(Psikyo 1995)
When I heard of
"Strikers 1945" for the first time, I automatically thought
it would be another sequel of Capcom's classic 1942 series, but both
series have very little in common.
At the beginning of Strikers 1945 there is a selection of five historical
warplanes. Catch your favourite and defend the upcoming peace during
the final days of WWII. All fighters are equipped with powerful front
weapons and collecting 4 of those Psikyo typical bullet-shaped power-up
symbols will bring them to maximum power. But more than that, it even
places small shooting satellites at your side. If you hold the [A] button,
instead of just tapping it, your weapon gets charged. Once you release
it then, those satellites build up a special formation to attack the
enemy. The kind of that formation is individual for each plane. Keep
that in mind when you choose your fighter, since it will affect your
tactics throughout the whole game.
The smartbomb as always, will be released when you press button [B].
It differs in shape, depending on the chosen plane as well. One of them
is a "1942 roll", followed by powerful explosion, another
one supports you with a swarm of bomber-planes. Furthermore there are
energy barriers, giant laser beams and more.
The music of Psikyo games in general, had never been a great deal. In
Strikers 1945 it's a mix between march music and techno tunes, that
fills the background with an unconspicous and unobtrusive accoustical
carpet. It sounds ok, but it's nothing you will dream of at night, I
guess.
The whole game is 8 stages in length and you have to play 2 complete
rounds in order to complete it. The stages are filled with hundreds
of attacking planes, tanks and warships. Everything looks historical,
although some machine designs are very exaggerated and far from realism
- but that's japanese, and we all like it, don't we ?
Like in Gunbird and many later Psikyo games, The end of the stages are
guarded by bosses, consisting of 2 or 3 parts. Once you shoot one part
to toast, the next one, a smaller and faster enemy comes out of the
wreck and attacks you.
Talking about realism: It seems that Psikyo renounced to introduce any
characters at the beginning. Funny enough, once you have beaten the
game, you will face the real pilots: A bunch of nude girls with big
breasts !
Strikers 1945, Psikyo's first WWII shooter, was the beginning of a new
and very successful chapter in the company's history. After a great
start in japanese and US arcades, it was ported to Playstation and Sega
Saturn consoles. Currently even a remake for mobile phones is in development.
- [the sheep] in 2002
