Salamander

The water planet of Latis, a sparkling jewel in the depths of space. There, a prophecy of fire has been passed down across countless generations. A thousand light years away, a huge dragon will be born in a sea of flame. When it awakens, it will engulf heaven and earth in darkness, shattering the light for all time. The star cluster of Bacterian has continued its conquest of space with its vast forces. Now it has invaded the planet Latis with its Salamander Force. The armies of Latis are helpless against the intense onslaught of the Salamander Force. The prince of Latis threw himself into battle, piloting the super-dimensional fighter Lord British, named after himself. Coming back sorely wounded, he called for help from Gradius, the planet that had once defeated Bacterian's forces. Upon receiving the distress call, one brave Gradius fighter joined Lord British and set off for the immensely powerful Salamander Force's home planet. Super-dimensional fighter Vic Viper, prepare for takeoff!

Salamander is a scrolling shooter arcade game released by Konami as a spin-off to Gradius. It introduced a simplified power-up system, two-player cooperative gameplay and both horizontally and vertically scrolling stages. Some of these would later become the norm for future Gradius games.