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A non-official FAQ/Walkthrough for NEC PC88, Sharp X1, MSX1, MSX2, and Fujitsu
FM7.
This document is best viewed with the original display on the internet, or with
a word processor using fixed-width font style. Using some other font styles will
make the tables/maps displayed incorrectly.
Lastly, some legal notice:
This document may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any website or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web-
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation
of copyright.
Ver. 1.00 -- 31/7/2017
Ver. 1.04 -- 9/9/2017
Ver. 1.05 -- 3/5/2018
CONTENTS
A. Controls
B. Rules
C. General Tips
D. Game Facts
E. Enemies List (PC88)
F. Sharp X1 Version
G. MSX1 Version
H. MSX2 Version
I. Fujitsu FM7 Version
J. High Scores
K. FAQ
L. Special Thanks
M. Anti Credit
In order to find your desired content, you can copy-paste the exact name of the
content to your find-box.
Example:
Find what: e. enemies list (no match case)
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A. CONTROLS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This game should accept the keyboard compatible with all these computers: NEC
PC88, Sharp X1, MSX1, MSX2, and Fujitsu FM7.
As far as I know, only MSX1 and MSX2 versions of the game accept the MSX joypad.
The good news right now is this game can be paused for all versions. Hoorrayy
for that ^__^
NEC PC88:
[8],[2],[4],[6] on the right: Move
X : Shoot
Spacebar : Roll
Please don't argue about the name, but as far as I know, the game uses the
symbol: R, Roll might be the abbreviation of this R >__>
Esc : Pause the game/Resume
Sharp X1:
Arrow buttons: Move
Z : Shoot
X : Roll
Esc : Pause the game/Resume
1942 for MSX1 and MSX2 platforms have the same control scheme:
Arrow buttons: Move
Spacebar : Shoot
Shift : Roll
Stop : Pause
Spacebar : Resume
There are a few other methods to resume the game: Graph, Shift, etc.
Fujitsu FM7:
Numpad [8],[2],[4],[6]: Move... or... glide...?
X : Shoot
Shift : Roll
Pause : Pause/Resume
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B. RULES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should be pretty simple....
You are controlling an airplane. You have to survive all 32 stages from enemies'
missiles and collision with enemies. You'll automatically lose a life from one
of the missiles or colliding with one of the enemies, either it is big or small.
If you collide with an enemy, either it is big or small, the enemy also explodes
with you and you receives the score.
Each time you can shoot down an enemy or collide with the enemy, you will get
some scores added. You will start with five lifes, and if all of your lifes are
gone, you will get "Game Over", and will be given unlimited chances to continue
your game. Unlike the popular NES version, your cursor will be placed on
[Continue] option automatically each time you lose all your lifes.
But, right now, every time you continue the game, you will be brought back to
the start of the stage you lose the lifes. If you lose a life, you'll be brought
back to about the exact place you are shot down, but if you are at later part of
the stage, you will be brought back to the exact point around half-way of the
stage.
Next, about the R. Whenever you use your R with whatever key/button you press,
you will be invulnerable to any enemies or enemies' attacks. Only FM7 version
that allows you to move "vertically" while rolling, the others only allow you
to move "horizontally" while rolling. Each time you begin the stage, or lose a
life, you'll get three R chances.
But, you should know that the move in FM7 version is like "gliding". You only
can move the exact up, down, left, or right, and while you are moving, you can't
stop, but you only can change the moving direction, and of course, the move is
restricted by the screen. So, if you are at the most bottom of the screen, you
can stop your "glide" by pressing the [Down] key.
I can't believe it, this video game should be just such a simple game, but... I
think it takes... quite... many words to explain them in a very detail manner
^__^
The extra lifes are straightforward. When your score reaches 30000, you'll
receive an extra life. The next extra lifes are given while your scores are
multiples of 80000.
Next is the power-ups, which is received after you shoot down all of a specific
enemies row that would be mentioned below. See E. Enemies List.
Oooops.. before I mention the General Tips, I have to leak some of them that the
visibility of this game should become a problem for people's eyes. Thus, I think
I can't mention the color any longer, but I have to mention each of them at
section D. Walkthrough below. The power-up for each stage is fixed everytime you
visit the stage, so that's how I make difference amongst them.
The last thing is the statistic when you get "game over" or finish a stage:
+Shooting Down: When you finish a stage, the number is from your current life
only. When you get [game over], the number is from all your life.
