264. SuperLite 1500 Series: Strikers 1945 II (Kuusou Kagaku, Playstation, 1998)

Strikers 1945 II is a vertically scrolling shooter released by Psikyo in arcades in 1997 and ported to the Playstation a year later, eventually being rereleased as a budget title in the Superlite 1500 Series of 1,500 yen games in 2000. Having played through the Nintendo Switch Psikyo Collection Vol. 1 (which includes the original Strikers 1945), I came to the conclusion that Psikyo games are decent scrolling shooters that are all extremely similar. The hitboxes and movement speed are not quite as small or fast as I would like, though enemy patterns are interesting enough. 

Strikers 1945 II continues the series' WWII planes fighting big transforming robo-vehicles as bosses. As with other home ports of Psikyo games, the difficulty selection is a very welcome feature, and the second-easiest difficulty was perfect for a breezy first playthrough. The music is some Mega Man X-esque synth guitar rock. It gets the job done, though it's not quite as memorable. Because this is a PS1 port, even though I'm playing on a PS2, it does not support analog, so I have to use the d-pad, which feels like a handicap on a precision scrolling shooter designed for a stick.

As a welcome change to the Psikyo formula, as you attack enemies in Strikers 1945 II, you build up a meter that allows you to execute charge shots. The shot's duration and power depend on how long you allow the meter to build up before you fire the charge shot, so there's a nice "knowing when to wait" gameplay moment. The level 3 shot takes forever to build up, but it also lasts for a very long time and cancels out enemy shots, which the first 2 levels do not.

Levels are very short, ranging between a minute and a half to two and a half minutes, so the full 8-stage game only takes about 15 minutes to play through if you don't have to continue. As with other home ports of Psikyo games, Strikers 1945 II allows you to continue after losing your 3 lives, but if you are on the later half of the game's stages, you have to continue from the beginning of the level. This isn't as fun-haltingly egregious here as it is in other Psikyo games (with the levels being so short), but it still reads a bit archaic in modern times.

4/5, pretty typical Psikyo shooter with short stages and a sweet charge mechanic