Developer: Nihon Micom Kaihatsu Publisher: Aicom Release: 03/20/89 Genre: Shooter
By this point I have played the vast majority of the PC Engine/Turbo Grafx-16’s shooter library. The system has one of the greatest libraries in the genre of all time with titles spanning every sub-genre you can imagine. Yet I still find new titles the more I keep digging. P-47 is a rather unassuming title that will not wow you with big special effects, a robust weapon system, or nonstop action. What it does do is nail the fundamentals to be a solid title and a great arcade conversion. Whether that is enough to grab your attention is another matter entirely.
P-47 takes place during World War II as you take the controls of a P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft and fight Nazis around the world. It is very much patterned after Capcom’s 19XX series except it is a horizontal shooter rather than vertical. The PC Engine version is the sole console port and developer Aicom have done a fine job. To be fair this is not the most technically demanding arcade game out there. But the quality of the port is commendable regardless.
In keeping with its realistic theme the weapons system in P-47 is slight. There are four primary weapons: missiles, air to ground bombs, turret shards, and explosion. These usually drop in pairs frequently allowing you to experiment and discover the optimal choice for the battles ahead. To be honest I am disappointed with all of the options available. Every weapon with the exception of the ground bombs is weak and that one is highly situational. The turret shards fire in your moving direction but there is no option to strafe making it tricky to use. Even something as simple as an upgrade to your primary cannon would go a long way toward alleviating this problem. As it is picking up a weapon barely feels better than going solo and that feels wrong in a shooter.
P-47 is deceptive in its pacing. The first two levels are incredibly slow. Enemy waves are few, their attacks are easily avoidable and there is a decided lack of “energy” throughout. But by stage four it picks up considerably and almost becomes another game entirely. Now the game is not afraid to unleash consistent waves in rapid succession all while assaulting you with anti-aircraft artillery from the ground. It becomes easy to get lost in the sauce and suffer a cheap death because you were not paying attention. The frequent extra lives and continues from the first half disappear and you are left to your own devices. If the entire game showed the level of consistency of its second half and had better weapon options my opinion of it would be higher.
I would not say P-47 is difficult. It is tedious. Because the weapons lack punch everything takes a few more hits to destroy than it should. The boss battles are especially bad in this regard. The bombs are the best for these but even then you only have a small window of opportunity to attack. Any of the naval ship class bosses is an exercise in patience as you slowly break them down piece by piece. The last level took so long I was sure the game might be broken. Tedium in a shooter is not good in my book but I have a bigger problem with P-47 overall.
My biggest issue if you can call it that with P-47 is a lack of excitement during gameplay. The game is content to do the bare minimum in every category and nothing else. That means it is competent at the very least. But in such a crowded genre during what one could argue is the peak of its popularity you need more to stand out. When I think of the Gradius games I think of what weapon load outs I will try on a replay. In a Treasure shooter I know I will face some ridiculous bosses that feature interesting mechanics that will push my skills to the limit. P-47 lacks that which is why my feelings regarding the game is meh. I did not dislike it but I know I will never replay it either.
In Closing
It is hard to dislike P-47. It has all the pieces of a solid shooter but lacks the x-factor that will make you rush out and buy it. The fact the game is so obscure says a lot. The developers apparently got the memo as their second stab at a World War II shooter, Fire Mustang, is more fondly remembered. Play that game instead as it has all of the excitement this game lacks.
