1943 - The Battle of Midway

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The game is the sequel to the arcade smash 1942 and has you once again dog-fighting over the clouds during the Second World War. The game is set in the WWII Pacific Theater, somewhere off the coast of Midway Islands. Your goal as a pilot is to attack the Japanese Air Fleet that bombed your American Aircraft Carrier and destroy all Japanese Air and Sea forces. Flying with a P-38, you go through 16 levels shooting your way to the Japanese battleship Yamato and eliminate it. The game is a classic "bird's eye" vertical shoot 'em up. You must shoot everything that moves (or not) on your screen (from aircrafts to battleships) and avoid enemy bullets plus mounted ship cannon fodders. Same story, same action as its predecessor. Apart from shooting you can also perform a loop-the-loop maneuver to avoid enemy fire, which is a unique feature for its time. You may also perform one of the three available special lightning or "tsunami" attacks in exchange for some of your (really precious) fuel! So do care for your remaining fuel (indicated on the bottom left of your screen) which can be refilled by collecting various power-ups (by destroying red aircraft groups that occasionally appear) or otherwise your plane will crash and burn instantly. You also have the ability to upgrade some of your aircraft's features (attacking power and defensive power, max fuel level and special weapon power and duration) using limited points collected during gameplay. At the end of each level, you must confront a boss varying from battleships to flying fortresses! Much like its predecessors, 1943 is an addictive shoot 'em up, but it is quite tough to progress, as it surely needs some skill.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
Graphically the PC Engine conversion is awesome! It's very close to the original arcade game, with detailed graphics and fast, flawless animation. The sound is also great featuring some nice music tunes and arcade-style stereo sound FX. 1943 is a "must play" arcade shooter for all PCE and Turbografx owners.