Capcom Black Label PCBs aka 1943 Kai!

[maxlords]

Ok, the title is a LITTLE bit of a tease. I recently bought (and received) a 1943 Kai PCB. I have never actually played 1943 Kai before, and it showed up the day Vyxx happened to be coming over to pick up a couple of boards and hang out. I already have 1943, 1944 Loop Master, and 19XX War of Destiny (only 1942 and 1941 Counterattack to go!).

Anyway, we cracked the package on 1943 Kai and I was looking at the ROMs. At first I couldn't figure out why they were labeled BMK (a few were just labeled BM), but then I clued it... Battle of Midway Kaisen, aka 1943 Kai. I compared this to my 1943, where all the ROMs were labeled BM - Battle of Midway.

Plugged 1943 Kai into my Egret and awaaaay we went! And damn! What a friggin' awesome game! A life meter that counts down regardless of hits, a powerup weapon counter that counts down, a bunch of interesting weapons, and solid music! And in the higher levels, full-on mania bullets and ships! Plus hidden Capcom items....cows, windmills, cornucopias, etc. I was really impressed for a game from 1987! It was fun as hell!

Then we popped in 1943 to do a comparison. There IS NO COMPARISON! Everything about 1943 was upgraded in 1943 Kai! The music is better, the graphics are better, the weapon balance is better, the bosses are better! 1943 was simply not at all fun in comparison to Kai! We could barely play 4 levels of 1943, but couldn't get enough of Kai!

Then I looked online to find out why I've never heard much about this. According to the info I found, only 208 units of 1943 Kai were EVER produced, and it was a Japan only release! Explains why I've never seen it for sale on the forums until recently. And the Youtube MAME videos REALLY don't do it justice...looks WAY better on a cab! Basically, it was flat out addictive as hell, felt almost like a pre-Cave style mania shmup in the later levels (8-10 or so...and I think there are more!) but with targeted bullets, not patterns, and it was FUN!

I'm wondering....does this essentially qualify 1943 Kai as a black label game? A limited run exactly one year after the original, with remixed graphics, sound, and gameplay (weapons, ships, pallettes, etc). It seems like the same thing as an Ibara Kuro or a Death Smiles Mege Black Label to me. I'm surprised I've never heard more about this game with how incredibly fun it is (at least 2 player...haven't played single yet)! Are there any other variant games like this out there in hiding?

Thoughts? Comments?

[BIL]

1943 Kai is great, manic as hell. I didn't realise the PCB production run was that small. Makes me even more grateful for Capcom Generation 1, as much as I'll always wish 1941 was on there too.

[Dave_K.]

Are there any differences between the PCBs, besides the roms of course?

I've seen Kai on eBay before, but looked like a rom re-burn. Just curious how easy it is to convert one.

[Despatche]

Anyway, we cracked the package on 1943 Kai and I was looking at the ROMs. At first I couldn't figure out why they were labeled BMK (a few were just labeled BM), but then I clued it... Battle of Midway Kaisen, aka 1943 Kai. I compared this to my 1943, where all the ROMs were labeled BM - Battle of Midway.

"BMK" = "The Battle of Midway Kai".

The Japanese flyer uses "The Battle of Midway", so "Midway Kaisen" (not "Battle of"; 'kaisen' is 海戦 which refers to naval battles) is likely derived from it. 1943 Kai ('kai' here is 改 which refers to revisions) still retains "Midway Kaisen" as a subtitle.

I'm wondering....does this essentially qualify 1943 Kai as a black label game? A limited run exactly one year after the original, with remixed graphics, sound, and gameplay (weapons, ships, pallettes, etc). It seems like the same thing as an Ibara Kuro or a Death Smiles Mege Black Label to me. I'm surprised I've never heard more about this game with how incredibly fun it is (at least 2 player...haven't played single yet)! Are there any other variant games like this out there in hiding?

The entire fighting game market is still based around both these small and large updates, but that's probably not helpful.

1943 Kai is more like Ibara Kuro; a "large update". That phrase also brings to mind games like Life Force, Slap Fight MD (actually...), Raiden DX, and Strikers 1945 Plus. I don't recall Deathsmiles MBL having such drastic changes...

[maxlords]

Are there any differences between the PCBs, besides the roms of course?

I've seen Kai on eBay before, but looked like a rom re-burn. Just curious how easy it is to convert one.

