1943: The Battle of Midway (NES, 1988)
Graphics-7 Sound-8 Control-8 Challenge-8.5
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5 Originality-7
Overall Score-6.5
+
Interesting dynamic between energy and ammo + charge shot (bigger enemies/cannons) and regular shots (smaller enemies),
upgrade system (offense, defense, energy, special weapon energy etc. - need to find hidden spots to upgrade in the levels (usually at the same spot though)
Side-plane power up (hard to get)
Smart bomb (sort of, doesn't do much damage but clears bullets, stuns boss ships and gives some invincibility time, costs energy to use)
Hidden power ups scattered throughout the levels (similar to Fantasy Zone II DX)
Password save (short, doesn't save score)
Nice ending cutscene and stills between stages
Can block fire (only works with the first special weapon)
+/-
Energy system (works as your HP, depletes slowly over time but you won't die at 0 until you get hit)
Time limit on special weapons
It's possible to hit enemies coming up from behind or the side (with certain special weapons)
Very long for a shoot 'em up (23 levels)
Unlimited continues (starting a level with only the default weapon gets hard later on though)
Distracting power up system (need to shoot down a formation of orange planes, then shoot the power up to make it cycle through energy/special weapons (default is energy) - it always cycles in the same order making it hard to get the third weapon or above and it also turns into an unchangeable energy power up after cycling twice, shooting the power up also makes it bounce upwards a bit making it harder to catch)
Only semi-auto fire (using the second or later special weapon it shoots a short burst, you actually need to not use auto-fire to charge up though - works pretty well once you get the timing right)
Time limit on bosses (no energy bonus if unbeaten?)
Need to put points into special weapons to make them appear in the power up cycle (not really worth doing early on)
The large green planes don't really become easier to kill with a stronger weapon due to their invincibility time
The first weapon is poor until you pick it up a second time (then you can get by using it exclusively for several levels), smart bomb stops the scrolling during boss fights but not otherwise, need to have 3 points in everything to be able to put 6 points in a single stat?
-
Invisible walls at the edges of the screen (possibly meant to help with reacting to side/back attacks but it's hard to get used to and makes power ups at the top edge uncatchable until you stop shooting for a bit (which is hard to do later on))
Very annoying music starts playing when low on energy
Diagonal speed is slower than vertical/horizontal
No speed upgrades?
Repetitive
Uneven difficulty (need to memorize what to grab at what point (sometimes you'll find a hidden ammo crate which does nothing if you have no special weapon equipped, sometimes there'll be a lack of power ups), some levels are shorter or have easier bosses)
the third and fourth special weapons aren't that good unless you have side-planes (they're also hard to get and to maintain in the midst of battle unless you focus on upgrading the weapon ammo time limit)
Repeats about 5 music tracks over and over
Trial & error (debris from the last boss ship of every stage can kill you, how to upgrade your ship during the course of the game - the system is pretty rigid and there's not much reason to variate the build once you know the game, attacks from all sides, boss patterns, see previous memorization comment)
Very lengthy final boss battle (both your energy and ammo will likely run out before it's over)
Some slowdown (screws up your charge shot timing durin boss fights)
Notes:
Mission 1 - cross (energy refill), barrel (weapon energy), cow (energy),
Mission 2 - barrel (last cloud), plant (level up), barrel (near boss ship), cow (near boss ship)
Mission 3 - plant, elephant (right before the boss)
Mission 4 - sideplanes, cow, plant, barrel (boss ship),
Mission 5 - elephant, plant, star (weapon energy refill, near boss ship),
Mission 6 - star, dragonfly (double level up), cross
Mission 7 - astronaut (energy), plant - focus on ammo here to try to keep the chain using the first special weapon?
Mission 8 - barrel, plant, cow (boss ship),
Mission 9 - plant,
Mission 10 - star, dragonfly - you should probably be using the second special weapon by now and have 3-4 levels of offense
Mission 11 - astronaut, plant, cow, astronaut, elephant
Mission 12 - cow, cross, plant,
Mission 13 - sideplanes, star, plant,
Mission 14 - plant, elephant, cross
Mission 15 - barrel, plant, - try to stock up on ammo for the bosses
Mission 16 - star, cross, dragonfly
Mission 17 - barrel, plant, cow (boss ship), barrel (near boss ship) - get third special weapon here (everything else should be maxed out)
Mission 18 - cross, astronaut, elephant (right before the boss)
Mission 19 - astronaut, plant,
Mission 20 - astronaut (in the sea to the left)
Mission 21 - cow, cross, plant
Mission 22 - nothing?
