1943 Kai (PCE, 1991)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-9 Control-8 Challenge-8* Story-5?
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8* Fun-7.5* Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
*1-player, Normal
+
Lifebar (pretty long as well, upgrades in small increments over the course of the game)
Dodge move (somersault/loop-the-loop - press both buttons, can't do it with side-planes/gun drones equipped, they're limited and how many you have left is indicated by the R's at the top of the screen, can't shoot while dodging)
Smart bombs - these cost some HP/energy to use
2-player co-op
Pretty impressive music (better than the arcade ver.)
Gun drone/sideplanes power up (block shots but also die in 2 hits)
The smart bomb causes a screen-sweeping tidal wave in the battleship segments (in every other level you run into a fleet and swoop down to fight them close up)
Basic rank system (kill rate percentage shown between each level - determines how much HP is restored and possibly dodge moves as well)
Auto-fire
Difficulty options (easy-hard, number of credits - up to 5)
Mini-bosses
Adds an unlockable original mode (4 extra levels with new bosses (introduces base-style bosses similar to Aleste 1)+visuals (more varied as well)+music which are played after the main game; your weapon range and power is also upgraded once you reach this mode)
Little to no slowdown and minor flicker
Horizontal and vertical screen modes (vertical (not tate - black bars on the sides) can help with grabbing certain power ups?)
Decent artwork stills between levels (not full screen though and not animated like in the arcade ver.) and a pretty nice cutscene is shown before the extra levels begin
Visible damage on boss planes (they start burning here and there)
+/-
HP/energy depletes slowly over time but you won't die at 0 until you get hit
No charge shot (see 1943 NES)
Time limited special weapons
Hidden point bonus items (generally on battleships)
Respawn on the spot (gain a special weapon 1 power up with a shortened time limit and regain full health but no other power ups - can generally survive to the next level with some smart bombs though but it gets a lot harder to get a good rank percentage)
The cycling power ups become non-cycling upgraded HP items after 3+ cycles
Some boss fights are just a bunch of large planes/mini-bosses
No visual cue when damaging bosses (audio only)
Unlockable arcade mode via a code (didn't try it)
Weapon select and invincible side planes via codes (didn't try them)
World war 2 theme (from the US side oddly enough)
Time limit on fleet bosses (no energy bonus if you don't get 70%+)
Limited continues (up to 5, starting a level with only the default weapon gets pretty hard later on)
Very hard to get 100% kills even early on (heavily dependent on your special weapon for fleet bosses)
Smart bombs stop the scrolling during all segments here
No speed upgrades or manual adjustment (not really needed though)
Weaker smart bombs in this version? - still easier than the arcade game overall on default
-
No permanent weapon upgrades and picking up the same special weapon more than once won't upgrade it (? not 100% sure about the laser as it changes color)
Too hard to get the exact power up you want (cycles once when hit always in the same order making it harder to get certain weapons, flies off screen rather quickly though you can "juggle" it a bit by shooting it similar to Twinbee)
No special weapon inventory
Repetitive until the extra levels (most levels look pretty much the same, cycles some music tracks)
Kinda slow start to levels (wastes your special weapon time a bit)
No stat upgrade system (1943 NES - at least an upgrade for the special weapon time limit would've been cool), minor invisible wall at the top edge of the screen (makes power ups at the top edge harder to get until you stop shooting for a bit which is hard to do later on)
Sometimes uneven difficulty (need to memorize what to grab at what point (sometimes there'll be a lack of power ups), some levels are shorter and/or have easier bosses)
Trial & error (attacks from all sides, boss patterns, see previous memorization comment)
No password save (1943 NES had them)
Some special weapons aren't that good unless you also have side-planes
Somewhat few special weapons (spread, shotgun spread/short range spread - long range in the arcade ver., laser, upgraded forward shot)
No sub weapons besides the smart bombs
No backwards shot
Suddenly changes how power ups are attained in the train chase level - a lot harder to get them
Smart bombs don't cause tidal waves vs. the final boss (oversight?) and it's not a particularly interesting fight - just another battleship
Somewhat generic art direction overall
Notes:
-Roughly average length for the genre at ~43 mins - about 40 mins shorter than 1943 NES though
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8* Fun-7.5* Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7.5
*1-player, Normal
+
Lifebar (pretty long as well, upgrades in small increments over the course of the game)
Dodge move (somersault/loop-the-loop - press both buttons, can't do it with side-planes/gun drones equipped, they're limited and how many you have left is indicated by the R's at the top of the screen, can't shoot while dodging)
Smart bombs - these cost some HP/energy to use
2-player co-op
Pretty impressive music (better than the arcade ver.)
