it again. This is why I need to go to bed instead of commenting late at night. It is just your intro, but for some reason I was placing it as the end of Sega Lord X videos instead of your intro. I am a dumb ass sometimes.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

@@IgoByaGo Haha, nah, it's all good. Part of "Crash Course" is made on Genesis hardware.

[@IgoByaGo]

@@SameNameDifferentGame Oh sweet!! I love Genesis made music. What was the name of the song that was an older intro (the one with the girl singing)? I love that intro.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

@@IgoByaGo "The Freshest Cat Possible"

[@B33FY2011]

I never really played Gradius, Salamander or Lifeforce much before watching your first ever episode. I had played it in the past but didn't understand why both Gradius and Lifeforce were so similar and didn't even know about Nemesis.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

It can all be very confusing stuff, yeah.

[@AnHebrewChild]

Cool video. HOW are you getting 4x option? 7:10 I thought double option was the limit.

[@XxDevilXNeverXCryxX]

I'm such a nerd for your content! I got super hype for Joey Pink! To another 10 years of content

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Cheers!

[@raym1477]

The Konami Collection you mentioned is on sale for $4.99 on PSN right now

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Totally worth it.

[@dezm101]

awesome video man! Great job. I am one of those wierdos who likes the lore of shoot em ups, I even started a whole series about Gradius Lore haha.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

I know! I watched part of it while making this!

[@dezm101]

@@SameNameDifferentGame wow thanks for watching! I am a big fan of your work!!!

[@davidmatoushek9111]

The first video I ever saw on your channel was the first Beavis and Butt-head video. You were so young back then.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Oh, dang. Yeah, I was.

[@SylphidUndine]

konami in english means you die in one hit.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Indeed it does!

[@ROMBomb001]

Wow, I'm out of the loop! 4:35 "While it's wierd to think of it now, Konami was at one time a prolific force in video games." So, I haven't followed new video games since the PS2 era, and the last new game I purchased was Skyrim on 360. Can someone explain to me what the hell happened to Konami ? Are they a joke now?

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

The basically just make slot machines and have other people re-release compilations of their old games.

[@ROMBomb001]

@@SameNameDifferentGame Wow, that is a shame, but I suppose the industry is ever-evolving. Thanks for responding!

[@PortableXombie]

Me at the beginning of the video: I just want to know about the comparisons between the games. Not the history of your damn channel. Also me at the end of video: Subscribed! I can be so cranky before my coffee in the morning.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Watch my videos after your coffee!

[@ArcherBodkin]

Its been an adventure

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

It has!

[@Scurge237]

Very cool video

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thank you!

[@leandrotorreal]

It’s my favorite shooter on the NES

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Same!

[@IllmatikRebelTV]

Oh man. All this time, the first stage in Life force is.....The colon entrance?😂

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

APPARENTLY.

[@IllmatikRebelTV]

@@SameNameDifferentGame 🤣🤣🤣🤣😅😅😅

[@yousefslimani99]

I really wish they released salamander on SEGA Master System or even on SEGA Megadrive 😭

[@SieffrePlays]

Commenting for the dumb algorithm. Good stuff as always!

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Thanks, Sieffre!

[@Seafoamgaming]

This game is pretty darn great, but I do agree that the NES one is the best over the Arcade games. The arcade ones are fun but cheap bs like Stage 5 and the Stage 4 boss with the infinite blue balls are very irritating and a completely unfair 1CC killer. I really wanna try the Near Arcade remake of PCE Salamander included in the US TG Mini, since it basically is the PCE ver with respawning and arcade voices along with improved presentation. But alas, I have the JP mini which omits it. Fun fact: The US version DOES kinda explain the weird half-ass nature of the game's new story in-game, as the title screen will switch to a text scroll after a while, describing an urgent quest to get a space ship injected into a mechanical warrior robot named Sentiel, in order to kill a brain tumor. It makes no god darn sense though and makes the levels even more silly, since an asteroid field and a mechanical base with flying spaceships inside of a half robot is just beyond dumb of a concept. The JP version doesn't have much of a story besides arcade materials noting "This thing called Life Force absorbed parts of the solar system, invade and destroy from within", so basically, JP Life Force has the creature you're going inside as a massive being of huge scale (explaining why there's the mechanical stuff in spots), and US Life Force has a faux fantastic journey scenario that's an excuse plot. Of the three, I prefer Salamander's original Arcade version, solely due to simplicity. It just feels so much more natural as a gradius followup. Was a fan of the OG episode when I found the series in 2013, and having just caught up lately I'm super excited to see the next ten decades of SNDG in the future! Curious if the MSX version of Salamander will be reviewed in SNDG Gaiden, since that's essentially a brand new, separate game with the same name, like MSX Gradius 2, and I'd love to see your thoughts on those side games

