=================================
 1943: The Battle of Midway
 Information Guide
 2003, February 4 - Version 1.01
=================================

(c) Copyright 2003 magimoogle

  This written work is for any non-profit use. GameFAQs.com is the only web site
that may contain this file.

CONTENTS

[1] VERSION HISTORY
[2] INTRODUCTION
[3] POINT DISTRIBUTION
[4] DISTRIBUTION LEVELS
[5] ITEMS
[6] PASSWORD SYSTEM
[7] HINTS AND TIPS

 [1] VERSION HISTORY
=====================

Version 1.01 - 2003, February 4
  Corrected some typos, mainly my nick in the copyright. =\

Version 1 - 2003, February 4
  Information guide is started and hopefully completed.

 [2] INTRODUCTION
==================

  This is my second FAQ, and mysteriously enough, it has been exactly two years
since I have written my first one. I looked through the 1943 section at
GameFAQs.com and noticed it was a bit lacking, containing only one
FAQ/Walkthrough. While a good attempt, it was far from finished and not really
in depth. The manual for the game sucks as well, so I decided to compile the
information I've gathered from playing this game into a pretty little text file.
Hopefully everything works. =P

 [3] POINT DISTRIBUTION
========================

  When you start the game, you have five different categories of your P-38 that
you can upgrade. They are: OFFENSIVE PWR, DEFENSIVE PWR, ENERGY LEVEL, SPEC'L
WEAPON, and SW TIME LIMIT. All five of these statistics begin at Level 1, and
the game gives you 3 points to spend on the five categories, with each point
raising a stat one level, with the maximum being six. You will also run into
bonus icons throughout the stages that will also let you raise these
characteristics.

OFFENSIVE PWR - Offensive power. The higher this stat is, the more damage your
  weapons cause to the enemy.

DEFENSIVE PWR - Defensive power. The higher this stat is, the less damage you
  will take from the enemy.

ENERGY LEVEL - The higher this stat is, the higher your maximum energy level
  will be. Your energy level also acts as a timer, counting down to zero, which
  also drains your "life", since the energy level functions as both.

SPEC'L WEAPON - Special weapon. This stat determines what weapons you can use
  when you shoot the POW icons left behind by shooting down a group of red
  planes.

SW TIME LIMIT - Special weapon time limit. The higher this stat is, the more
  time you have to use a special weapon, and the more time that is given to you
  when you collect more of a special weapon's icon.

 [4] DISTRIBUTION LEVELS
=========================

  The following is a listing of what happens when you reach a particular level
for a particular stat.

OFFENSIVE PWR   DEFENSIVE PWR
 Level 1 - 1     Level 1 - 1
 Level 2 - 2     Level 2 - 2
 Level 3 - 3     Level 3 - 3
 Level 4 - 4     Level 4 - 4
 Level 5 - 5     Level 5 - 5
 Level 6 - 6     Level 6 - 6

  There is no easy way to determine the strengh of your weapons, so just keep in
mind that a higher level is better. =)

ENERGY LEVEL

          Maximum
          Energy
Level 1 -   64
Level 2 -   70
Level 3 -   80
Level 4 -  100
Level 5 -  120
Level 6 -  140

SPEC'L WEAPON

Level 1 - POW, Shot Gun, Small Energy Tank
Level 2 - POW, Shot Gun, 3-Way Shot, Small Energy Tank
Level 3 - POW, Shot Gun, 3-Way Shot, Auto, Small Energy Tank
Level 4 - POW, Shot Gun, 3-Way Shot, Auto, Super Shell, Small Energy Tank
Level 5 - POW, Shot Gun, 3-Way Shot, Auto, Super Shell, Large Energy Tank, Small
  Energy Tank
Level 6 - POW, Shot Gun, 3-Way Shot, Auto, Super Shell, Large Energy Tank,
  Double Laser, Small Energy Tank

  When you shoot all the red planes in a formation, the last one to be shot
leaves behind a POW icon. Shooting it three times, with the standard weapon,
will result in the icon of the first weapon, the Shot Gun. Shoot it again
three times for it to revert to the POW icon. Shooting it some more cycles
through the next weapon in the list, if you have reached the appropriate level.
This cycle continues twice, with the last item being a Small Energy Tank.
  To reach Level 6 of the SPEc'L WEAPON category, all of your other statistics
need to have reached at least Level 3.

SW TIME LIMIT

Level 1 -  60, +20 Weapon Energy
Level 2 -  72, +30 Weapon Energy
Level 3 -  84, +40 Weapon Energy
Level 4 -  96, +50 Weapon Energy
Level 5 - 108, +60 Weapon Energy
Level 6 - 110, +70 Weapon Energy

  The first number is the maximum Special Weapon Time Limit. The second number
is the amount restored to you when you pick up a weapon. Note that if you pick
up a weapon that is different from what you are currently using, you still get
the + bonus, then you get switched over to your new weapon.

