Undocumented Salamander (Arcade) Warp Glitch Discovered

[insignia]

Hello everyone, I believe I have discovered a completely undocumented memory overflow / level warp exploit in the original 1986 Japanese arcade version of Salamander. I found this while playing the Japanese ROM on the Gradius Origins collection on Steam. It is 100% stable and reproducible via save states.

The Glitch: If you reach the final boss, leave it alive, and reach the end with a low score, the game completely breaks its normal sequence. Instead of going to the credits, it instantly warps you into Loop 2 at a stage dictated by your score prefix.

114,300 → Warps to Loop 2, Stage 5
114,900 → Warps to Loop 2, Stage 5
115,200 → Warps to Loop 2, Stage 6

Testing Conditions & Verification: I initially had 1 Speed Up, Missiles, and a Laser. However, I did a control check where I intentionally died to strip all power-ups and tested different screen positions. The glitch still triggers perfectly at 0 power-ups and from any coordinate, confirming the exploit is purely score based and maps to a RAM overflow. It appears the thousands digits (114,000 vs 115,000) are actively changing the game's level loading register at the end sequence, shifting the level index slot forward by exactly one stage. I would love to hear from any MAME experts who can look into the exact RAM addresses to verify why this specific score range forces this arbitrary stage execution!

Video Proof (114,900 Trigger): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaTspEGn2Qk
Video Proof (115,200 Trigger): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrhqoTCCS48

Update: It seems now that as long as your score is below a certain threshold, and you don't destroy Zelos Force, you can pick whatever level you want to start on the next loop! I tried it again with a score of 45400, and it sent me to loop 2 level 4! I also tried it with 1 Option equipped, and it still worked.

[CStarFlare]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Will this discovered warp glitch work on a real JPN region Salamander arcade pcb setup as well?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

I've definitely seen this. I didn't realise it was a glitch - I thought I was being sent back a few levels for meeting all the fail conditions. No idea I was being sent to loop 2.