1944: The Loop Master is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game made by Capcom in 2000. Unlike previous games, the programming for this arcade was done by a seperate company called 8ing/Raizing. The game is the 5th and last of a series of World War 2 vertical shooters made by Capcom. The game takes place in the heated battles of 1944 during the Second World War as a super ace pilot attempts to defeat an entire army.

Basics

The arcade operates and plays like most standard shooters. The objective of every level is shoot enemy planes, tanks, trains, turrets, battleships, and defeat the end of level boss, all the while dodging enemy bullets and collecting power ups and golds. Unlike its predessecor, 19XX: The War Against Destiny, the game plays more like the early games in the series. Despite the opening description of the plane stats, both planes operate equally, and are only available to the first or second player respectively. The games does borrow from 19XX in that it has a form of charge up system. By holding the fire button down, the charge bar will fill, and when full, the plane will fly up and become temporarily invincible. The game also has the standard bomb button, which when pressed causes missiles to fly up the screen doing major damage to any enemies they hit.

The Health system in the game also works unlike the previous games in the series. You plane has a health bar which decreases after every hit. However, you only have one life, and the game sparingly gives health boosts.

The option of wingmen is much more present in this game than others in the series. A small golden plane icon flys down the screen at certain times which releases a wingmen icon. Wingmen add some extra firepower, but are killable by enemy fire.

End of Level Bonuses

At the end of every level, you will recieve additional points for the number of bombs you have in stock, a bonus for the percentage of enemies destroyed, and a bonus for every gold. After beating the last level, you also get a large bonus for the number of lives and wingmen you have remaining.

Other games in the series

(In order from first to last)

• 1942 (video game)
• 1943: The Battle of Midway
• 1941: Counter Attack
• 19XX: The War Against Destiny
• 1944: The Loop Master

References

• GameFAQs Entry
• Killer list of Video Games Entry