P-47II MD getting cartridge release after 35 years!

[hamfighterx]

Both Strictly Limited AND Limited Run are working with Retrobit and selling the overseas version. I'd recommend Limited Run over SLG! Mostly because Limited Run reliably ships games, and Strictly Limited... doesn't. Though in this case, since they aren't producing it, it does seem more likely that it will ship without excessive delays (I still don't trust SLG much any more though).

Oh, Limited Run is also selling it for $54.99 + shipping, $10 less than Strictly Limited ($64.99 + shipping). They both have the slipcover and mini CD.

https://limitedrungames.com/collections ... on-genesis
https://www.strictlylimitedgames.com/co ... mega-drive

[Trevor spencer]

Ordered mine from AmiAmi , I don't like all these "Limited" companies.

[Bassa-Bassa]

So P-47II MD was completed in 1990 but never released during that year -- that's quite new news to me (a stunning revelation in regards to developer/publisher Jaleco themselves).

Were the Japanese game magazines, like MegaDrive Fan, given sample copies of "The Freedom Star" stg to try out as an "advance sneak peek" type of business arrangement?

I asked a friend and he thinks The Freedom Star was never pictured on press. There's this:

https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20150218005/

[Johnpv]

In the West it's also being sold by Rondo Products and Castlemania games. I've had much better luck with these shipping on time from them, than from LRG. I forget which one I got from LRG, which didn't ship for like 3 or 4 months AFTER every other site had finished shipping all their copies. Started using Castlemania and/or Rondo (I know they're essentially the same) after that.

[hamfighterx]

Ordered mine from AmiAmi , I don't like all these "Limited" companies.

Yeah I also ordered from AmiAmi. Quirky personal reason, I also wanted a cheap (less than $5) Final Fantasy XI pin that releases the same week, but I didn't want to pay expensive international shipping just for that by itself. But if I order it along with P-47...

[Augemitbutter]

Yea you can even find these carts in your local stores if you're lucky. They're like soft FOMO releases, which is good.

[bobrocks95]

Torn on this- the Retro-bit release looks like the packaging design is all them and they make some great stuff. I have Wily Wars, Gleylancer, and Eliminate Down and they're all really well-made packages. $55 USD isn't too bad either.

But it looks very Steel Empire, middle-of-the-road kind of stuff. I'm very new to shmups personally and I have a LOT of heavy hitters that I haven't even touched yet, so I'm not hurting for new shmups or even new Genesis releases.

I feel like this is a skip (for me, personally) after watching the gameplay of the first 2 levels, but maybe someone can educate me on other cool NMK shooters to look into? Jaleco definitely doesn't light a fire under me that's for sure.

[Steven]

I feel like this is a skip (for me, personally) after watching the gameplay of the first 2 levels, but maybe someone can educate me on other cool NMK shooters to look into? Jaleco definitely doesn't light a fire under me that's for sure.

Thunder Dragon 2, Task Force Harrier, and USAAF Mustang, all on ACA.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Here's Retro-bit's promo video of P-47II MD on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLISiMoYwVo

Preorder at: retrobit.com/p47iimd/

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[SavagePencil]

Here's Retro-bit's promo video of P-47II MD on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLISiMoYwVo

Preorder at: retrobit.com/p47iimd/

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

You're missing an important hyphen! https://retro-bit.com/p47iimd/

[Steven]

I got to play this at BEEP today. They had a Mega Drive out with this in it. I no missed the first two stages and gave up partway through stage 3 because it was boring. The first three stages are really, really easy, at least as far as I played, enemies are sometimes a bit sparse, and the enemy placement and shot patterns are nothing special. Maybe it's better on hard, but I played it on normal. There's some sprite flicker during boss fights, but no slowdown that I saw.

I'd probably recommend this as an intro-level STG for someone who has never played the genre at all, but it's got me seriously considering cancelling my preorder, as the most impressive things about the first two and a half stages were how easy and boring they were.

[Samuray]

I'm still not clear if it's a new game or just a (maybe somewhat expanded) port of the PC ENGINE one.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I'm still not clear if it's a new game or just a (maybe somewhat expanded) port of the PC ENGINE one.