+Percentage: I wonder why the percentage is so low when you get [game over], but
it is so high when you finish a stage albeit the above number indicates the
otherwise.
I think, when you get "game over" if you don't finish a stage:
Shooting down number total done by you
-----------------------------------------
Your total life x Enemy number total in a stage
When you get "game over" if you don't finish an area:
Shooting down number total done by you
-----------------------------------------
Your total life x Enemy number total in an area
When you get "game over" if you don't finish the whole game:
Shooting down number total done by you
------------------------------------------------------
Your total life x Enemy number total in the whole game
When you finish a stage, it's clear:
Shooting down number done by your current life
------------------------------------------------------------
Total enemy number in the whole stage or in the second half of the stage
+Today S Top: The game record your best percentage number from the start of the
game.
+R: Your current R. This one is replenished to 3 every time you finish a stage.
Each one gives you 1000 pts.
+Bonus:
100% = 50000 pts.
95-99% = 20000 pts.
90-94% = 10000 pts.
85-89% = 5000 pts.
80-85% = 4000 pts.
70-79% = 3000 pts.
60-69% = 2000 pts.
50-59% = 1000 pts.
0-49% = 0 pts.
The very last ^_^ is the rule that really disadvantages you. Every after the
stage ends, the game will pause for a second. From that moment, you can't use
your R. If you are very close to the aircraft carrier, you can't move. Dying
because of this will take you to the very start of the stage ^_^
My last test shows me that enemy's bullet can't hit you for this case.
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C. GENERAL TIPS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- I would like to say that this game is very difficult, so I think you have to
make sure that you have the controller type that suits you the best for games
like this, either it is keyboard or joypad or joystick or the others...
Auto Fire is a must. You have to think for some, maybe "illegal" methods to
activate it. Except if you play the easy X1 -_^
- The next problem for this game is its visibility. If you have played the NES
version, you might be agree with me that it's somewhat too bright. You know
that the developer of the NES version and these old computers version is not
the same, but Ascii does not really fix that problem, I see that they only fix
the problem in Sharp X1 version. MSX2 is fine until the City Area.
The only way I find is to fix this is to decrease or change your monitor's
[Color] option or "Color correction" option if you play emulated version.
"Color correction" option depends on your GFX card. More popular GFX card
should provide more things to do.
Phew... that's all I know about the hardware.
- The other will be... to prepare an energetic day for a long difficult game.
You should prepare some time because this game can't be saved (normally).
- For the standard or difficult version of the game, you have to try to shoot
down all the enemies before some of them (depends on version) go round and
round around the screen and fire randomly, that would be troublesome for you.
That would make your [Percentage] number go higher as well.
- As an additional trick, there is a way to increase your firing rate which
works for all the versions, but MSX1 and MSX2.
Originally, that trick is: you press [8] or [2] continuously while
(auto-)firing. But, that could be dangerous (I find that pressing [8] is
usually more effective ^_^), so, if you have analog stick or joystick, that
would reduce the risk by A LOT if you alternate the "press" ^_^
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D. WALKTHROUGH
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The disk for this video game is one floppy disk. You simply insert the disk into
the first drive for your computer, either it is NEC PC88, Sharp X1, Fujitsu FM7,
MSX1 or MSX2. As a reference, for the old DOS, it would be the Drive A.
The game will be very similar to the popular NES version if you have played it
as it shares the same title. Of course, but the MSX2 version is more similar to
the NES version than the others, and the games for the old Japanese computers
resemble each other more.
But, this game will be more difficult than the NES version in general. So, if
you happen to have all the copies of this game and you are new to the game. I
think you had better play X1 first because it's miraculously easier than the
others. No, I mean the enemies move slower, so you will be having an easier
time, but you still need a great deal of patience unless you play emulated
version and find a way to save your progress. ^_^
For me, 1942 (NES) is much more decent of a video game than the game for these
computers. If you think that 1942 (NES)'s boring or such, I won't suggest you to
play this game for these computers because it will be a lot worse. Even the MSX2
version that seems to be the final of the remake, still feels like it's a step
backward.
If you have played 1942 for NES and try well enough, you may notice that all the
enemies do not fire a single bit of missile (except the big ones) at some
particular stages. Now, Ascii have named those stages: Point-Up Stage.
The idea is the same. You play as an airplane. You have to survive 32 difficult
air combat stages dealing with tons of enemy's airplanes. I divide the stages
into "areas". Because, in short, the stages are:
-the first 3 stages are the same "area".
