1945 I & II [PS2] (review)

[Iluvretro]

I can't agree with the review of 1945 which only gave the game a 5/10. So I'll post my own experiences. I too purchased this game recently on a whim because it only cost 5€ in the bargain bin. I never knew 5€ could buy so much gaming pleasure.

Both games are totally similar so there's no need to split them up. What I love the most about this game is the different ships you can choose from. It actually makes a difference whether you pick a ship that only fires forward, or has a strong secundary shot, bomb, backup fire etc. You actually have to adapt your strategy when flying with a different ship.

The level design is pretty straightforward and the enemies tend to be a bit generic. The end bosses are lots of fun to tackle and it'll take you a couple of minutes before you actually reach them. So there's plenty to do in each level. And there are more than enough of these levels because after the main enemies you'll have to beat the extra bonus stages with their illusive bosses.

The graphs are pretty decent in my humble opinion. But keep in mind that this game was designed a long time ago and should be rated by those standards. I don't think you're supposed to save games like this so I don't see why the lack of a save option should even be mentioned.

Finally the 60HRZ thing. Frankly, I don't have a 60 hrz tv so I can't judge. Perhaps someone should enlighten me about the problems that come with playing a 50hrz game on a 60 hrz tv. Untill someone does that, I can only give the game a score according to my experience. I'd say the game merits 8/10. Keeping in mind that you can buy it for pocket change and that it's not a PS2 game but a port from an ancient game.

Finally I'd like to compare the game with Psyvariar Complete which I also purchased recently. You may ask yourself the question as to why. Basically because PSYVARIAR also cost me pocket change but I did regret buying it. The levels are short and on top of that you're really just killing time until you get to the boss. I won't go into the grazing thing but the hit detection of the ships is just POOR. Sometimes you survive a curtain which you shouldn't have survived simply because the bullets missed the random fucking pixel that causes the ship to explode. On other occasions the ship would just explode when I thought the bullets clearly missed mah pixel. Only to say, 1945 is ten times the game PSYVARIAR is at the same (and even less) of the cost.

If you're not an importer (and even if you are) you should try 1945 on your PAL PS2. It's definitely worth 10bux.

Cheers.

[Danny]

I can't agree with the review of 1945 which only gave the game a 5/10. So I'll post my own experiences. I too purchased this game recently on a whim because it only cost 5€ in the bargain bin. I never knew 5€ could buy so much gaming pleasure.
Cheers.

Dude I said the game would of gotten 9/10 if it were ported properly.

So Strikers 1945 I & II sounds like a solid game right well yeah it is but yet again Play It's lazy porting skills have come to ruin what could of easily of been a 9 out of 10 game if they bothered to port the game properly. Now the game is perfectly playable with no huge faults as such so it's not the second coming of Mobile Light Force of the PSX which can only be a good thing.

Personaly I really like the 1945 series but the port kinda ruins it although saying that it's not Moblie Light Force bad it's lack of save game function and 60hrz mode will put a lot of people off hence the score.

Strikers 1945 1 & 2 are solid examples of how a vertical shoot-em-up and pays a fine tribute to Capcom's legendary shoot-em-up series. The graphics and sound of the game are wonderful. Each enemy, each background looks as lush as the last. Typical the game will throw military plane after plane which all resemble World War II in till you get to the bosses that is. If there is one thing that Psikyo do well is creating Boss characters in there games and I have to say that the Strikers series has some of there finest works. Humongous, Robotic, Multi-sectioned and very surreal in places, I am almost always excited every time I encounter a new boss type character in Psikyo's games because I know that they 95% of the time they do the game justice.

[Kaiser]

I can't agree with the review of 1945 which only gave the game a 5/10. So I'll post my own experiences. I too purchased this game recently on a whim because it only cost 5€ in the bargain bin. I never knew 5€ could buy so much gaming pleasure.
Cheers.

Dude I said the game would of gotten 9/10 if it were ported properly. Personaly I really like the 1945 series but the port kinda ruins it although saying that it's not Moblie Light Force bad it's lack of save game function and 60hrz mode will put a lot of people off hence the score.

strikers 1945 II was better ported on PSX/SAT and it deserves 9/10 why not 10? because there''s no tate support

[Danny]

I wish people would actualy take the time to read what I wrote as supposed to just look at the score and the pictures man...

[Fighter17]

I can't agree with the review of 1945 which only gave the game a 5/10. So I'll post my own experiences. I too purchased this game recently on a whim because it only cost 5€ in the bargain bin. I never knew 5€ could buy so much gaming pleasure.
Cheers.

Dude I said the game would of gotten 9/10 if it were ported properly. Personaly I really like the 1945 series but the port kinda ruins it although saying that it's not Moblie Light Force bad it's lack of save game function and 60hrz mode will put a lot of people off hence the score.

strikers 1945 II was better ported on PSX/SAT and it deserves 9/10 why not 10? because there''s no tate support

There's TATE mode on the Japanese version of Strikers 1945 II for the Saturn and PSX. Oh yeah, get the PSX version, the Saturn version runs like a old man trying to catch up. Yeah, it's that bad.

[Kaiser]

Dude I said the game would of gotten 9/10 if it were ported properly. Personaly I really like the 1945 series but the port kinda ruins it although saying that it's not Moblie Light Force bad it's lack of save game function and 60hrz mode will put a lot of people off hence the score.

strikers 1945 II was better ported on PSX/SAT and it deserves 9/10 why not 10? because there''s no tate support

There's TATE mode on the Japanese version of Strikers 1945 II for the Saturn and PSX. Oh yeah, get the PSX version, the Saturn version runs like a old man trying to catch up. Yeah, it's that bad.

I have striker 1945 II on PSX since my 8th birthday(yeah that was birthday gift), i'm enjoying it still, multiplayer is even funnier!

