Air Strikers 1945 Attack Force

Each plane also starts with one more powerful supershot

The game is clearly inspired by the likes of Cap's classics 1942 and 1943 (and countless other top-down shooters),

and variations of the game have since seen release on the Saturn and more.

The franchise has now made its way to the game in the form of Air Strikers 1945 Attack Force,

which is something of a remix between the first two Strikers titles with "updated" visuals.

Note that it's only available as a download via the Sky Force Station Store, so don't go running off to your favorite retailers to track it down.

In typical shooter fashion, Striker casts you as a poor sap who pilots a tiny,

vulnerable plane on a desperate mission to single-handedly defeat a massive, powerful army.

Your enemies here include squadrons of small planes that can be destroyed with a single shot,

but there are also plenty of screen-spanning flying fortresses and other large, well-armored enemies on the ground, on the sea, and in the sky.

This enemy force initially appears to be composed of WWII-era planes, tanks, battleships and submarines,

but after you deal enough damage to the bosses at the end of each stage,

their outer shells strip away to reveal massive mechs and otherworldly flying machines.

Air Strikers 1945 Attack Force originally hit arcades back in 1995 and was quickly followed up by sequels over the next couple years.

This juxtaposition of earthly and alien elements makes the game conceptually interesting and visually memorable.

It's too bad that the gameplay doesn't quite measure up.

There are a total of seven planes available, each of which has a standard machine-gun attack that can be upgraded with power-ups left behind by defeated enemies.

It can earn more by destroying enough enemies, if you can dodge bullets and stay alive long enough to fill the meter.