1945kiii also known as Strikers 1999 (ストライカーズ1999), is a vertically scrolling shoot ’em up game developed and originally released by Psikyo in 1999 for the arcades. The game is a sequel to Strikers 1945 II, chronologically taking place 54 years after the first two games in the series.
Gameplay – 1945kiii
The player chooses from one of six modern jet fighter aircraft and shoots through eight stages (the first four levels are randomly chosen, and the last four remain the same for each play). Once the game is beaten, a report showing the statistics of the player are displayed, and the game ‘loops’ with the difficulty much higher. Each game (on default settings) begins with three lives, and an extra life is earned at 600,000 (or 800,000). When all lives are lost, the option to continue is given but the score is reset. 1945kiii
Another latest feature is the Technical Bonus. During a boss battle, a blue orb is revealed as the weak point. In order to get a ‘quick kill’, the fighter plane must be extremely close to the orb until it turns red by firing the orb while getting it close to it. Once the fighter plane ’embraces’ the orb, the boss is destroyed quickly and adds points for the technical bonus. However revealing the orb from the boss will only take once when it unleashes an attack pattern that is also its weakness. For players, they have to memorize the attack pattern and shoot the orb while getting close to it for a quick victory.
Power-Ups are released by shooting certain enemies. When a power up is collected, the player’s normal shot becomes more powerful and a secondary shot may become available to the player. Up to three power ups can be collected, any after that are worth 4000 points. It is possible to ‘power down’ at any time by colliding with an enemy craft. 1945kiii
At the beginning of the game, the player has a stock of two bombs. By destroying certain enemy craft, a bomb icon will be released and bounce around the screen. When collected, another bomb will be added to the player’s stock. 1945kiii
References
- ^ “ストライカーズ1945-3 – Google Play の Android アプリ”. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015.
- ^ Art Schematics. NIS America (Art book of Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha Collection for the Nintendo Switch). 2020. p. 1.
- ^ “Game Machine’s Best Hit Games 25 – TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)”. Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 599. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 November 1999. p. 17.