[D]

any thread about Strikers and Gunbirds always end in "The PS version is the best"

[Fighter17]

any thread about Strikers and Gunbirds always end in "The PS version is the best"

Don't know about Gunbird, but I herd the PSX port wasn't that good. Then again, I've played Strikers 1945 on the PSX when the Saturn version is better and the port was actually very good. I guess people being too anal about it, unless the PSX port of Gunbird is full of shit (like that Strikers 1945 II Saturn port).

[Fighter17]

Oh yeah, the Striker pack for the PS2 is full of shit. Horrible sound with some weird-ass graphics (looks too green to me). God damn people paid money for this shit.

[Iluvretro]

I wish people would actualy take the time to read what I wrote as supposed to just look at the score and the pictures man...

Wait wait. I know you said that it would have gotten a better score if it was a decent port. Ok so I missed the 9/10 grade. My bad, let's just consider this topic a supporting review of yours then.

Now I still don't know why 10 hrz difference makes a game lose 4 points (as in I REALLY don't know because I'm European and I've never owned a 60 hrz tv) Perhaps someone might actually elaborate on that.

Also: I'm not a shmup pro or fanatic. I love retro games and I love THIS particular shmup. In other words, I haven't compared different versions (my computer is fucked so I'm typin this on a 333mhz 64mb ram) so maybe I'm not being critical enough. My review should be seen in light of this.

Finally, I would like to seize the opportunity to repeat my vent against Psyvariar. SHITSUX.

Thank you all.

[mice]

The difference between 50 and 60Hz is speed and, sometimes, letterboxing problems.
The slower 50Hz versions are considered easier. (I'm equally bad at 50 and 60Hz games, so I don't know...)

I'm going to buy this game as well. It just can't be bad. And I agree, Psyvariar is the worst sh**.

[Danny]

It's not bad if you just want to have some fun as I stated in the review but if you are a real big shmup fanatic then you will want a better port of the game or will proberbly just be happy with the MAME emu I suppose.

p.s: I like Psyvariar!

[Gorecki]

The PS2 Strikers collection is the worst port I've come across, and it's gathering dust on my shelf. If you can handle 50hz, badly compressed graphics in yoko, awful sound mixing and a lack of save then more power to you, buy it and have fun. But MAME is your best bet to play these games in all their glory.

[Strider77]

"Yeah, it's that bad"

no it's not.... it slows down some but it's no where near not playable.

what's the deal with gunbird one on the sat/psx?

[Iluvretro]

Alright. For the time being I can't play MAME and it's fun to play it on my TV eiher way. I have nothin to compare with so It's 5€ well spent.

I never found a good controller for MAME and other roms. Seems as if every D-pad has a full disc these days, which makes it hard to control emu's in the right way. I prefer four seperate buttons such as on the PS(2).

[Strider77]

Seems as if every D-pad has a full disc these days, which makes it hard to control emu's in the right way. I prefer four seperate buttons such as on the PS(2).

I prefer four seperate buttons such as on the PS(2).

[Sword]

Alright. For the time being I can't play MAME and it's fun to play it on my TV eiher way. I have nothin to compare with so It's 5€ well spent.

I never found a good controller for MAME and other roms. Seems as if every D-pad has a full disc these days, which makes it hard to control emu's in the right way. I prefer four seperate buttons such as on the PS(2).

You should get a dual box or something, so you can plug your ps2 pad into a USB-port.

And yes, I prefer the ps2 pad above, uh, *everything* as well.

(And I think Psyvariar complete is a good game, so YMMV etc.)

[Cranky]

The pal psx version of strikers has tate mode. One of my favorite shooters

[Iluvretro]

The pal psx version of strikers has tate mode. One of my favorite shooters

Actually, the PS2 version has Tate as well. You can even change the controll scheme and play it as a sidescroller if you don't actually have a screen you can turn.

[Danny]

The pal psx version of strikers has tate mode. One of my favorite shooters

Actually, the PS2 version has Tate as well. You can even change the controll scheme and play it as a sidescroller if you don't actually have a screen you can turn.

I did mention that in my review actualy. One of the more redeeming aspects of the port.

[al138]

"Yeah, it's that bad"

no it's not.... it slows down some but it's no where near not playable.

what's the deal with gunbird one on the sat/psx?

I can't speak for the SAT versioin, but Gunbird for the PSX is a bit disappointing. The graphics on the port have a grainy texture that I find ugly, which only gets worse on a widescreen HDTV. It's not like the Shienryu (Gekioh) port for the PSX, which was significantly different from the arcade but still retained the spirit of the original.

With that said, Gunbird for the PSX is playable--but if your first experience was in the arcade, you are in for a huge let down.

[Fighter17]

"Yeah, it's that bad"

no it's not.... it slows down some but it's no where near not playable.

what's the deal with gunbird one on the sat/psx?

I can't speak for the SAT versioin, but Gunbird for the PSX is a bit disappointing. The graphics on the port have a grainy texture that I find ugly, which only gets worse on a widescreen HDTV. It's not like the Shienryu (Gekioh) port for the PSX, which was significantly different from the arcade but still retained the spirit of the original.

With that said, Gunbird for the PSX is playable--but if your first experience was in the arcade, you are in for a huge let down.

I was suprise that the Strikers 1945 port for the PSX was actually a good port since Gunbird and Strikers 1945 ran on the same hardware.

[sjewkestheloon]

The PS Gunbird port (MLF) is absolutely terrible. One of the boss forms will not actually shoot at you unless you take out every other section on it. Shadows appear under invisible popcorn enemies. It's a mess.

The PS2 pack is ok though, or at least better. Not bad for the £2 i spent on it sealed in PAL land and 60hz