At a glance, it looks like identical hardware and a straight ROM swap....but a LOT of ROMs are changed....

[Monstermug]

I wanted a bit of old school shumps yesterday so I plugged in 1942. Found out that the bomb seemed to be stuck on so I put it away and got the next best thing and which also happened to be right next to 1942. A 1943 pcb which I got from a good aquaintance of mine a year or two ago and never touched it since!

Plugged it in and after playing for a few minutes I noticed that this wasn't what I remembered 1943 to be like at all! I mean wtf Lazoors, spinning spread circle shots and the awesume music!!!! I looked at the board to see if it was a bootleg or something but saw all the capcom stickers on it. The roms were labeled BMK, printed on the silvery capcom stickers. Looks like a normal 1943 to me!

Remembering that there was another version of 1943 released once I checked on the net for more information. YouTube video search came up with the distinctive red Japanese writing that was also on the 1943 intro screen. Low and behold, I have a 1943 Kai. A few bit more googling lead me here.

Really? Only 208 units made? Must be worth a fair bit I would guess? They must have bumpped up the difficulty in this game cos I get pwned pretty badly.

Anyway, sorry to bump up an old thread. Just thought I shout about how awesum this game is.

[1up]

I think Kai is easier than regular 1943. It's all about the circle spreadshot. It cancels the enemies bullets.

Only 208 units made? That's not a lot.

[Seahawk]

I always thought Kai was easier than vanilla 1943. Vanilla is longer, and in the end it is tossing bullets and planes at you in relentless waves. Kai has lasers, sideplanes, and an overpowered shotgun on demand to get you through it.

Kai feels to me a rerelease for operators who thought game sessions on vanilla were lasting too long for players, since with only 10 stages the game will be over faster no matter what your skill level.

[gomados]

I think you have to change 25 Eproms and 10 Proms to run 1943 kai.
i want to do a conversion.

