At this point, I own more Genesis/Mega Drive shoot-’em-ups produced by Retro-Bit than shoot-’em-ups published during the console’s initial run. The company, in reproducing cartridges, has seemingly zeroed in on the genre. And that’s kind of cool, because Genesis shoot-’em-ups just hit different, and a lot of them didn’t make it to North America.

P-47II MD is especially unique. Not only did it not get released in North America, it didn’t get released anywhere. Jaleco cancelled it sometime in the early ‘90s, so it never saw the light of day. Now it’s back, and it’s where it belongs: in a Genesis’ cartridge slot.

HISTORICAL ACCURACY

For some reason, I had believed that P-47II MD was just an awkward name for the Genesis/Mega Drive port of P-47: The Thunderbolt (The Freedom Fight in Japan). That’s not the case. It’s actually something of a sequel. Certainly based on the arcade original, but there are enough stark differences that the two don’t really feel alike. So, why the “MD” is necessary is beyond me.

One stark difference is that the original P-47 took place in the European Theatre of Operations against the Nazis, while P-47II is in the Pacific against the Japanese. It’s stranger than that however, because the goal is to take down the long-range bomber, “Fugaku,” which was an actual design proposed during World War 2 that was intended to reach American shores, but it never even made it to the prototype stage. However, it wasn’t jet powered, where in the game it’s depicted as such. However, that’s not the weirdest part, since the aircraft carrier, Akagi, can fly for some reason.

What I’m saying is that it isn’t exactly historically accurate.

Anyway, it’s a horizontal scrolling shoot-’em-up. There isn’t a whole lot that’s unique about it, but it was cancelled in, like, 1990, so it was a couple years before games like Steel Empire or Gleylancer or Thunderforce IV or Eliminate Down. It would have been a bit easier to stand out.

Essentially, its singular modicum of identity comes from the fact that you always have two Gradius-style “options:” smaller planes that follow at all times. Power-ups configure them in different ways. There’s your “twin” spread shot, your homing “missiles,” your gravity-affected “bombs,” and your trusty “guard.” You can also pick up power-ups for your own plane, which increases the spread of your pea-shooter.

THE GREATEST AND HUGEST

Another way that P-47II MD adds a splash of individuality is with its health system. Rather than one-hit kills or a health bar, your health is linked to the number of screen-clearing “hyper” bombs you have. Taking a hit depletes one hyper from your stock. While this seems like it would dissuade you from ever using the hyper bombs, it winds up working like the double-lariat from Final Fight. Part of the strategy is recognizing when getting hit is an impending inevitability, so you can fire the bomb instead and deal damage rather than simply taking it.

It’s pretty agreeable, really. Not only is it simplistic, it’s also very simple. By which, I mean it’s not very difficult. I didn’t go to the effort of 1cc-ing it (yet), but I didn’t exert a tonne of effort to reach the end on the default difficulty (normal, 3 lives). You get a modest three continues, but clearly that didn’t slow me down.

The bosses (the “hugest” bosses according to in-game text) in particular fluctuate in difficulty. Some of them don’t put up much of a fight at all. With P-47II MD being a cancelled game, I do have to wonder if it was canned before it got polished. It’s easy to forget, because it feels finished, but fine-tuning difficulty would be one of the last things done in development.

Dying sucks, though. It wipes out your power-ups, and having to continue on with your pea-shooter can be brutal depending on the situation. Chipping away at a boss is never a fun evening.

However, having a shoot-’em-up that doesn’t kick my ass completely is sometimes a welcome change. At best, I’m competent at scrolling shoot-’em-ups, I wouldn’t claim to be capable. So, sometimes it’s nice to have a game that stoops to my level.

FERRARI OF THE SKIES

The soundtrack is rather puzzling. I’m not saying that the music by Tsukasa Tawada is bad. It’s actually very listenable and very enjoyable. However, it’s not what I’d expect from a shoot-’em-up. It sounds more to me like a rather laid-back, OutRun inspired racing game. It’s good stuff, just maybe not the right stuff.

P-47II MD is certainly not the best that Retro-Bit has re-produced, but given the fact that City Connection resurrected it from the dead adds a bit more excitement to playing it.

Otherwise, P-47II MD is a pretty competent game. I’d go as far as saying I enjoyed it. I’d go further and say that I’ll probably play it again in the future. It’s just a comfortable little title. It’s not the most unique shoot-’em-up out there, but what it does it does well. The difficulty could probably stand to be stiffer, though.

6/10

This review was conducted on a Sega Genesis using a cartridge version of the game. It was provided by the publisher (Retro-Bit)