P-47 - The Freedom Fighter (Japan)

Arcade Video game published 36 years ago:

P-47 - The Freedom Fighter (c) 1988 Jaleco.

P-47 is a two-dimensional, scrolling shooter type of game. You play as the pilot of a P-47. Your mission is to basically destroy as many of the enemies as you possibly can. This means eliminating as many air and ground units as you can. You will be going through four missions (each being broken up into two parts) and at the end of each of these parts is an enemy boss for you to tangle with. Although you have unlimited ammunition, the enemy will make you pay for the invasion into their homeland. You will be able to accomplish this with various power-ups and also a second player (if they buy in). Your mission won't be easy but it is necessary so you can secure both the skies and ground for our troops.

The game is broken up into four missions. Within these four missions, there are 2 parts. One part involves going over land and the other part has you either going over water or being up in the air. Regardless of which part you are on, you will still have to deal with the same basic things. After part two of mission four, the missions will repeat again with mission one.

- TECHNICAL -

Jaleco Mega System 1-A hardware

Main CPU: Motorola 68000 (@ 12 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Motorola 68000 (@ 7 Mhz)
Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2151 (@ 3.5 Mhz), (2x) OKI6295 (@ 30.303 Khz)

Players: 2
Control: 8-way joystick.
Buttons: 2

- TRIVIA -

P-47 was released in May 1988 in Japan.

This game is known outside Japan as "P-47 - The Phantom Fighter".

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (G.S.M. Jaleco 1 - D28B0003) on 12/08/1988.

- SCORING -

Scoring in this game is complicated. There are a lot of enemy units for you to take out. In addition, some units have multiple parts which also score points. You also get points for collecting items and making it through a mission. The enemy units are broken up into air, ground and boss.

ENEMY AIR UNIT
BOMBER, LARGE (FACES RIGHT) : 3,000
BOMBER, LARGE (TAN) : 3,000
BOMBER, MEDIUM (FACES RIGHT) : 2,000
BOMBER, MEDIUM (FACES LEFT) : 1,500
FIGHTER/BOMBER, SMALL (FACES LEFT) : 1,000
FIGHTER/BOMBER, LARGE (FACES RIGHT) : 5,000
HELICOPTER, MEDIUM : 300
HELICOPTER, POWER-UP : 500
PLANE, JET : 200
PLANE, JET (TAN) : 300
PLANE, PROPELLER : 100
PLANE, PROPELLER (TAN) : 200
PLANE, ROCKET : 500
ROCKET, V1 : 100
ROCKET, TWO-FIN : 100

ENEMY GROUND UNITS
MOTORCYCLE : 2,000
RAIL GUN, LARGE (GUN ONLY) : 1,000
RAIL GUN, LARGE (TURRET) : 3,000
RAIL GUN, SMALL : 1,000
SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZER : 3,000
TANK, LARGE : 600
TANK, MEDIUM : 400
TANK, VERY LARGE : 5,000
TURRET, GROUND : 100
TURRET, TRAIN : 400
TRUCK, ANTI-AIRCRAFT : 200
TRUCK, DEDICATED ANTI-AIRCRAFT : 400
TRUCK, HALFTRACK : 300
TRUCK, QUAD ANTI-AIRCRAFT : 500
TRUCK, RADAR : 2,000

ENEMY BOSSES
BATTLESHIP, MAIN GUN : 5,000
BATTLESHIP, SECONARY BATTERY : 2,000
BATTLESHIP, TERTIARY BATTERY : 1,000
BATTLESHIP, ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERY : 500
BOMBER, VERY LARGE : 20,000
BOMBER, HUGE : 40,000
RAIL GUN, LARGE : 10,000
TANK, HUGE (GREEN) : 20,000
TANK, HUGE (SILVER) : 50,000

In addition to the above scoring, you also get points for the number of item power-ups you collect and for finishing each part of a mission. The scores for collection of item power-ups are :
1 ITEM : 1,000 POINTS
2 ITEMS : 2,000 POINTS
3 ITEMS : 3,000 POINTS
4 ITEMS : 4,000 POINTS
5 ITEMS : 5,000 POINTS
6 ITEMS : 10,000 POINTS
7 ITEMS : 20,000 POINTS
8-10 ITEMS : 30,000 POINTS

You will also score 10,000 points for completing a mission part.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

As soon as you start the game, you will immediately be placed into the thick of the action. Be ready for anything.

* This game is very fast-paced and it only gets harder as you progress through the missions. This means you will have to be constantly aware of what is happening from both in the air and on the ground.

* Your fighter has unlimited firepower in both bullets and also auxiliary weapons such as bombs and missiles. Use this to your advantage by laying down a solid wall of firepower to prevent any enemy units from getting close to your fighter.

* Make sure, though, that you are constantly aware of where an enemy unit is because you will also have to gauge where its fire will be heading. In addition, most enemy units move so they basically will 'shoot and scoot' making it harder for you to pinpoint their location.

* To take care of units that like to roam around, lay down a 'carpet' of bombs or other heavy firepower. Your bombs drop down much faster than an enemy unit can move so you can basically overwhelm them with superior firepower.

* Some enemies require more then one hit to take them out. This means you will have to use a combination of different offensive weapons to destroy them. This will be especially true when you are fighting the bosses.

* Make sure you know the lay of the land at all times. Some topography has some extremes in both hills and valleys. Sometimes your only choice is to go above a mountain peak that has a lot of ground and air units guarding it. This means you will have to unleash some serious firepower to make it safely over.

* Ensure that you know how to regulate your speed depending on the current conditions. You can go no further to the front than the right side of the screen nor any further back than the left. Use this speed-up, slow-down to avoid enemy fire and to eliminate targets before they become unmanageable.

* Make sure you eliminate all helicopters that have items so you can ensure you have the right kind of power-up plus you can also get free men.

* When you encounter large formations of planes, the best weapons are the missiles or exploding bombs. These can clear out large holes in those formations plus they can prove rather deadly to the bigger planes as well.

* Overall, this game involves the application of massive amounts of firepower in order to survive the next mission. This isn't to say, however, that paying attention and constantly moving aren't also important... they are vital to your survival.

- SERIES -

1. P-47 - The Freedom Fighter (1988)
2. P-47 Aces (1995)

- STAFF -

Developed by Nihon Maicom Kaihatsu (NMK).

Sound composer : Shizuyoshi Okamura

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
NEC PC-Engine (mar.1989)
Sega Mega Drive (1990) "The Freedom Star": Unreleased.

* COMPUTERS:
Amstrad CPC (1989)