349 ROM_START( 1943j )
350 ROM_REGION( 0x30000, "main", 0 ) /* 64k for code + 128k for the banked ROMs images */
351 ROM_LOAD( "1943jap.001", 0x00000, 0x08000, CRC(f6935937) SHA1(6fe8885d734447c2a667cf80dd545200aad6c767) )
352 ROM_LOAD( "1943jap.002", 0x10000, 0x10000, CRC(af971575) SHA1(af1d8ce73e8671b7b41248ce6486c9b5aaf6a233) )
353 ROM_LOAD( "1943jap.003", 0x20000, 0x10000, CRC(300ec713) SHA1(f66d2356b413a418c887b4085a5315475c7a8bba) )
354
355 ROM_REGION( 0x10000, "audio", 0 )
356 ROM_LOAD( "1943.05", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(ee2bd2d7) SHA1(4d2d019a9f8452fbbb247e893280568a2e86073e) )
357
358 ROM_REGION( 0x8000, "gfx1", ROMREGION_DISPOSE )
359 ROM_LOAD( "1943.04", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(46cb9d3d) SHA1(96fd0e714b91fe13a2ca0d185ada9e4b4baa0c0b) ) /* characters */
360
361 ROM_REGION( 0x40000, "gfx2", ROMREGION_DISPOSE )
362 ROM_LOAD( "1943.15", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(6b1a0443) SHA1(32337c840ccd6815fd5844c194365c58d708f6dc) ) /* bg tiles */
363 ROM_LOAD( "1943.16", 0x08000, 0x8000, CRC(23c908c2) SHA1(42b83ff5781be9181802a21ff1b23c17ab1bc5a2) )
364 ROM_LOAD( "1943.17", 0x10000, 0x8000, CRC(46bcdd07) SHA1(38feda668be25d1adc04aa36afc73b07c1545f89) )
365 ROM_LOAD( "1943.18", 0x18000, 0x8000, CRC(e6ae7ba0) SHA1(959c306dc28b9be2adc54b3d46312d26764c7b8b) )
366 ROM_LOAD( "1943.19", 0x20000, 0x8000, CRC(868ababc) SHA1(1c7be905f53c63bad25fbbd9b3cf82d2c7749bc3) )
367 ROM_LOAD( "1943.20", 0x28000, 0x8000, CRC(0917e5d4) SHA1(62dd277bc1fa54cfe168ae2380bc147bd17f4205) )
368 ROM_LOAD( "1943.21", 0x30000, 0x8000, CRC(9bfb0d89) SHA1(f1bae7ec46edcf46c7af84c054e89b322f8c8972) )
369 ROM_LOAD( "1943.22", 0x38000, 0x8000, CRC(04f3c274) SHA1(932780c04abe285e1ec67b726b145175f73eafe0) )
370
371 ROM_REGION( 0x10000, "gfx3", ROMREGION_DISPOSE )
372 ROM_LOAD( "1943.24", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(11134036) SHA1(88da112ab9fc7e0d8f0e901f273715b950ae588c) ) /* fg tiles */
373 ROM_LOAD( "1943.25", 0x08000, 0x8000, CRC(092cf9c1) SHA1(19fe3c714b1d52cbb21dea25cdee5af841f525db) )
374
375 ROM_REGION( 0x40000, "gfx4", ROMREGION_DISPOSE )
376 ROM_LOAD( "1943.06", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(97acc8af) SHA1(c9fa07cb61f6905408b355edabfe453fb652ff0d) ) /* sprites */
377 ROM_LOAD( "1943.07", 0x08000, 0x8000, CRC(d78f7197) SHA1(6367c7e80e80d4a0d33d7840b5c843c63c80123e) )
378 ROM_LOAD( "1943.08", 0x10000, 0x8000, CRC(1a626608) SHA1(755c27a07728fd686168e9d9e4dee3d8f274892a) )
379 ROM_LOAD( "1943.09", 0x18000, 0x8000, CRC(92408400) SHA1(3ab299bad1ba115efead53ebd92254abe7a092ba) )
380 ROM_LOAD( "1943.10", 0x20000, 0x8000, CRC(8438a44a) SHA1(873629b00cf3f6d8976a7fdafe63cd16e47b7491) )
381 ROM_LOAD( "1943.11", 0x28000, 0x8000, CRC(6c69351d) SHA1(c213d5c3e76a5749bc32539604716dcef6dcb694) )
382 ROM_LOAD( "1943.12", 0x30000, 0x8000, CRC(5e7efdb7) SHA1(fef271a38dc1a9e45a0c6e27e28e713c77c8f8c9) )
383 ROM_LOAD( "1943.13", 0x38000, 0x8000, CRC(1143829a) SHA1(2b3a65e354a205c05a87f783e9938b64bc62396f) )
384
385 ROM_REGION( 0x10000, "gfx5", 0 ) /* tilemaps */
386 ROM_LOAD( "1943.14", 0x0000, 0x8000, CRC(4d3c6401) SHA1(ce4f6dbf8fa030ad45cbb5afd58df27fed2d4618) ) /* front background */
387 ROM_LOAD( "1943.23", 0x8000, 0x8000, CRC(a52aecbd) SHA1(45b0283d84d394c16c35802463ca95d70d1062d4) ) /* back background */
388
389 ROM_REGION( 0x0c00, "proms", 0 )
390 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.01", 0x0000, 0x0100, CRC(74421f18) SHA1(5b8b59f6f4e5ad358611de50608f47f41a5b0e51) ) /* red component */
391 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.02", 0x0100, 0x0100, CRC(ac27541f) SHA1(1796c4c9041dfe28e6319576f21df1dbcb8d12bf) ) /* green component */
392 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.03", 0x0200, 0x0100, CRC(251fb6ff) SHA1(d1118159b3d429d841e4efa938728ebedadd7ec5) ) /* blue component */
393 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.05", 0x0300, 0x0100, CRC(206713d0) SHA1(fa609f6d675af18c379838583505724d28bcff0e) ) /* char lookup table */
394 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.10", 0x0400, 0x0100, CRC(33c2491c) SHA1(13da924e4b182759c4aae49034f3a7cbe556ea65) ) /* foreground lookup table */
395 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.09", 0x0500, 0x0100, CRC(aeea4af7) SHA1(98f4570ee061e9aa58d8ed2d2f8ae59ce2ec5795) ) /* foreground palette bank */
396 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.12", 0x0600, 0x0100, CRC(c18aa136) SHA1(684f04d9a5b94ae1db5fb95763e65271f4cf8e01) ) /* background lookup table */
397 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.11", 0x0700, 0x0100, CRC(405aae37) SHA1(94a06f81b775c4e49d57d42fc064d3072a253bbd) ) /* background palette bank */
398 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.08", 0x0800, 0x0100, CRC(c2010a9e) SHA1(be9852500209066e2f0ff2770e0c217d1636a0b5) ) /* sprite lookup table */
399 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.07", 0x0900, 0x0100, CRC(b56f30c3) SHA1(9f5e6db464d21457a33ec8bdfdff069632b791db) ) /* sprite palette bank */
400 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.04", 0x0a00, 0x0100, CRC(91a8a2e1) SHA1(9583c87eff876f04bc2ccf7218cd8081f1bcdb94) ) /* priority encoder / palette selector (not used) */
401 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.06", 0x0b00, 0x0100, CRC(0eaf5158) SHA1(bafd4108708f66cd7b280e47152b108f3e254fc9) ) /* video timing (not used) */



