Carrier Airwing/U.S. Navy (Capcom, 1990)

[Randorama]

In this review we discuss Carrier Airwing/U.S. Navy, one of Capcom’s less popular shmups that had quite the wide distribution, back in the day. The game tends to be quite denigrated around these parts because most people seem to adore Area 88, the manga tie-in that introduced the basic template for the game. I never played Area 88 because I did not have a SNES/Super Famicom and I never had the chance to play it during the short time that the gentleman bartender had it in one of his cabs. I however played Carrier Airwing to death, as it was one of those few shmups that I could 1-CC regularly and brag about it with local arcade goers. If you want to try the game out, Capcom Arcade Stadium is your best bet for a flawless port. The various versions seem to change only in cosmetic details, in case you wonder. This review is 1600 words long, or 4 pages in times new roman, size 12, single space format; the squib version is here. Time to save the world, then:

Carrier Airwing/U.S. Navy (Capcom, 1990) is an HORI(zontal) shmup that pits the U.S. Navy forces against the terrorist threat known as “Rabu”, on orders of the U(nited)N(ations). Players can choose among three planes (F-14 Tomcat, A-10 Intruder , and F-18 Hornet) and their pilots, and take off to obliterate Rabu’s armies around the globe. The game features ten Stages of moderate length, a definitely “Euro Shmup” set of game mechanics, and relatively realistic graphics for the time. The game is also one of Capcom’s easiest shmups, even if the final Stage and boss provide a considerable stamina challenge before they meet their maker. Players who want to add a relatively easy 1-CC to their arcade portfolio may thus find a viable challenge in this game. My goal in this review is to convince you that this game offers a decent challenge despite its shortcomings involving game design and length.

The context in which this game saw its release is perhaps a bit peculiar. Capcom was releasing brilliant titles and more obscure games during the late 1980s. 1990 saw the release of this title, Nemo, and Mega Twins as obscure but quite solid titles from this company. Shmups and R2RKMF fans may remember Mercs from this year, and perhaps 1941: Counter Attack. Nevertheless, Capcom was still capitalising on the immense success of Final Fight and was about to release the epochal Street Fighter 2 in a year’s time. In 1990, Capcom also lost Harumi Fujita, Ayako Mori and Tamayo Kawamoto to other companies (e.g. Taito's Zuntata for Tamayo) and to free-lancing endeavours. SNK also launched the Neo Geo, laying the ground for a decades long-friendly rivalry. Nevertheless, the company was establishing itself as a powerful vector of innovation within the arcade market.

The plot of the game varies between J(a)P(an) and US/EU(rope) versions. In the 1990s, the end of cold war has signalled a new era of peace, but also the rise of new threats to this novel geopolitical scenario. In the JP version, nation X decides to attack nation J in the Far East, with “Rabu” being the mysterious weapons supplier supporting nation X in this act of war. The U.S. navy has the mission to stop this aggression and sends the nuclear aircraft carrier “Carl Vinson” to single-handedly manage this mission. In the EU/US version, “Rabu” becomes a Middle East nation who raises to power via a massive arsenal and threatens world peace, gassing Tokyo as a proof of their power. In this version, the US sends one carrier and its pilot on behalf of the UN. Carrier Airwing thus has this “popcorn flick” type of plot, as a background.

The game mechanics are simple. The joystick controls movement in eight directions; the A button controls main shots, and the B button controls secondary shots. The A button is semi-automatic: players can hold the button to start a quick, fast stream of bullets lasting one second or so. If players periodically tap the button, they can obtain the equivalent of a low-frequency auto-fire stream. The game has two game mechanics typical of Euro shumps: a H(it)P(oint)s/fual bar and a shop-like way to buy upgrades. The fuel/HP bar depletes as stage time progresses or when planes take a hit, but energy power-ups can replenish up to half bar. After each successfully completed Stage, planes get a full energy refill and can then buy upgrades for the next mission. If players do not want upgrades, they can simply skip them and move onto the next mission.

The purchase of upgrades has however also a few interesting uses, game-wise. Money for upgrades comes from the numbers of enemies shot down, and from secondary weapons and energy still in stock at the end of a Stage. Players can thus buy one or two supplies of stage-specific secondary attacks (e.g. rockets on Stage two), extra fuel (25% or 50% more HPs), or even energy shields (tree or five extra HPs). If players buy weapons, fuel and shield before a Stage but complete the Stage without incurring in hits or using the weapons, they will get more conspicuous end-of-Stage bonuses. Perfect kill rates (i.e. 100% of enemies shot down) will also correspond to extra bonus points and money. Differently from other Capcom games and in line with the more realistic setting, the in-game currency are dollars, of course. Players can thus “buy stuff” but avoid using it for score purposes.

