Game:

1941: Counter Attack (1990)

Duration: 2:19

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1941 Counter Attack is the sequel to Capcom's "1942" and "1943" shoot-em-ups that were originally released in arcades in 1990, with the first (and for quite some time, "only") home console port of the game being released for the ill-fated SuperGrafx console. It was much later ported to the online "GameTap" service as well as part of the Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox and Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed for the Playstation Portable in 2006. For what it's worth, 1941CA is one of the best games on the SuperGrafx and is a very good conversion of the arcade game, featuring excellent, vibrant visuals, and an upbeat soundtrack. It even supports smooth two-player simultaneous play, though this is made more difficult due to the resolution of the SGX game.

The game is spread across six action-packed levels where you shoot the crap out of everything that moves with a variety of power-ups, using either the P-38 Lightning and/or Mosquito Mk IV fighter aircrafts. Many power-ups and score items are stashed in certain enemies or on specific parts of a level and your main offensive requires you to get optional support fighters for additional firepower as well as utilizing the game's special charge attack to unleash powerful projectiles. In each stage, the player can take several hits before going down and losing a credit, but don't think the game is easy because of this. It's not.

Actually, the resolution in general made what was once a difficult game a very difficult game, even though you don't die in a single hit. Enemies come from everywhere and you have practically no room to evade them, much less so when bullets start filling the screen or just popping up without warning. Your only means of making any sense of what's going on during desperate bouts is to use a bomb-type attack. However, this attack also takes life and isn't exactly as helpful as you might think. It falls down to a "risks versus rewards" scenario but fear not; if you can clear the frantic levels without biting the dust, you are rewarded with full life once again. Still, you're really given the impression that this game should be played with a friend.

This is a brief video of the game in action showcasing different things. Enjoy.

Basic Format: SuperGrafx HuCard