1941: Counter Attack (Arcade)

1941: Counter Attack is the third (technically fourth) game in the 19xx series. Get revenge against someone for something. Game doesn't really have a plot, but it does have planes and bullets.

Debug Functions#

To enable various debug fuctions, set dip switch C3 (Free Play) to "On." This will change the function of certain other dip switches:

• DIP SWITCH A1-A3: Changes the starting level. This is in little-endian format: For instance, if Dip Switch A1 and A2 are both set, the game starts at stage 03, "The City".
• DIP SWITCH A4: Makes both players invincible. Note that using a Mega Crash will still take a health point away from the player.
• DIP SWITCH A8: Runs the game at 1/4 speed.

Unused Graphics#

Graphics for a grid overlay for use in a stage viewer. This game doesn't seem to have a stage viewer, though. Not anymore, at least.

Filler tiles in the object graphics bank. "あ" is just "A", doesn't really mean anything. 空 is the kanji for "Empty".

An odd filler tile in the Scroll 2 graphics. 7の十くら means "About 7/10", which is about where it appears in the Scroll 2 bank.

A Scroll 3 filler tile. That guy is drinking a beer or holding a microphone or flipping you off. It's a little hard to tell.

Unused Music#

Opening Sound Code 4A, This song is only played when the player appears at the beginning of the level, and cut off after less than 2 seconds.

Sound Code 59.

Version Differences#

There're four distinct versions of 1941 in the MAME romset:

• 1941j is the Japanese version of the game.
• 1941r1 is the original European (World) version of the game. Aside from the stage's intro translated in English and the comic removal (for obvious reasons), it's pretty much identical to 1942j in terms of gameplay.
• 1941u is the North American version of the game. This version features numerous changes in the gameplay and has a build date: 900227.
• 1941 is the revised European (World) version of the game. This version is based on 1941u, minus the FBI screen that the US version has. It shares the same build date of 1941u: 900227.

For comparison purposes, 1941j and 1941r1 will be referred as the "Original" versions, while 1941u and 1941 as the "Revised" ones.

Region-specific Screens#

Build Date#

US	Europe (World)

Since the revised versions have a build date, they show the typical screen with the game's title, the build date and the region, before the copyright disclaimer.

Of course, the text is colored with their respective Region color-code: US uses orange (or red) and Europe uses blue.

(European) Copyright Disclaimer#

Europe (World) (Original)	Europe (World) (Revised)

Each version have its own copyright disclaimer, although the ones from original and revised European version are different.

The original disclaimer is simple, but also a bit confusing. The revised one not only corrects confusions, but also make some small additions making it more stern.

FBI Screen#

Yes! The US version shows the (blatantly obligatory) FBI's "Winners Don't Use Drugs" screen common of the era. No surprise why this was removed in the revised European version (or better, absent in the other versions).

Gameplay#

Vitality Meter#

In the original versions, you have three vitality bars (which means that you can sustain four hits, before dying), while in the revised versions, you have four.

Charged Shot#

In the revised versions, the time required to hold down the button to trigger the Charged shot has been reduced.

Missile#

The frontal firing missiles were replaced by Mega Crash Attack and Super Shell's charged attacks in the revised versions.

Side Fighter and After Image#

In the revised versions, the Side Fighter and After Image allows for launching Missile and Super Shell attacks, and can follow players to launch attacks while the walls are spinning.

Mega Crash Attack#

In the original versions, when you throw a bomb, the plane will do a somersault first, and then explode in all eight directions. In the revised versions, there is no somersault animation, and it becomes a counter-clockwise gradually diffused burst.

Item#

The red enemy formation is significantly increased compared to the original versions, and the blue POW item has been added, which adds two points to the vitality meter.

Stage Order#

The revised versions change the order of the first three stages:

The original order makes the most sense in terms of difficulty progression. The change was most likely made to make the game more profitable.

Stage Intro#

Japan	Europe (World)

In the original versions, the message above appears before the first stage starts.

"Above the North Atlantic Ocean - 200,000 Feet".

In the revised versions, however, a stage list appears before each missions starts, with the picture and name of the current stage boss.

Ending#

Exclusive to the Japanese version is that it displays this comic after the credits run, and if the player(s) got through without dying, an extra comic is displayed after that. Other versions (including the original European one) dummied out this extra feature and instead go straight to the game over screen, after the credits.

They are read from right to left.

-Oh! Check out that hottie!
-It's attackin' time!


-Hey, girl!
-Come have fun with us!


-Get real!
-Ga-ga-goo-goo!


-ACK!


-You're dead!

(The joke here is that the "hottie" is a young mother whose baby is a missile.)

-Oh! A foreigner!


-Let's mess with him!
-Yeah!


-Hey, you!
-You're a foreigner, aren't you?!


-Uhh...


-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!

(Basically, the joke is that they bullied a foreigner only to realize that the foreigner's mom is also there and is really big & scary.)

Plus, this song plays during the comic. Sound Code 57