-1 point-up stage (always located at ocean area)
-the next 3 stages are the next, same "area", ends with a "boss".
-1 point-up stage (always located at ocean area)
-repeating the above until 4 times. That will be all the 32 stages of the game.
The area name is pretty self-explanatory, I think. I hope there is no complaint
for them.
This walkthrough is for NEC PC88 version. Why? PC88 version has the most
standard of the difficulty and for the controlling matters. The difficulty will
raise along with the game progress. But, technically, the raise will be only
slightly: the enemy's types and quantity increases a little bit. The factor that
matters more for me, is the visibility of the game when we advance through the
lands. Thus, the only thing left to mention is about the power-up in each stage.
I hope the name from me have explained their identity enough.
You should know now that the missile and ally power-ups do not increase your
fire power, but only your fire range.
Area 1: Archipelago
Last 32: Missile.
Last 31: Destroy.
Last 30: Ally.
All Point-Up stages: I can't find any use of this power-up X_X Getting any
power-ups gives you score 1000.
Unlike NES version, your ally or allies are still destroyed if they hit the
enemy or enemy's missile while you are rolling. The good news is you can hit one
of your ally with the big guy for them to explode together, but can't do it for
the "enemy leader", because your friend(s) don't help you anymore, I wonder
why... maybe because it/they/he(?) looks like enemy's planes... you will have
your friend(s) back if you successfully destroy the "enemy leader" without
losing a life.
If you still have one of your ally, the ally power-up won't add your ally.
Area 2: Lake Island I
Last 28: Missile.
Last 27: 1-up, unknown, 1-up, unknown.
Last 26: Ally.
Some additional tip for the "boss": I find that have your position at the left
side is a little bit safer than the right side, or the center after this big guy
is shooting.
Area 3: Lake Island II
Last 24: Missile.
Last 23: R.
Last 22: Ally.
Area 4: Archipelago Mountain
Last 20: 1-up, unknown
Last 19: Destroy.
Last 18: R, destroy.
Area 5: Rural Island I
Last 16: Missile.
Last 15: 1-up, unknown, 1-up, unknown
Last 14: Ally.
Area 6: Rural Island II
Last 12: Missile.
Last 11: Ally.
Last 10: Ally.
If you see GameFAQs screenshot for NEC PC88, you can see the glitch if you have
[Missile] and [Ally power-up] altogether. This is only for PC88 version.
Area 7: Mountain Island
Last 8: 1-up, unknown.
Last 7: Destroy.
Last 6: Ally.
Area 8: Urban Island
Last 4: Missile.
Last 3: Destroy.
Last 2: Ally.
The enemy leader this time will come from behind your direction, and the same,
the left side is a little bit safer to win.
The final stage is actually just a Point-Up stage, and finishing the final stage
will bring you to the game ending. Congraturations!
You will get some very many extra points/scores.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E. ENEMIES LIST (PC88)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I find no official name for them, so I don't have choices, but to name all of
them by myself.
All the enemies surprisingly take the same hit to take down whether you have
power-ups or not. So, the HP is counted using missile hit.
1. White Plane
HP: 1
Score: 50
:: They are everywhere!
2. Green Plane
HP: 1
Score: 30
:: They are everywhere!
3. Bonus Plane
HP: 1
Score: 100
:: You should destroy all of them in a row to get power-ups.
4. Paper Plane
HP: 1
Score: White(200), Green(150)
:: They are in the game starting from first Point-Up Stage. They are very
similar to the plane resulted from paper folding, in my opinion. The white
ones are very annoying because two of them strike at once from left and
right at the bottommost part of the screen.
These planes are inexistent in NES version.
5. Medium White Plane
HP: 8
Score: 1500
:: Each time you hit this plane, you receive score 100.
6. Medium Green Plane
HP: 6
Score: 1000
:: When the HP reaches a half, the plane becomes red. Each time you hit this
plane, you receive score 100.
The other big and medium planes are the same, becomes red after some hits,
until remaining HP = 3.
7. Big White Plane
HP: 20
Score: 3000, then increase (approximately) by 1000 per area increase. As a
site note, Point-Up stage is calculated as the previous area.
:: Each time you hit this plane, you receive score 100.
8. Big Green Plane
HP: 15
Score: 2000, then increase by 1000 per area increase. As a site note,
Point-Up stage is calculated as the previous area.
:: Each time you hit this plane, you receive score 100. When these big planes
show up, Ascii is a little bit generous to let the game slows down and all
the little planes halt shooting.