The final game mechanic that we discuss has an A(rcade)RPG flavours and originates in Area 88, too. Players must collect power-up icons to increase their shooting power that switch among three attack types. The yellow colour is for the machine gun attack, the blue is for the rocket attack, and the green is for the Vulcan attack. Collect 40 power-ups to max out the weapons’ destructive power at level 6, or the final Stage might become rather hard to handle. Planes have their specialised attacks: machinegun for the Tomcat, rocket for the Hornet, Vulcan for the Intruder. Players can switch to the non-specialised attacks, but these attacks will be 20% less powerful, so using a plane’s specialised option is always the ideal choice. Note thus that the Vulcan-Intruder pair correspond to the “slow, powerful” choice; the machinegun-Tomcat, to the ‘fast, weak’ choice; the rocket-Hornet, to the ‘medium’ choice.

Before we address difficulty and its Facets, we concisely discuss the game’s visual presentation and aural output. Area 88 had manga-esque graphics for the pilots and the cutscenes, but stages mostly featured a realistic approach to vehicles and background. Carrier Airwing has more detailed and realistic designs, since it aims to offer a more cinematographic feeling of “1990s post-cold War action”. The fact that the admiral briefing pilot during cutscenes looks like a bald version of Sean Connery might help in summoning this vibe. The ten Stages offer a globe-trotting appeal with a dash of space exploration. Stage two is set in a badly damaged Tokyo, Stage six in Antarctica, and Stage ten involves the destruction of Rabu’s sub-orbital station and shuttle. With a rich palette, bright colours and crip design, Carrier Airwing sports lovely graphics, a cool outlook, and accurate designs of actual vehicles.

The OST represents perhaps a weak Facet of the game. Manami Matsumae was one of Alph Lyla’s members who also left Capcom in the early 1990s. She worked on Dynasty Wars and a few other games, but her initial works offer this weaker sound often focusing on somewhat bland melodies, plus peculiar choices for the rhythmic sections. The OST for Carrier Wing features a perhaps quirky choice of sampled instruments and themes that I can only describe as “Hollywood action blockbuster” music. Precisely due to this choice of genre, thus, the OST should fade in the background after a few plays, and let players focus on the action. Sound effects also feel bland, as they include average-quality samples of jet engines, explosions, and a few other genre-specific effects. Overall, the game looks good and sounds OK: an acceptable combination.

Since we now have the notion/term of Facet as part of our conversation and we have discussed audio-visual matters, we can concentrate on difficulty. As far as I am concerned, difficulty in this game neatly splits into game mechanics as a first facet and Stage design/layout as the second facet. Carrier Airwing thus presents a 25/25 difficulty ratio out of a total of 50 points, as in the case of other Capcom titles that we discussed so far (e.g. Dynasty Wars, Tiger Road). Game mechanics in this game are simple: learn to use the semi-automatic tapping technique and, in certain Stages, learn to “shoot to the left side”. On Stages three, nine and 10, some sections scroll to the left and have the planes moving according to this scrolling direction. Secondary weapons may require some practice for their proper use, but players can just buy them for points.

The second Facet, Stage design/layout, involves the necessity of learning how to handle specific passages during Stages, and how to handle certain bosses. Rather than dwelling on Specific details, I would suggest that players should practice Stages three to ten and master their in-stage bottlenecks. For instance, Stage four has several narrow passages in which planes can receive accidental damage while manoeuvring inside narrow tunnels. Stage ten is not particularly difficult, but players will reach the true final boss, a lethal satellite armed with laser beams, when their energy is almost depleted. One or two hits may suffice to destroy the planes, in the last moments of this battle. Ultimately, though, 2/25 difficulty points for the game mechanics Facet and 8/25 points for the Stage mechanics/layout Facet seem appropriate. At 10/50 points, Carrier Airwing is a top-tier challenge for beginner players.

Let us conclude, by this point. Carrier Airwing is a HORI shmup by Capcom released in 1990 in which forces from the US Navy must defeat evil doers from “Rabu”. The game features several game mechanics typical of Euro shmups but overall, ten Stages of moderate length, and an evenly paced progression toward a top-tier challenge for beginner players. Players can also upgrade their weapons following a system reminiscent of A(rcade)RPGs, and in general enjoy a pleasant detour from the more challenging early titles in the HORI shmups genre. Players who wish to explore some of the lesser-known parts of Capcom’s history and want to enjoy an easy 1-CC should find Carrier Airwing a pleasant experience. Fans of more realistic shmups set in the modern era can also enjoy the game’s design and perhaps interesting suggestive geo-politic scenario. Do play it: it is a good game.

(A short coda of ramblings, if I may. I still remember that this is one of those few games on which I would see people playing surprisingly well, and even 1-CC it on the odd occasion. My experience with shmups as a kid could be summarised in this way. A few enlightened beings from the older, meaner generations could 1-CC some titles, and often clear one or more loops on Toaplan games. Everybody else would instead whine and complain that the genre was too hard, ugly, unfair, or whatever else. I agree with whoever wrote that “shmups have not been popular since 1983”, honestly. The shmups difficulty wiki proposes a slightly higher score, in case you wonder, but they also offer a lower score with auto-fire on).