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1943: The Battle of Midway

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The players control WWII planes in this 2-D vertically scrolling shooter. Missions are flown alternately in the clouds against enemy planes and over water where there player must also disable enemy ships. There are many different weapons available via power-ups. The game is set in the Pacific ...

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Developer
Capcom

Released on
1987

Size
1–2 Players

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Shooter

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

Cooperative
Yes

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Description

The players control WWII planes in this 2-D vertically scrolling shooter. Missions are flown alternately in the clouds against enemy planes and over water where there player must also disable enemy ships. There are many different weapons available via power-ups.

The game is set in the Pacific theater of World War II, off the coast of the Midway Atoll. The goal is to attack the Japanese Air Fleet that bombed the players’ American Aircraft Carrier, pursue all Japanese Air and Sea forces, fly through the 16 levels of play, make their way to the Japanese battleship Yamato and destroy her. 11 Levels consist of an Air-to-Sea battle (with a huge battleship or an aircraft carrier as an End-Level Boss), while 5 levels consist of an all-aerial battle against a squadron of Japanese Bombers and a Mother Bomber that needs to be destroyed.

As in 1942, players pilot a P-38. Two buttons are used: one for regular attacks (with several weapons) and one for special actions that executes either a loop like in 1942 or one of three special attacks that damage the plane. Unlike 1942, the player only has one life, with one refillable energy meter. Destroying a complete formation of red enemy planes will result in a power-up, such as a health boost or a temporary special weapons which replaces the default twin gun.

1943: The Battle of Midway

Overview & History

Released by Capcom in June 1987, 1943: The Battle of Midway stands as a definitive milestone in the vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up genre, serving as the spiritual and mechanical successor to 1984's 1942. Dropping the traditional life-bar system, Capcom introduced a revolutionary energy gauge that functioned simultaneously as health, weapon power, and currency for emergency maneuvers. Set against the historical backdrop of the Pacific Theater, players pilot the legendary Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane on a desperate, sixteen-stage mission to annihilate the Imperial Japanese Navy's armada and ultimately obliterate the fearsome Yamato battleship. Eschewing simple power-up icons, 1943 innovated by allowing players to shoot specific red-painted enemy formations to cycle through and select specialized weaponry—such as the triple-firing Shell Gun, the massive spreading Auto Guns, and the devastating Laser—each operating on a strict energy timer that forces tactical management of firepower versus survivability.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike its predecessor, 1943 eliminates traditional power-down items in favor of a risk-reward energy economy where taking hits or executing defensive special moves depletes your vital meter. Players can unleash two distinct special attacks: the Roll, which grants temporary invincibility to dodge dense bullet hell patterns, and the powerful Smart Bomb strike (represented by calling in a B-17 bomber formation), which clears the entire screen of lesser adversaries. The game also introduces early light role-playing elements, allowing pilots to collect point-based POW items and power crystals to upgrade specific attributes like engine speed, weapon strength, and maximum energy capacity between aggressive mid-stage aerial and naval dogfights. The action culminates in tense, multi-part boss encounters against iconic historical targets like the Akagi aircraft carrier and heavy cruisers, demanding precise bullet-dodging and aggressive concentrated fire.