9. Lone Green Plane
HP: 1
Score: 0
:: If you see a singly green plane flying from behind your direction, usually
goes straightforward, and in some versions, accelerate its move. Destroy
it to reveal a star. Get it for 5000 score.
Note: [Destroy] power-up doesn't destroy this plane.
10. Triple Engine White Plane
HP: 1
Score: 150
:: They are in the game starting from Stage Last 25.
11. Triple Engine Green Plane
HP: 1
Score: 100
:: They are in the game starting from Stage Last 25.
12. Enemy Leader Green Plane
HP: 40
Score: 30000
:: Each time you hit this plane, you receive score 100.
13. Enemy Leader White Plane
HP: 50
Score: 40000
:: Each time you hit this plane, you receive score 100.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F. SHARP X1 VERSION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can say that this is the "Easy Mode" for this game. My observation says that
the main reason which makes this game easy is only one: The enemy planes move
slower. Besides, the visibility of this game version is good, you don't need to
do any color correction.
At the end of all stages, there will be one medium or big plane or bonus planes
appears from behind your direction without the interruption of the small
enemies.
The bad news: When the big plane appears, the small enemies are able to fire.
And, lastly, the fire rate of the enemies goes up as the game goes on.
So, it's easy, but not very easy.
The other differences I have noticed so far:
-------------------------------------------
Rapid fire trick (See section C. general tips number: last) does not work.
Big White Plane
HP: 29
Big Green Plane
HP: 22
Medium Green Plane
HP: 9
Medium White Plane
HP: 11
The lone plane is white.
You can see the immediate effect of [1-up] power-up. The alternate of this
power-up is [Ally] power-up.
Last 27 stage only has three power-ups, omitting the last one.
Last 26 power-up = missile.
Last 20 power-up = 1-up.
Enemy Leader Green Plane
HP: 75
This one shoots three rows of three bullets towards you very regularly. They
should be pretty easy to avoid, but the enemy's HP is a little bit more, so, you
have to be able to "hang in there" longer. Can't become red.
The last 18 and so on has slightly different attack pattern. The big guy shoots:
3 3 3 6 bullets regularly. So, you have to estimatet he timing. When the big
plane shoots 6 bullets, you have to clear away from the center area.
The same with NES and MSX2, area 5 is sandy area.
Last 15 power-ups = unknown.
Last 11,7,4 power-up = none.
At the end of Last 2 stage is also Green Plane with the same HP=75, but score
given is 50000 for defeating it. The pattern is the same, but this plane comes
from behind you.
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G. MSX1 VERSION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSX1 version could be considered to be the most difficult. The main reasons are
the speed and the size of enemy's bullet. The color editor is more difficult to
do.
The enemies will fire more often as the game goes on.
The differences I have noticed so far:
-------------------------------------
Rapid fire trick (See section C. general tips number: last) does not work. I
think there is some trick to get the rapid fire to work: It's not moving while
shooting.
Medium Green Plane
HP: 8
Big Green Plane
HP: 20
Medium White Plane
HP: 10
Big White Plane
HP: 25
You can see the immediate effect of [1-up] power-up.
When the big plane appears, the small enemies are still able to fire.
Last 27 stage only has three power-ups, omitting the last one.
Last 26 power-up = ally, unknown.
Enemy Leader Green Plane
HP: 55
This one shoots three rows of three bullets towards you very regularly. For this
version, you should take the advantage when the plane is going/flying down. You
should go above the plane to dodge the plane's bullets. Can't become red.
Slightly different formula when counting the "Percentage".
The same with NES version, area 5 is sandy area. You hardly can see the "grey"
paper plane flying above the sand. >__>
Last 4 power-up = 1-up, missile.
If you can go this far, I guess you should have some cheating devices ^_^
I have some additional "trick" for you to face difficult situations involving
tons of enemies and their bullets. Maybe it's not a very big deal, but you have
to know this: It is not to move when doing the roll, so that all their bullets
are directed to your position. Once the rolling move is going to end, you should
quickly move (horizontally) to a far away position. That way you can pass a
little difficult segment of the game...
At the end of Last 2 stage is also Green Plane with the same HP=55, but score
given is 50000 for defeating it. The pattern is the same, but this plane comes
from behind you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
H. MSX2 VERSION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The MSX2 version is like the "final" remake of the game, as the quality of the
game goes up. The graphics gets smoother and more suitable to the eyes, the
difficulty is compromised.