404 ROM_START( 1943kai )
405 ROM_REGION( 0x30000, "main", 0 ) /* 64k for code + 128k for the banked ROMs images */
406 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.01", 0x00000, 0x08000, CRC(7d2211db) SHA1(b02a0b3daf7e1e224b7cad8fbe93439bd5ec9f0b) )
407 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.02", 0x10000, 0x10000, CRC(2ebbc8c5) SHA1(3be5ad061411642723e3f2bcb7b3c3caa11ee15f) )
408 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.03", 0x20000, 0x10000, CRC(475a6ac5) SHA1(fa07a855ba9173b6f81641c806ec7d938b0c282e) )
409
410 ROM_REGION( 0x10000, "audio", 0 )
411 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.05", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(25f37957) SHA1(1e50c2a920eb3b5c881843686db857e9fee5ba1d) )
412
413 ROM_REGION( 0x8000, "gfx1", ROMREGION_DISPOSE )
414 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.04", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(884a8692) SHA1(027aa8c868dc07ccd9e27705031107881aef4b91) ) /* characters */
415
416 ROM_REGION( 0x40000, "gfx2", ROMREGION_DISPOSE )
417 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.15", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(6b1a0443) SHA1(32337c840ccd6815fd5844c194365c58d708f6dc) ) /* bg tiles */
418 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.16", 0x08000, 0x8000, CRC(9416fe0d) SHA1(92fbc8fffa4497747ab80abe20eef361f6525114) )
419 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.17", 0x10000, 0x8000, CRC(3d5acab9) SHA1(887d45b648fda952ae2137579f383ab8ede1facd) )
420 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.18", 0x18000, 0x8000, CRC(7b62da1d) SHA1(1926109a2ab2f550ca87b0d2af73abd2b4a7498d) )
421 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.19", 0x20000, 0x8000, CRC(868ababc) SHA1(1c7be905f53c63bad25fbbd9b3cf82d2c7749bc3) )
422 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.20", 0x28000, 0x8000, CRC(b90364c1) SHA1(104bc02237eeead84c7f35462186d0a1af8761bc) )
423 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.21", 0x30000, 0x8000, CRC(8c7fe74a) SHA1(8846b57d7f47c10ab1f505c359ecf36dcbacb011) )
424 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.22", 0x38000, 0x8000, CRC(d5ef8a0e) SHA1(2e42b1fbbfe823a33740a56d1334657db56d24d2) )
425
426 ROM_REGION( 0x10000, "gfx3", ROMREGION_DISPOSE )
427 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.24", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(bf186ef2) SHA1(cacbb8a61f8a64c3ba4ffde5ca6f07fe120b9a7e) ) /* fg tiles */
428 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.25", 0x08000, 0x8000, CRC(a755faf1) SHA1(8ee286d6ad7454ae34971f5891ddba4b76c244b0) )
429
430 ROM_REGION( 0x40000, "gfx4", ROMREGION_DISPOSE )
431 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.06", 0x00000, 0x8000, CRC(5f7e38b3) SHA1(33f69ebe91a0ee45d9107171fed26da475aaab3a) ) /* sprites */
432 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.07", 0x08000, 0x8000, CRC(ff3751fd) SHA1(bc942ddd46e7b147115e8ac22d24c2d018a7c373) )
433 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.08", 0x10000, 0x8000, CRC(159d51bd) SHA1(746aa49b18aff0eaf2fb875c573d455416d45a1d) )
434 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.09", 0x18000, 0x8000, CRC(8683e3d2) SHA1(591dc4811b226fe11cd5441ecb51aa3e95e68ac5) )
