We're up to 1990 and another installment of Capcom's 194X series. 1941: Counter Attack is the third entry in the 194X series which at last count has seen five arcade titles with numerous revisions among them. It's another vertically scrolling shooter with a W.W.II design. You're still flying a plane deep into enemy territory shooting down everything in sight while avoiding the plentiful enemy fire coming your way. You're still collecting power-ups from defeated enemies. You still have the looping maneuver to avoid enemy fire. Only this time it also acts as a magic attack. A couple of things have been updated for this version. The graphics look great. Highly detailed and crisp. You have a new ability in the charged shot. Hold down the fire button to charge up a powerful attack that shoots out homing missiles and the like. The longer you charge it the stronger it becomes. You also can take some damage this time around. It's no longer one hit and you're gone. The game has you going up against the Germans this time. You'll see a lot of the legendary secret weaponry the Germans were trying to develop during the war to turn the tide. The game also has a greater focus toward ground based action. The game actually plays like a souped-up version of the classic River Raid in how you must avoid canyon walls and buildings and the like this time around. 1941: Counter Attack is my personal favorite in the series. It's the most balanced of that particular bunch.
Still in 1990, we have Magic Sword. Magic Sword challenges the player to climb the fifty level tower to defeat an evil tyrant. It's a D&D themed affair. The player controls their sword swinging barbarian with the joystick. You get one button to attack and another to jump. Jump plus attack will result in a magic attack. You play through the game hacking and slashing at the hordes of evil minions in your way and you'll find a boss battle every ten levels or so. As you play you collect keys. You need a key to clear each floor and move on to the next one. You'll also be able to unlock prisoners from their cells to have them fight alongside you. You can even level these familiars up. There are tons of items to collect that boost your score and heal you and replace magic and the like. The game is very frenetic at later levels. The enemies come at you at a quick pace. The gameplay is almost shooter like in its speed despite being hack and slash.
The last game from 1990 on the disc is Mega Twins. Otherwise known as Chiki Chiki Boys. The game is a graphically cute action platformer played for laughs. You control one of the twins on his way to reclaim his lost kingdom. You get buttons for jump, attack, and magic. Run through the levels slashing everything to death with your sword while collecting health items and power-ups until you get to one of the cute boss battles. The graphics in the game are great. Very bright and colorful and just shy of an overly cute art design. The game borrows heavily from both Alex Kidd and Wonder Boy in Monster Land. If you've played those games in the arcade then you know just what to expect, only with the challenge dumbed down. It's a fun little game. Capcom actually released a version of the game for the Mega Drive.
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