1941: Counter Attack

Developer: Capcom    Publisher: Hudson Soft    Released: August 23, 1991    Genre: Shooter

I like Capcom’s 19XX series of shooters but can freely admit they did not have the best start.  1942 was decent for its time if a bit simple.  Most will remember it for its dreadful NES port which ranks among the worst games of all time.  1943 was a great second attempt that only suffered from its extreme length.  1941 represented a giant leap forward for the series, both graphically and in terms of gameplay.  Unfortunately unless you frequented the arcade you never saw it.  In Japan however 1941 received an excellent port for the short lived SuperGrafx.    Even on a system brimming with shooters the game stands out and is excellent all around.

1941 is set in Europe, which has a significant effect on the graphics.  You no longer spend the entire game flying over an endless sea.  The game takes you through a large variety of environments, from a European sea port, rocket silo, cities, and even European castles.  The variety does wonders in making you anxious to see where you will go next as the art direction is fantastic.  Capcom’s artists straddle the line between keeping the game realistic and fantastical.  There are massive warships are questionable for the time period but still believable.  But it is all in the name of being entertaining.  This is the shortest game in the series and I am of two minds about that.  The length keeps the game from being repetitive but a few more stages would not have hurt.

The SuperGrafx port like Aldynes is a showcase for the hardware.  Outside of the resolution and color the two are near identical.  1941 throws dozens of sprites on screen at once and never slows down.  Even though this is an overhead shooter there are layers of parallax scrolling beneath.  The Turbo Grafx already excelled at pushing large sprites and the massive bosses here are recreated easily.  The music is not as good as the arcade but that is a small trade-off for essentially getting the coin op at home.

There are a number of subtle gameplay additions that make this a better game than its predecessors.  Crashing in to walls no longer spells death.  Instead you will briefly spin out of control.  For certain levels like the missile silo this is a god send.  Most importantly there are a number of new weapons. There is a charge shot whose usefulness is questionable.  The most common is the shadow.  Like Ninja Gaiden you receive shadows that follow your movements and supplement your attack power.  The options return and are still fragile.  The super shell, machine gun, and missiles are all useful but the time limit on weapons has sadly returned.

What I like most about 1941 is its pacing.  The game’s brevity works in its favor somewhat; because it is short it throws everything in rapid succession, giving it the feel of a roller coaster.  There are frequent mini boss battles leading up to the end level conclusion.  As much as I would have liked a few more levels what the game has is incredibly memorable as the waves and environments come at a breakneck pace.  That being said there was a happy medium between this and the too long for its own good 1943.

For the most part 1941 is fair in its difficulty.  Even though you have a single life and limited continues it is enough thanks to the game’s short length.  Despite the number of enemies it never feels cheap or unfair.  Power-ups are frequent and while I may not like the time limit on weapons I can see why it is there.  The game would be a cake walk if you could keep your options and missiles permanently.  As is there is just the right amount of fear once a power-up runs out, especially during boss battles.  Speaking of bosses, the massive gunships are not as much of a threat as you would expect.  Their patterns are simple and it becomes a matter of execution rather than a battle of attrition.

I said the difficulty was fair for the most part.  That is because there is an insane difficulty spike in the last level.  Stage six is the enemy base which is as long as two or three levels combined.  It almost feels like a pastiche of prior levels as you fly over plains, through the enemy fortress, down a railroad track, and finally taking off high in the sky as you deal with seemingly hundreds of enemies and multiple bosses.  The power-up distribution does not keep up with the level’s length making it harder than normal.  Chances are if you don’t have at least one or two credits left by this point you won’t see its conclusion.

In Closing

1941 is an excellent game and home port.  It’s a bit short but a thrilling ride while it lasts.  It is too bad the SuperGrafx came too late; more titles of this caliber could have made it a hit.