 [5] ITEMS
===========

  Throughout the game there are various icons that will either restore some of
your energy or allow you to increase your stat points.

POW               - + 8 Energy
Small Energy Tank - +12 Energy
Elephant          - +16 Energy
Cow               - +32 Energy
Large Energy Tank - +32 Energy
Yashichi          - Fully restores Energy

Barrel            - +16 Weapon Energy
Star              - Fully restores Weapon Energy

Alpha             - +32 Energy, +32 Weapon Energy

Flower            - Add one point to your stats.
Dragonfly         - Add two points to your stats.

Side Fighter      - Two small planes fly beside you, increasing attack range.

  The Yashichi is the icon that looks like a set of propellers. Alpha is the
icon that looks like an astronaut. The Side Fighter is the icon that looks like
a miniature version of your plane.

 [6] PASSWORD SYSTEM
=====================

  A password in 1943 consists of five characters. The first determines what
stage you last completed. The second character stores your OFFENSIVE PWR and
your DEFENSIVE PWR. The third character stores your ENERGY LEVEL and your SPEC'L
WEAPON level. The fourth character keeps track of your SW TIME LIMIT, and the
final character is used merely to make sure that you don't have more points
than you're supposed to at a given part of the game. To use the correct
character for your fifth slot, you need to add up all your points and look up
the sum in the chart. This is done because the game doesn't want you to be more
powerful than you should be at various points of the game.

First character
  Start on MISSION:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

  Enter this character:
    0 7 E L S Z I P W  3  A  H  U  5  K  F  1  6  8  D  M  R  T

Second character            Third character         Fourth character
      OFFENSIVE PWR level          ENERGY LEVEL       SW TIME LIMIT
  D P     1 2 3 4 5 6                 1 2 3 4 5 6       1 2 3 4 5 6
  E W                         
  F R  1  3 2 1 0 4 6         S W  1  I O V U W H       1 G O W N 9
  E    2  A 9 8 7 B           P E  2  D J Q P X C
  N l  3  H G F E C D         E A  3  8 E L K R 6
  S e  4  I N M L J K         C P  4  3 9 G F S 7
  I v  5  P O T S Q R         ' O  5  Y 4 B A M 1
  V e  6  W V U Z X Y         L N  6  T Z 0 5 N 2
  E l

Fifth character
  If you have this many points:
    8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

  You need to start on at least this stage (adjust first character):
    1 3  4  5  6  7  7  8  9 10 11 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 17 18 20 22

  This is your fifth character:
    7 3  A  N  X  P  D  8  G  S  Q  J  E  F  M  R  K  L  Z  0  5  U

  Note: If you look at the chart for your second character, you will notice that
there is no character given if your OFFENSIVE PWR is at 6 and your DEFENSIVE PWR
is at 2. That is because there is a bug in the game. When you die, you will be
given a password where the second character is a 0 (zero), but the chart shows
that the zero is already used for an OFFENSIVE PWR of 4 and a DEFENSIVE PWR of
1. So when you try to use the password given to you, the result is always an
incorrect password. The only way to circumvent this is to make sure that your
levels aren't at 6/2 before you stop playing to get your password.

 [7] HINTS AND TIPS
====================

  There are hidden items in almost every stage. All you have to do is shoot
every part of the screen. Hidden items appear if you shoot their area enough
times. Some items always appear in the same way though. The Yashichi is always
found by shooting red planes that appear in a diagonal formation. Ships at the
end of the first sections of a stage usually contain a flower or a dragonfly,
your chances to power up.

  When you first start a game, I suggest that you raise your SW TIME LIMIT to at
least three or four. This will give you enough Weapon Energy to concentrate on
destroying the enemy, instead of trying to find the right icon from the POW when
dozens of planes are shooting at you.

  After raising my SW TIME LIMIT, I just tend to equally level up everything
except the SPEC'L WEAPON stat. This gives you a good balance of stats, and you
shouldn't have too much trouble in the game until you reach MISSION 12 or so.

  The reason that I don't raise my SPEC'L WEAPON stat along with my other stats
is because, all you really need in this game is the Shot Gun, and you don't need
any level higher than 1 for it. When you first get the Shot Gun, you only shoot
a small spread of bullets, but getting a second Shot Gun icon gives you a longer
range and a faster rate of fire. Also, although the Shot Gun is the weakest out
of all the weapons, it is the only weapon that can destroy enemy fire. This is
important because it allows you to actually spend time destroying the enemy
instead of wasting it trying to dodge their bullets. That double laser might
sound great, but what's it worth if you can't even find a chance to use it?

  Using your Lightning attack when in the close up sections of stages can be a
real life saver against boss ships. It momentarily immobilizes the ship and its
guns, giving you a few seconds to get in some free shots. This is great to use
if you run out of your Shot Gun during a battle ship fight.

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