The enemies will fire more often as the game goes on.
The differences I have noticed so far:
-------------------------------------
Rapid fire trick (See section C. general tips number: last) does not work. I
think the trick to get the rapid fire to work is the same: It's not moving while
shooting.
Medium Green Plane
HP: 9 or 11
Score: 1000 or 1500
Big Green Plane
HP: 22 or 29
Score: 2000/3000, then increase by 1000 per area increase.
Medium White Plane
HP: 11
Big White Plane
HP: 29
You can see the immediate effect of [1-up] power-up.
Last 27 stage only has three power-ups, omitting the last one.
Last 26 power-up = ally, unknown.
Enemy Leader Green Plane
HP: 75
This one will need a different strategy. I only find one strategy that works the
best for this big plane. You have to focus your fire to the center part of the
big plane, so that the big plane doesn't shoot or doesn't shoot very often. Once
the big plane fly very close towards you, use your R, thay way the big plane
should fly away, then shoot away until the big plane is very close again, then
repeat the process until your Rs are all used up.
If your Rs are somehow used up, quick rotation (clockwise) would do, but that
will be pretty difficult, and could become easier if you have [Missile] power-up
with you because the power-up can enhance your firing rate, and most importantly
when you move fast.
The same with NES version, area 5 is sandy area.
Last 4 power-up = 1-up, missile.
At the end of Last 2 stage is also an enemy leader. A White Plane with the same
HP=75, but score given is 50000 for defeating it. The pattern is all the same.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. FUJITSU FM7 VERSION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, we arrive at the last version, Fujitsu FM7, which I hardly can play...
I'm not sure if the plane is actually gliding continuosly like that, or the
plane can move like the other above versions....
You should know by now that you can roll both horizontally and vertically right
now.
The game starts off easily, but the difficulty increases a lot later because not
only enemies' firing rate is increased, but their bullet speed is also increased
randomly. You should know if your plane can only move by gliding, the game
becomes much more difficult only because of that...
The differences I have noticed so far:
-------------------------------------
Your shooting rate is fixed. There is no way to increase it....
Well, there is still a way to increase it, but doesn't it look like a common
sense....? It is: to be close to your enemy while you are (auto-)firing...
Big Green Plane
HP: 14
Medium White Plane
HP: 7
Even at early stages you can see that some green small planes flying very low at
the bottom of the screen, making us think that it's not a very good idea to have
our position at the bottom of the screen, but you should know that if our
position is at the top, the risk of collision will go up. If you insist on
having your position at the bottommost part of the screen, you have to know that
by pressing [Numpad 2], your plane will stop gliding (Gliding around can make
collision's risk goes higher). And, you have better survival chance if you have
[Missile] power-up because your firing range can go wider because of that.
Big White Plane
HP: 19
Score: 2000, then increase by 1000 per area increase.
Last 26 power-up = ally, unknown.
Slightly different formula when counting the "Percentage".
Enemy Leader Green Plane
HP: 39
This one is the easiest. The best news about this is: You can traverse the
upmost area (from left to right or from right to left) without any risk of
collision with the enemy.... err... the collision risk actually exists... for me
though, I will traverse it while avoiding enemy's bullets only.
Last 18 power-up = R, unknown.
Last 10 power-up = Ally, unknown.
Last 4 power-up = 1-up, missile.
Last 2 power-up = Ally, unknown.
Enemy Leader White Plane
HP: 49
This is basically the same with above. But, this one comes from behind with a
little bit more HP count.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J. HIGH SCORES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The high scores for NEC PC88 and Sharp X1 are the same.
Basically, you can only input capital letters and numbers (which is done with
the NumPad). Inputting the others will usually only display full stop. Backspace
is done with [left arrow].
For MSX1, the differences are you can input the numbers with the keyboard's left
and can input more symbols instead of the full stop. MSX2 is about the same, I
can say that the symbols you could input decrease at a certain degree...
For Fujitsu FM7, alphabets only can be inputted by pressing [Shift] altogether
with the corresponding letter.
After you input all of the spaces (which denotes with full stops) with
something, your chance to input your name into the High Scores will be over.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are a few questions... a really few questions at the board.
I'd try this one.
Q: Can someone please tell me about this game?
A: I hope this document will tell you about it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
L. SPECIAL THANKS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. GameFAQs. For posting this document.
2. Ascii. For making the game.
If you'd like to tell me about some errors that I've made in this
FAQ/Walkthrough or ask any questions, you may mail me at
[email protected]