435 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.10", 0x20000, 0x8000, CRC(1e0d9571) SHA1(44ea9603020e9ab717e3e506f7ecf288506c0502) )
436 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.11", 0x28000, 0x8000, CRC(f1fc5ee1) SHA1(4ffc8e57734d3b59df695b86070511f1c447b992) )
437 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.12", 0x30000, 0x8000, CRC(0f50c001) SHA1(0e6367d3f0ba39a00ee0fa6e42ae9d43d12da23d) )
438 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.13", 0x38000, 0x8000, CRC(fd1acf8e) SHA1(88477ff1e5fbbca251d8cd4f241b42618ba64a80) )
439
440 ROM_REGION( 0x10000, "gfx5", 0 ) /* tilemaps */
441 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.14", 0x0000, 0x8000, CRC(cf0f5a53) SHA1(dc50f3f937f52910dbd0cedbc232acfed0aa6a42) ) /* front background */
442 ROM_LOAD( "1943kai.23", 0x8000, 0x8000, CRC(17f77ef9) SHA1(8ebb4b440042436ec2db52bad808cced832db77c) ) /* back background */
443
444 ROM_REGION( 0x0c00, "proms", 0 )
445 ROM_LOAD( "bmk01.bin", 0x0000, 0x0100, CRC(e001ea33) SHA1(4204bdf87820ac84bab2a1b5571a2ee28c4cdfc5) ) /* red component */
446 ROM_LOAD( "bmk02.bin", 0x0100, 0x0100, CRC(af34d91a) SHA1(94bc6514c980fdd1cb013ff0819d6f32464c581c) ) /* green component */
447 ROM_LOAD( "bmk03.bin", 0x0200, 0x0100, CRC(43e9f6ef) SHA1(e1f58368fe0bd9b53f6c286ce5009b218a5197dc) ) /* blue component */
448 ROM_LOAD( "bmk05.bin", 0x0300, 0x0100, CRC(41878934) SHA1(8f28210ab1d409c89600169a136b74a706001cdf) ) /* char lookup table */
449 ROM_LOAD( "bmk10.bin", 0x0400, 0x0100, CRC(de44b748) SHA1(0694fb19d98ccda728424436fc7350da7b5bd05e) ) /* foreground lookup table */
450 ROM_LOAD( "bmk09.bin", 0x0500, 0x0100, CRC(59ea57c0) SHA1(f961c7e9981cc819c2adf4efdc977841d284a3a2) ) /* foreground palette bank */
451 ROM_LOAD( "bmk12.bin", 0x0600, 0x0100, CRC(8765f8b0) SHA1(f32bab8e3587434b864fe97da9423f2335ccba2e) ) /* background lookup table */
452 ROM_LOAD( "bmk11.bin", 0x0700, 0x0100, CRC(87a8854e) SHA1(0cbc601b736d566d625867d65e0f7b2abb535c65) ) /* background palette bank */
453 ROM_LOAD( "bmk08.bin", 0x0800, 0x0100, CRC(dad17e2d) SHA1(fdb18ddc7574153bb7e27ba08b04b9dc87061c02) ) /* sprite lookup table */
454 ROM_LOAD( "bmk07.bin", 0x0900, 0x0100, CRC(76307f8d) SHA1(8d655e2a5c50541795316d924b2f18b55f4b9571) ) /* sprite palette bank */
455 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.04", 0x0a00, 0x0100, CRC(91a8a2e1) SHA1(9583c87eff876f04bc2ccf7218cd8081f1bcdb94) ) /* priority encoder / palette selector (not used) */
456 ROM_LOAD( "bmprom.06", 0x0b00, 0x0100, CRC(0eaf5158) SHA1(bafd4108708f66cd7b280e47152b108f3e254fc9) ) /* video timing (not used) */

[Pretas]

Necro-reply: 1943 Kai is indeed much easier on default settings. Crank the difficulty up and the increased bullet count evens it out, though, since you can no longer hope to cancel everything headed your way with the spread shot.

Capcom Arcade Cabinet on PS3/360 has standardized Hard and Very Hard settings for all its games, including both versions of 1943.

[gomados]

1943 and 1943 kai by default on arcade pcb is setted to 8, difficulty comes from 1 to 16.

[rtw]

From the 1943 Kai manual it looks as if this game was released as an upgrade-kit to 1943.

Feel free to translate the Japanese text