It's an old-school Jaleco developed STG IP for the Mega Drive with a slated 1990 release date that was cancelled for some reason or another and never saw "the light of day" until it's eventual release on 3-13-2025 -- the hard-core stg purists have already pre-ordered their LE copy of P-47II MD some time back to try it out at their leisure.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Samuray]

I'm still not clear if it's a new game or just a (maybe somewhat expanded) port of the PC ENGINE one.

It's an old-school Jaleco developed STG IP for the Mega Drive with a slated 1990 release date that was cancelled for some reason or another and never saw "the light of day" until it's eventual release on 3-13-2025 -- the hard-core stg purists have already pre-ordered their LE copy of P-47II MD some time back to try it out at their leisure.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Yeah, but I mean, is it basically the same game as part 1 on PC Engine, more or less?

[SuperDeadite]

I'm still not clear if it's a new game or just a (maybe somewhat expanded) port of the PC ENGINE one.

It's an old-school Jaleco developed STG IP for the Mega Drive with a slated 1990 release date that was cancelled for some reason or another and never saw "the light of day" until it's eventual release on 3-13-2025 -- the hard-core stg purists have already pre-ordered their LE copy of P-47II MD some time back to try it out at their leisure.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Yeah, but I mean, is it basically the same game as part 1 on PC Engine, more or less?

No. PCE version is a port of the original arcade game. This is actually the sequal and a totally original game. (A lot like how Splatterhouse started in arcades, got ported to PCE, but then Splat 2 and 3 were specifically made for the MD.)

[SuperDeadite]

Got mine. This is very much a "console shooter." More of a laid back affair, I quite like it though.
Cart edge is beveled.
Did a shitty unboxing video if anyone here is bored enough...

https://youtu.be/lTkFt1mAPeY?si=QqfswaWk5-XLISMU

[BIL]

Nice. Won't spoil myself on the game, but I'm glad the criminal absence of Jaleco from my MD shelf ( ) is well-redressed.

[Steven]

I did end up cancelling my preorder. I'm not especially interested in it after playing it and finding it pretty dull and uninteresting, but maybe if people say it's good on hard or whatever I may get it later.

[SuperDeadite]

I'd say most people here will 1CC it on Normal on their first try. When you get hit the game will take a bomb away instead of losing a life.
On Hard it's more of a legit challenge, but still this is no arcade game. I really like the coloring used, in RGB this is a very lovely looking game.
Just gave the Music CD a try, and it is very much the whole soundtrack in good quality. The music is about as classic "MegaDrive" as shooters get.
Fun tunes. Overall I am quite happy with my purchase, this will be an excellent choice for when you just want to chill and have a no stress romp.

[Johnpv]

I cancelled my Amazon JP pre-order but did end up pre-ordering the western release from Castlemania. I saw this video went up today an unboxing and gameplay from Retro Core https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqfQNUXY8qg

[Restart_Point]

Ordered mine from zedlabz.com which has the best price in the UK. The game looks good. Much more colourful than Fire Mustang which is a fairly fun game but a pretty bland / lazy port which omitted all the graphical detail and colour of USAAF Mustang. Pretty hyped that this a totally new / never before seen game!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Upon receiving the Fedex delivered Amazon.co.jp package of the P-47II MD bundled set with the accompanying Amazon.co.jp bonus mini ost CD (that was part of the second batch with bonus included offered for sale back on December 6th, 2024), the bundled set came out to 8,000 yen for the MD game + mini ost CD and was charged 7,608 yen for freight & insurance via EMS shipping method from Japan to the USA = grand total of 15,608 yen spent which comes out to $104.47 usd altogether according to xe's currency converter. It's well worth it in the end no matter how much it costs with shipping & handling -- you get exactly what you pay for it. So be it.

I just wasn't sure exactly just how much Amazon.co.jp was going to charge me with shipping from Japan to the USA and there you have it, the answer right there, folks.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[jehu]

I'd say most people here will 1CC it on Normal on their first try. When you get hit the game will take a bomb away instead of losing a life.
On Hard it's more of a legit challenge, but still this is no arcade game. I really like the coloring used, in RGB this is a very lovely looking game.
Just gave the Music CD a try, and it is very much the whole soundtrack in good quality. The music is about as classic "MegaDrive" as shooters get.
Fun tunes. Overall I am quite happy with my purchase, this will be an excellent choice for when you just want to chill and have a no stress romp.

