Strikers 1945

In the summer of 1945, the Second World War was drawing to a close. The world regained its contingent peace; it was highly apparent that this peace will last. However, shortly thereafter, each nation's higher military department picked up on rumors about an enigmatic international organization 'CANY' secretly taking over military forces, implementing them with futuristic weaponry, and planning to take over the entire world. Each restless nation quickly suggested to the secret Allied headquarters to secretly pick out distinguished fighter aircraft from around the world and call together pilots to form the special military force called Strikers in the fight against 'CANY.' The fire cover of the last worldwide great war, now concealed in the shadows of history cutting, is revealed once again.

official description - # 2007-01-05 00:09:43

Strikers 1945. On the surface, this looks like an ordinary vertically scrolling shooter in the same vein as Capcom's 194x series. You play as one of six WWII fighter planes from different countries. The stages are based on various WWII battle locations all over the world. This game even has a stage where you fight against American fighter planes, which seems taboo to American players. At the end of each stage, you fight a boss, which include a huge Japanese battleship, a giant German zeppelin, and an Air Fortress.
This is where the normalcy ends.

The WWII planes are each equipped with futuristic weapons, which include homing missiles, auto-aim vulcan cannons, and lasers. These weapons may seem like overkill against WWII military forces. However, wait until you reach the bosses! Bosses begin their first attack phase as standard military craft and sea vessels. During the second phase and above, the bosses either transform into huge futuristic mechs or eject them. This phase transition is animated very smoothly. My personal favorite boss is the German zeppelin that releases a huge eagle mech. That mech then releases a final ship that attacks you.

The first four stages, which are shuffled randomly at the beginning of play, take place over ordinary WWII battle locations in different parts of the world. The 5th stage is a battle against a huge fortress. The 6th stage is a high speed level that takes you into and beyond the Earth's stratosphere into outer space. The final two levels take place in outer space. You fight against spacecraft and huge spaceships a la Viper Phase 1 in Stage 7. In the final stage, the 8th Stage, you encounter alien creatures, such as giant space crabs (no kidding). The final boss battle is against a morphing alien named C.A.N.Y. (if you know Japanese, then you can get the pun).

Each plane has a special attack, called a Formation, that is unleashed by holding the Fire button for a while, and then releasing. For some planes, with each power-up you collect, you gain small wingmen that performs the Formation attack. Additionally, each plane has its own unique bomb attack. They vary greatly in deploy times, coverage, and rate of damage.

# 2007-01-05 00:09:43

software: Emulated on MAME,

hardware: Hitachi SH-2 arcade hardware ,

display: raster

prequel of
Strikers 1945 II (Arcade)