Gun drone/sideplanes power up (block shots but also die in 2 hits)
The smart bomb causes a screen-sweeping tidal wave in the battleship segments (in every other level you run into a fleet and swoop down to fight them close up)
Basic rank system (kill rate percentage shown between each level - determines how much HP is restored and possibly dodge moves as well)
Auto-fire
Difficulty options (easy-hard, number of credits - up to 5)
Mini-bosses
Adds an unlockable original mode (4 extra levels with new bosses (introduces base-style bosses similar to Aleste 1)+visuals (more varied as well)+music which are played after the main game; your weapon range and power is also upgraded once you reach this mode)
Little to no slowdown and minor flicker
Horizontal and vertical screen modes (vertical (not tate - black bars on the sides) can help with grabbing certain power ups?)
Decent artwork stills between levels (not full screen though and not animated like in the arcade ver.) and a pretty nice cutscene is shown before the extra levels begin
Visible damage on boss planes (they start burning here and there)
+/-
HP/energy depletes slowly over time but you won't die at 0 until you get hit
No charge shot (see 1943 NES)
Time limited special weapons
Hidden point bonus items (generally on battleships)
Respawn on the spot (gain a special weapon 1 power up with a shortened time limit and regain full health but no other power ups - can generally survive to the next level with some smart bombs though but it gets a lot harder to get a good rank percentage)
The cycling power ups become non-cycling upgraded HP items after 3+ cycles
Some boss fights are just a bunch of large planes/mini-bosses
No visual cue when damaging bosses (audio only)
Unlockable arcade mode via a code (didn't try it)
Weapon select and invincible side planes via codes (didn't try them)
World war 2 theme (from the US side oddly enough)
Time limit on fleet bosses (no energy bonus if you don't get 70%+)
Limited continues (up to 5, starting a level with only the default weapon gets pretty hard later on)
Very hard to get 100% kills even early on (heavily dependent on your special weapon for fleet bosses)
Smart bombs stop the scrolling during all segments here
No speed upgrades or manual adjustment (not really needed though)
Weaker smart bombs in this version? - still easier than the arcade game overall on default
-
No permanent weapon upgrades and picking up the same special weapon more than once won't upgrade it (? not 100% sure about the laser as it changes color)
Too hard to get the exact power up you want (cycles once when hit always in the same order making it harder to get certain weapons, flies off screen rather quickly though you can "juggle" it a bit by shooting it similar to Twinbee)
No special weapon inventory
Repetitive until the extra levels (most levels look pretty much the same, cycles some music tracks)
Kinda slow start to levels (wastes your special weapon time a bit)
No stat upgrade system (1943 NES - at least an upgrade for the special weapon time limit would've been cool), minor invisible wall at the top edge of the screen (makes power ups at the top edge harder to get until you stop shooting for a bit which is hard to do later on)
Sometimes uneven difficulty (need to memorize what to grab at what point (sometimes there'll be a lack of power ups), some levels are shorter and/or have easier bosses)
Trial & error (attacks from all sides, boss patterns, see previous memorization comment)
No password save (1943 NES had them)
Some special weapons aren't that good unless you also have side-planes
Somewhat few special weapons (spread, shotgun spread/short range spread - long range in the arcade ver., laser, upgraded forward shot)
No sub weapons besides the smart bombs
No backwards shot
Suddenly changes how power ups are attained in the train chase level - a lot harder to get them
Smart bombs don't cause tidal waves vs. the final boss (oversight?) and it's not a particularly interesting fight - just another battleship
Somewhat generic art direction overall
Notes:
-Roughly average length for the genre at ~43 mins - about 40 mins shorter than 1943 NES though