This past weekend I finally had a chance to put my copy through the paces. Generally, I agree with Mr. Deadite's conclusions here. It's hard to leave an extensive writeup because the game, while pleasant, doesn't leave much of an impression.

The graphics are colorful and the sound is chill and cheery. This is good as far as things go, but it's the kind of thing you dwell on in the B minus tier of your average shmup hidden gem video. The game design is functional, though not particularly interesting. The different weapons have their uses, but you can get away with it if you'd just like to hang on to the spread shot for the whole run. The big mechanical mistake was having misses take away your bombs (one at a time, not all at once), meaning you can get hit a ton before your credit is over. This is in a game where nothing is really posing a threat at all, even if it was a one-hit game. In so-called 'Hard' difficulty, the lives work the same way. Again, this was a big mistake. If you do die, you get heavily powered down and you have to slug crawl around the screen until you pick up enough speed power ups. But given how easy it is to no miss the game, this isn't that big of deal.

I 1CC'd 'Normal' on my first try, then no missed 'Hard' on the try after that. I may go back to it in a few years if I want something I know I'll clear. I suppose I do like having it in my collection, but it does feel like a missed opportunity overall. At the very least, on 'Hard' getting hit should just kill you outright. Ah well.

[mukimuki_rs]

So P-47II MD was completed in 1990 but never released during that year -- that's quite new news to me (a stunning revelation in regards to developer/publisher Jaleco themselves).

Were the Japanese game magazines, like MegaDrive Fan, given sample copies of "The Freedom Star" stg to try out as an "advance sneak peek" type of business arrangement?

I asked a friend and he thinks The Freedom Star was never pictured on press. There's this:

https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20150218005/

I saw the game (running from a dev cart) at a private event with no press in Japan 5 or 10 years ago, I think, but likewise, I don't believe it was previewed in the media at the time.

This past weekend I finally had a chance to put my copy through the paces. Generally, I agree with Mr. Deadite's conclusions here. It's hard to leave an extensive writeup because the game, while pleasant, doesn't leave much of an impression.

For some insight, I believe, from memory, it was the game designer's first job, or close to it, so perhaps it was a quick project to gain experience and would have been released if it shaped up well enough?

[Herr Schatten]

Has anybody had any luck running this on a Mega SG?

No matter how much I tinker wirh the settings, the game will show the intro, title and options screen just fine. The world map also appears, but then the first level won't start. I just get a black screen.

[jehu]

Has anybody had any luck running this on a Mega SG?

No matter how much I tinker wirh the settings, the game will show the intro, title and options screen just fine. The world map also appears, but then the first level won't start. I just get a black screen.

I played on my Mega SG. I am almost sure the firmware is up to date, and I had the Japanese Mega Drive cart.

I don’t know why this would matter, but just in case: I was playing through a DAC on a CRT.

Sorry it’s giving you issues - that sucks. Good luck with troubleshooting. Let us know if you find the issue.

[Herr Schatten]

Thanks. Updating to the latest firmware did the trick. I could have sworn I had it installed already, but apparently not. The game works fine now.

[Herr Schatten]

I finally had the opportunity to spend some time with it. On the technical side, there's little to complain. The visuals are lovely, with stage 4 standing out and being particularly pretty. The music, while not terribly catchy, fits well and sounds good.

Contrary to other members, I don't actually think this is too easy for a non-arcade game. On normal, the first three stages pose no threat, but the second half of the game picks up quite a bit.

Maybe I just plain suck, but how did you guys clear this on your first try? The game has so many gotcha moments where enemies fire from unexpected places and without telegraphing it. Additionally, I often find myself getting hit because of my own fire obscuring the tiny enemy bullets. There's also a problem I have with chain-dying when I don't get my soeed ups back quickly after losing a life.

In fact, I haven't beaten the game yet, even though I've reached the last stage several times. A good strategy for weapon usage (I mostly use the missiles, before switching to the spread for the cave level) would be much appreciated. If you have any tips how to handle the stage five boss (the twin cannons), I'd love to hear them too.