1943 is a 1987 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Capcom.^[1]

It was the first follow-up to Capcom’s earlier 1942. Like 1942, despite the game being created by Japanese developers, it has the player-controlled Americans attacking the Japanese air fleet; this was due to being one of the first Capcom games designed with Western markets in mind. The game’s name is a reference to the Battle of Midway, which occurred in June 1942.

Gameplay – 1943

The game is set in the Pacific theater of World War II, off the coast of the Midway Atoll with the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces as the main group of antagonists. The player takes the role of an unnamed U.S. Air Force ace pilot seeking revenge to defeat the Japanese air forces that attacked the American aircraft carrier, destroy all Japanese air and sea forces, fly through the 16 stages of play, and ultimately destroy the battleship Yamato, the game’s final boss. 11 of these stages consist of an air-to-sea battle (with a huge battleship or an aircraft carrier as the stage boss), while 5 stages consist of an all-aerial battle, either against a squadron of multiple strategic bombers or a single heavy bomber resembling a Nakajima G8N, the latter requires the player to shoot its four engines to destroy it.

As in 1942, players pilot a P-38 Lightning. Controls are also similar: button 1 fires main weapons, and button 2 performs two special actions: one of three special lightning attacks in exchange for some of the player’s fuel, or a loop maneuver like in 1942 if buttons 1 and 2 are pressed simultaneously. Indeed, players now have only one life, in the form of a large “fuel” meter; constantly depleting, but refillable by collecting various powerups. In 2-player mode, when both players overlap their planes on screen, the energy bar can be transferred from the player with more fuel to the player with less. Destroying a complete formation of red enemy planes will result in a power-up, such as a health boost or a new main weapon.

There are cheat codes, different for every stage, ranging from holding down a fire button or pointing the joystick in a certain direction; player(s) are rewarded with fully upgraded weapons.

References

1. ^ “1943: The Battle of Midway”. The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 3 Oct 2013.
2. ^ This version does not bear a subtitle, though packaging gives the original Japanese release “The Battle of Valhalla” and the US release the normal “The Battle of Midway”. Further, a Japan-bound prototype exists named 1943: The Battle of Midway.
3. ^ “1943 Kai – Midway Kaisen – Videogame by Capcom”. www.arcade-museum.com. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
4. ^ “Game Machine’s Best Hit Games 25 – テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)”. Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 312. Amusement Press. 15 July 1987. p. 29.
5. ^ “87′ ゲーメスト大賞 〜 ベストインカム” [87′ Gamest Awards – Best Income]. Gamest (in Japanese). Vol. 17 (February 1988). December 28, 1987. pp. 25-38 (36-7).
6. ^ “Game Machine’s Best Hit Games 25: ’88 / “Game of the Year ’88” By Game Machine“ (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 348. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 January 1989. pp. 10–1, 26.
7. ^ “Game Machine’s Best Hit Games 25 – テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)”. Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 337. Amusement Press. 1 August 1988. p. 29.

1943 Marquee