1943: The Battle of Midway

"Improves upon the original in every way imaginable."

Boy, if Capcom could somehow improve the Street Fighter series as drastically as they did this in just one game, they would probably control most of the free world. Supposedly this game is based on WWII, which must make lots of Japanese folks happy, since every enemy plane, vehicle, and stick of furniture is accompanied by a Japanese name or character of some sort, and consequently blown up.
You're kind of just tossed in the middle of this Rising Sun insanity and expected to kick some ass. This time around, though, everything is neater, prettier, and better smelling. While the stages don't vary too much, they're well-structured, and actually end with bosses that can be a pain to take on with even the most powerful weapons.
That's right, new weapons. While last time your allies didn't really bother to send any additional supplies, 43 gives up all sorts just by shooting the various power icons. They work on a time limit, so you can fire continuously without fear of running out. Sometimes even that's not enough to pull you through a tough fight.
The graphics are much brighter and more vibrant than last year's dull, unimpressive hues. You can actually differentiate between the various enemy planes with ease, and bosses are huge and look decent. The game holds crowds a lot better, too, since slowdown and breakup have been heavily reduced.
There's actually more than one music track for the many, many stages you'll buzz through in your quest to blow stuff up. And they're not bad, either. I wouldn't buy the soundtrack, but hey, who's complaining after the last game? Sound effects are much improved, also, with realistic (for the NES) sounding booms and bangs.
The challenge has stepped up tremendously, keeping in trend with the rest of the game. A slow motion function will make this a lot easier, and I still can't beat it at normal speed. There's just too much crap flying around. Thankfully, you can add to your own attributes throughout the course of the war, giving you a slightly better chance against the billion or so bad guys you face. What really makes this one a keeper is the password feature. You can pick up at pretty much any level, which is really thoughtful of those programmers. If you can live with the crazy difficulty, this isn't a bad addition to anybody's NES library.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/31/00, Updated 02/22/01