Everyday walking home after school from Junior High I would stop by an ice cream parlor along the route to my house that had a Capcom 1943 arcade cabinet for people to play in it. I'd spend a handful of quarters having fun playing this shoot 'em up video game and hanging out with friends. So, I was GEEKED to discover New Wave Toys had created a Replicade sixth scale reproduction of the original 1943 arcade cabinet and had to buy one for myself.
1943: The Battle of Midway was originally released in 1987 as a sequel to Capcom's earlier arcade hit 1942. Both games involve players piloting a Lockheed P-38 Lightning in battle against the Japanese planes and ships in the Pacific Ocean theater during World War II. This limited edition Replicade from New Wave Toys includes the original ROMs for both 1943 and 1942 playable on the 3:4 vertical aspect ratio LCD color screen of the replica arcade cabinet; or you can play these video games on a television via Plug & Play HDTV connectivity. Also, New Wave Toys has created a 1942 Replicade as well; but I figured with limited display space and a more personal connection to 1943 getting both would be overkill.
The gameplay for 1943 is to attack the Japanese air fleet that bombed an American aircraft carrier of the coast of the Midway Atoll. Pursue Japanese air and sea forces, flying through 16 stages of play until reaching the Japanese battleship Yamato as the final game boss to overcome. Eleven of these stages consist of air-to-sea battles (with a huge battleship or an aircraft carrier as the stage boss), while five stages involve all-aerial battle against Japanese fighter planes and bombers.
The game controls are fairly simple to get comfortable with. Button A fires main weapons and Button B performs a special action (triggers a lightning storm or tidal wave to hinder Japanese forces). Hit A + B simultaneously to trigger a loop maneuver with your plane. There is also a 2-player mode, where you can play with a friend having both your planes on screen at once. If you want an extra edge, there are also cheat codes you can discover to give your planes some extra firepower.
Because this is a miniature reproduction of the original Capcom 1943 arcade game it would obviously be difficult for both players using controls on this sixth scale cabinet. The 1943 Overhaul Edition Replicade has a couple of options to address this. First, one player can use the built-in joystick and the other can utilize an included mini stick controller that is included and plugs into the back of the Replicade.
Second, you can plug two controllers into the back and have bother players utilize this option. I purchased a second 1943 mini stick to go along with the one included with the game to take advantage of this option as well as to use with my Dragon's Lair Replicade. You don't have to use the New Wave Toys mini controllers though any wired video game controller that will plug into a USB port is compatible.
There are some nice details to this Replicade! The reproduction of the arcade cabinet is made with real wood. The miniaturized control panel features a microswitch joystick and microswitch buttons. The cabinet art has high quality 3M vinyl overlays (though they do have one rather big snafu with a typo that I actually didn't notice until the company sent me an email bringing it to my attention and to their credit provided some options for fixing the mistake that while does take slightly away from the aesthetic of the product isn't a horrible fix based upon the price point of the purchase. Can you spot it in the pictures?) There is also a high score display that you can personalize with initials and changes with your gameplay with non volatile memory.
Some other nice details include the use of real metal in a security bar that protects the coin/game token slots. Plus, four miniature game tokens are included to display with your Replicade. I liked the miniature padlock they included on the security bar too.
The marquee and game accents are illuminated adding to the arcade vibe of this replica video game cabinet. It also has multi-speaker audio to reproduce the original sounds of playing the game in an arcade with volume control so you can determine how loud you want your gameplay to be. The built-in, high-capacity rechargeable battery works very well too providing lots of play time per charge. It has a very short recharge time which is very easy and convenient to do by just plugging it into a USB compatible wall outlet electrical converter. The USB cable is included but not a wall charger device though I had a bunch of those around the house from phones and other devices that work just fine for this.
All in all, I have been very satisfied with my purchase of this officially-licensed by Capcom 1943 Overhaul Edition Replicade from New Wave Toys. Despite the snafu attributed to pandemic-related supply chain issues, New Wave Toys 1943 Replicade still earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval. I've enjoyed the nostalgia of a video game that is associated with great memories from my youth, have had fun playing the 1942 and 1943 on it, and it looks great on the shelf that is being transformed into a miniature arcade of some of my favorite video game cabinets.
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