Legendary Wings was released in 1986 and once again was based on Z80 arcade architecture. Legendary Wings is a unique game in that it combines two popular genres of the era. It starts out as a vertical forced scrolling shooter in which you control a human with wings in a Grecian theme world mixed with aliens. You do the standard thing, killing enemies for power ups. You can fire your primary shot which is the one that is powered up. Your secondary shot is a bomb. The bombs are used to attack ground targets and the primary weapon attacks air targets. There are power up items hidden in destructible parts of the field. Halfway through the first section, you'll come across an alien face in the ground. It will open its mouth and attempt to suck you inside. If successful, the game switches to a sidescrolling traditional platform game. Run and jump and shoot. At the end of this section is a mini-boss. Defeating the boss returns you to the main field and the shooter play returns. You can avoid being sucked into the alien mouth altogether. There are items on the field that if you destroy certain ones will reveal a hidden area without enemies and filled with nothing but treasure chests. The play here is again sidescrolling in nature. You fly through as it force scrolls trying to collect as many chest as possible. Once you reach the end of the main shooter level, you'll face another mini-boss that can only be attacked with bombs. If you're successful there, you're allowed into the level boss' lair. This again switches back the platforming gameplay. It's a bizarre concept. It is rather fun.
Trojan was created on the Z80 arcade hardware and was released in 1986. Trojan is a scrolling action game. Trojan takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. It has an ancient warrior mixed with modern day slums vibe. You can move left and right in control of the scroll. You have a sword attack, a jump, and a shield button. You can block certain level projectiles and enemy attacks. Your shield and armor can be broken by a strong enough attack. Each level has a midboss and an end boss. There are six stages in all. Trojan was one of my favorite games at the time. I spent a lot of money playing this one in 1986. I never could make it out of the third level's elevators. I have finally completed the game. Trojan is easily one of the hardest and most unforgiving games ever made. It was very cool to finally see the ending, such as it is...
1943 is the sequel to 1942 and it was released in 1987 on the Z80 hardware. 1943 is a great improvement over 1942 in more than just graphics and sound. The gameplay is much improved. It's no longer near impossible. It's actually much more balanced and playable. The game looks much better. The graphics have come a very long way considering it's only a few years later and the very same hardware. The game plays out in the same way. You're controlling a military plane taking on another country's entire air force and navy. Destroying enemies gets you power-ups. These are more varied and there are more of them. You still have the ability to perform loops for evasion. You start by taking off from your aircraft carrier and fly to where the enemy ships are. Once you get there, your plane dives down to their level and you now take on the planes and ships combined. They've also added what amounts to a magic attack. You can make use of the weather based attacks. Lightning, wind, and the like are available to be used on a limited basis. The biggest change is the one-hit-kill is now gone. They've given you a lifebar that reflects your ship's hull integrity. There are power-ups to be found that will refill your lifebar. 1943 truly is a great improvement over 1942 and is quite fun compared to the original. It's a great success.
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