Mission 23 - cross, plant - switch to weapon 6 for the bosses
Mission 24 - star, cross, dragonfly, star, elephant, cow - use weapon 2 or 4, then 6 for the bosses and save the bombs for the last ones
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5 Originality-7
Overall Score-6.5
+
Interesting dynamic between energy and ammo + charge shot (bigger enemies/cannons) and regular shots (smaller enemies),
upgrade system (offense, defense, energy, special weapon energy etc. - need to find hidden spots to upgrade in the levels (usually at the same spot though)
Side-plane power up (hard to get)
Smart bomb (sort of, doesn't do much damage but clears bullets, stuns boss ships and gives some invincibility time, costs energy to use)
Hidden power ups scattered throughout the levels (similar to Fantasy Zone II DX)
Password save (short, doesn't save score)
Nice ending cutscene and stills between stages
Can block fire (only works with the first special weapon)
+/-
Energy system (works as your HP, depletes slowly over time but you won't die at 0 until you get hit)
Time limit on special weapons
It's possible to hit enemies coming up from behind or the side (with certain special weapons)
Very long for a shoot 'em up (23 levels)
Unlimited continues (starting a level with only the default weapon gets hard later on though)
Distracting power up system (need to shoot down a formation of orange planes, then shoot the power up to make it cycle through energy/special weapons (default is energy) - it always cycles in the same order making it hard to get the third weapon or above and it also turns into an unchangeable energy power up after cycling twice, shooting the power up also makes it bounce upwards a bit making it harder to catch)
Only semi-auto fire (using the second or later special weapon it shoots a short burst, you actually need to not use auto-fire to charge up though - works pretty well once you get the timing right)
Time limit on bosses (no energy bonus if unbeaten?)
Need to put points into special weapons to make them appear in the power up cycle (not really worth doing early on)
The large green planes don't really become easier to kill with a stronger weapon due to their invincibility time
The first weapon is poor until you pick it up a second time (then you can get by using it exclusively for several levels), smart bomb stops the scrolling during boss fights but not otherwise, need to have 3 points in everything to be able to put 6 points in a single stat?
-
Invisible walls at the edges of the screen (possibly meant to help with reacting to side/back attacks but it's hard to get used to and makes power ups at the top edge uncatchable until you stop shooting for a bit (which is hard to do later on))
Very annoying music starts playing when low on energy
Diagonal speed is slower than vertical/horizontal
No speed upgrades?
Repetitive
Uneven difficulty (need to memorize what to grab at what point (sometimes you'll find a hidden ammo crate which does nothing if you have no special weapon equipped, sometimes there'll be a lack of power ups), some levels are shorter or have easier bosses)
the third and fourth special weapons aren't that good unless you have side-planes (they're also hard to get and to maintain in the midst of battle unless you focus on upgrading the weapon ammo time limit)
Repeats about 5 music tracks over and over
Trial & error (debris from the last boss ship of every stage can kill you, how to upgrade your ship during the course of the game - the system is pretty rigid and there's not much reason to variate the build once you know the game, attacks from all sides, boss patterns, see previous memorization comment)
Very lengthy final boss battle (both your energy and ammo will likely run out before it's over)
Some slowdown (screws up your charge shot timing durin boss fights)
Notes:
Mission 1 - cross (energy refill), barrel (weapon energy), cow (energy),
Mission 2 - barrel (last cloud), plant (level up), barrel (near boss ship), cow (near boss ship)
Mission 3 - plant, elephant (right before the boss)
Mission 4 - sideplanes, cow, plant, barrel (boss ship),
Mission 5 - elephant, plant, star (weapon energy refill, near boss ship),
Mission 6 - star, dragonfly (double level up), cross
Mission 7 - astronaut (energy), plant - focus on ammo here to try to keep the chain using the first special weapon?
Mission 8 - barrel, plant, cow (boss ship),
Mission 9 - plant,
Mission 10 - star, dragonfly - you should probably be using the second special weapon by now and have 3-4 levels of offense
Mission 11 - astronaut, plant, cow, astronaut, elephant
Mission 12 - cow, cross, plant,
Mission 13 - sideplanes, star, plant,
Mission 14 - plant, elephant, cross
Mission 15 - barrel, plant, - try to stock up on ammo for the bosses
Mission 16 - star, cross, dragonfly
Mission 17 - barrel, plant, cow (boss ship), barrel (near boss ship) - get third special weapon here (everything else should be maxed out)
Mission 18 - cross, astronaut, elephant (right before the boss)
Mission 19 - astronaut, plant,
Mission 20 - astronaut (in the sea to the left)
Mission 21 - cow, cross, plant
Mission 22 - nothing?
Mission 23 - cross, plant - switch to weapon 6 for the bosses
Mission 24 - star, cross, dragonfly, star, elephant, cow - use weapon 2 or 4, then 6 for the bosses and save the bombs for the last ones