My Played Video Games Review: 1943: The Battle of Midway for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

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1943: The Battle of Midway is a vertical shooter arcade game developed and published by Capcom of Japan in 1987. It was ported for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1988. This was the sequel to Capcom's earlier game title 1942.

The real historical Battle of Midway actually happened in June of 1942. The game was named after it maybe just to sound cool but with the wrong year! LMFAO

The Story

The most decisive naval battle of the 2nd World War is about to be fought by you! Enemy forces want to take Midway Island. Enemy aircraft are buzzing over the island. The Pacific is controlled by enemy aircraft carriers. As the top ace of the Navy's air squadrons, you must pilot your modified P-38 into enemy forces. Equipped with secret weapons, only you can turn the tide against the deadly enemy fleet. The outcome of history's most decisive naval battle rests in your piloting skills!

NES cartridge of the game (image source)

The Graphics and Sound

The game's graphics look pretty average. The aircraft carrier ship from where you take off from is only just dull yellow, and your plane is colored orange. The enemies are colored grey, orange, and green. And they are shooting at you with only orange circles. The larger enemies are more detailed however.

The backgrounds are boring. It is colored blue, yellow, or green, representing as the ocean, the sand, and island respectively.

The sounds here have improved since the first game. There is good music here and the sound effects are better than in 1942. It can get annoying though if played a little loud.

Gameplay sample of 1943: The Battle of Midway on the NES

The Gameplay

The gameplay is good. Before a mission starts, you can moderate your fighter plane, adding more health, more firepower, more defense, and special attacks. You can find other power-up icons along the way. And when you find one, you can do other kinds of special attacks.

Your aircraft is easy to handle and you got the ability to hold down the fire button for a few seconds and let go. This sets off a big blast of firepower, doing great damage to the enemy.

There are infinite continues when you die and go back to the main menu. This keeps the game's difficulty more bearable.

The bosses are tough. You really need some good concentration to beat the game. This makes it have some decent replay value.

My Verdict

If you love retro 2D vertical shooters and love a good challenge, this game is for you. Otherwise, stay away. Casual gamers might find it difficult to beat or kinda boring. True hard core gamers will certainly enjoy it as among the best vertical shooters on the NES.

Play it on the NES or play cheap using emulators.

Let's keep on gaming in the free world!