A shmup developed by the legendary Raizing, the makers of Garegga, Batrider, Bakraid and Terra Diver? And it's a new entry for Capcom's 1940's series? Oooh, this is gonna be good, right, guys?!
Right, guys...?
...guys?
Nah, this one's really lame. On paper, the idea seems grand, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Truly a contract job, if I've ever played one.
Single shots are in long volleys, which mandates the use of autofire to not throw my timing off, but the gunfire itself has no impact--enemies just shake in place until they blow up when I shoot them. It feels dinky. The audio design is lacklustre, as well, which does nothing to draw me into the gameplay. The booze-soaked, boomer-tier bar band music doesn't help here, either. (That one guy on the Shmups Forum who criticized DoDonPachi's OST for being just "jams" should be forced to play all his shooters with this crappy music in place!) The game's 15-stage length (!) grates on me after merely 9, making me feel like I'm just going through the motions when I could be playing something else instead.
Which brings me to 1944's biggest problem: its simply boring to play. It's not exciting and lacks engagement. (At least it's got some nice artwork.)
This game proves that even the most avowed of classic Japanese shmup developing teams had their fair share of turkeys, the ones that their fans do best to ignore and remain unmentioned, as to not sully their reputations. CAVE had Deathsmiles II, Psikyo had Samurai Aces, Toaplan had Twin Cobra II, Konami had Gradius IV, and Raizing forever has 1944: The Poop Master.
Why waste your time on this in the Arcade Stadium when you could be playing 19XX, Progear or Giga Wing? Hell, even VARTH has something more going for it!
Go play those instead.
izigame.me
It may take some time when the page for viewing is loaded for the first time...