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Yeah, I didn't include that, partially just because it's so weird. I'd like to include MSX Salamander at some point, but I'm not sure in what venue yet.

[@jamesburchill7522]

I have a beef with the tube. I thought your channel went dark..but no. You just weren't being pushed.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

This is bogus. Hit the bell, I guess?

[@jamesburchill7522]

@@SameNameDifferentGame Bell was same as always

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

@@jamesburchill7522 Well, that sucks. Damn, KZbin.

[@movieclipz5034]

I still prefer the NES version over all the versions of this game that came out.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Same here!

[@TheZeofobic73Channel]

My Sórt of game, fast impossible and can't put it down, Regards Zeo👍

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Word!

[@wyldink1]

You hate the "word" shmup, too? Looks like my subscription was deserved.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

I hate it so much.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

These games are indeed frustrating...good thing there's the Konami code

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Not in the arcade, though!

[@cordellmarley7558]

Same Name Different Face..

[@TeddyBelcher4kultrawide]

Waste of an empty cartridge

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Huh?

[@YoureNotAlexander]

I never got a chance to look into Life Force back in the day as the gaming budget was quite tight. I had procured a used copy of Gradius on the ol' NES years after it came out and got to see why that game had garnered such an incredible global fandom throughout the years. If I'm not mistaken, I do believe I acquired that cartridge a few years after Gradius III had released on the SNES and was particularly impressed how well the original game held up, even to that point. After seeing several videos on the topic of Life Force, it seems unreal to me that Konami never made it an official part of the Gradius series. Despite a few subtle differences, it's practically the same game. To this day, I don't think I ever got a chance to play Life Force. As such, my only exposure to this title is through KZbin channels such as James Rolfs as well as his numerous imitators(just kidding Joe XD) showcasing classic gameplay through reviews, Let's Plays, and other retrospectives. Although the in depth insight into the various different versions of games such as todays subject matter is always appreciated, to be perfectly honest, I just like looking at footage of old school games scrolling cross my monitor. At 41 years of age, something about watching old school gameplay instills a kind of calm feeling I don't get from anything else. It's my purest feeling of nostalgia reminding me of times that were both rougher in some respects but also care free in others. Not necessarily a better time. Just one long past. A time when my passion for gaming burned like a super nova. A feeling I can't truly say I have for the hobby anymore these days. But watching videos across your various channels helps me to remember and occasionally rekindle a spark of that old wanderlust through the incredible 8 bit worlds these games would set the foundation with, and my wild running child's imagination would then fill in the blank spaces and elaborate on. That "feeling" of nostalgia is one of the greatest pleasures, few as they may be, I've left to indulge myself with and I look forward to many years doing just that on Same Name, Different Game and On The Stick. I can't say I've been here for the entire decade but I do believe I've been commenting on your videos for around 3 or 4 years so it has been a while. And I've noticed that you've replied to me more often than not which is a quality I've always respected about content creators of substance. In ten years, we've gotten to see your hair migrate from the North Pole to the South. Can't wait to see where it will be in another ten.

[@SameNameDifferentGame]

Grey, probably. But thanks for watching and sticking around! I think there's always going to be something about the games you saw/played as a kid. They're kinda like Proust's madeleines, you know?

[@YoureNotAlexander]

@@SameNameDifferentGame That’s pretty much the term I’d use to describe the sensation.