Capcom A to Z: 19XX: The War Against Destiny

Title: 19xx: The War against Destiny

Release Date: January 1996

Genre: Vertical Schmup

Platform: Arcade (CPS-2)

Alright, finally finishing the first franchise in our Capcom line-up. So far, I will say, this series has been incredibly consistent in terms of quality throughout its multiple iterations. It was neat to see the evolution from a simple score-based shooter, more akin to Space Invaders, to a full on bullet hell schmup with all the bells and whistles. I also enjoy how this series embraces that idea of the "loop" in gameplay. 

This title seems to drop the WWII conceit and go for a more thematic homage to the games, though it still does employ WWII planes as the vehicle of choice for the protagonist (this series has never been one for historical accuracy, though, so it hardly is a mark against it). I will say, first impressions, the sprite-work and the smooth animation already set this apart from other games in the series. I even prefer the sprite animation of this than the mix of sprites and computer animation you see in 1944; it just comes off as crisper and cleaner. 

Background

 The story of this one is relatively simple: in the near future of the 20th century, an evil organization is threatening the world with grand nuclear-grade weapons of war, and it is up to your pilot to put a stop to this threat to world peace. Unlike its sequel, this game was developed in house at Capcom (remember 1944 was developed out of house by 8ing), and other than the shift in plot setting, it very much falls in line with the rest of the series gameplay wise. 

The game was designed by three gentlemen, but the standout seems to be Yoichiro Ikeda, who went on to be a designer for the PS2 Devil May Cry trilogy and eventually the lead designer of Dragon's Dogma. The other two designers, Tomonori Nonaka, and Shinichiro Obata, both seem to have very short careers in the video game industry after this, specifically with this being Nonaka's only video game that he ever worked on. 

High Points

Okay this is easily the best one in the whole franchise. This is a damn good schmup. I enjoyed it thoroughly from start to finish. Mechanically, it is the same exact game as we have seen before in this franchise. You go against WWII psuedo-science war machines that will wreak havoc on the earth, and you destroy them with unholy amounts of firepower. You have the exact same power-ups systems as before, if a little more sparse due to no options or squad mates to fight with you. You even have the same style of "hunt" based missions where you are going after a specific war machine.

So what sets it apart? First off, it ditches the "loop" idea to each level. I think this works in its favor though, as this game has a narrative throughline that it actually tries to see through, and negating the "loop" gameplay allowed it to script levels by scenarios rather than just pure schmup gameplay. I will give an example, in the third mission, you are looking for this super tank called the Kangler Cannon. You are hunting for it in what looks like a dense jungle. Well, the halfway mark of the level suddenly breaks from the forward vertical momentum, and instead reverses so that you start fighting a helicopter as it starts moving down a waterfall. From there, you fly into a cave behind the waterfall, where you come upon a secret tank armory which hides the super weapon. I tell you, it was actually a really breathtaking moment when you enter the waterfall and come across a room literally filled to the brim with enemy tanks ready to level their guns at you. It was really well executed.

I will give another example. The game begins with your allied mothership being shot down by a black bomber type plane. As your mothership crashes to the earth, your fighter plane disengages and flies into its first mission. From here, every mission ends with the black bomber attacking and harrying you before the major boss. This continues and escalates until finally the black bomber returns for the finale. See the final mission takes you to this huge enemy base, where you start by following the train tracks into the base. From there, you fight this giant fortess that sits atop a missile silo. After that, you track a railway tank that is loading nuclear warheads onto itself so that it can fire them off. As you destroy this tanker, it manages to fire two gigantic warheads into the atmosphere. You launch after them, being attacked mercilessly by the black bomber at the same time. As you destroy the warheads, the payload separates and boosts forward, attaching itself to a large stealth bomber. From there the black bomber attaches itself to the stealth bomber for one final showdown over the fate of the earth. It is a really gripping and well done final level, that manages to cap off a throughline started from the first moment of the game. All of this story is said without dialogue or words, but a 5 second cutscene and nothing else but gameplay. A truly well designed game.

Low Points

I honestly can't think of any. The music is good, the graphics are great, and the gameplay is superb.

Verdict

Phenomenal game. Highly recommend playing it if you are a fan of schmups in general.

Next up...we have a spin-off of a narrative based investigation series. Should be...something!