1943: The Battle of Midway & Bump'N Jump retrospective: Flight risks | NES Works
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Remember 1942? That really bad top-down shooter? Capcom would prefer you didn't. And, to wash that bad memory from our collective mind, we have its sequel, 1943: The Battle of Midway, simultaneously a sequel and a heartfelt apology for that previous misstep. Although this arcade adaptation fails to carry over the multiplayer element from the original 1943 coin-op, it makes up for that shortcoming by introducing a permanent skill-upgrade system. One of the better vertical shooters for NES!
Meanwhile, Vic Tokai inexplicably publishes Data East's upgraded NES conversion of Bump'N Jump... well, kind of. In Japan, the home port of Bump'N Jump shipped as "Buggy Popper," which suggests it was meant to be a separate game entirely from the arcade game (alias "Burning Rubber"). Anyway, it's super dated. But still kinda fun?
Production note: NES footage captured from @analogueinc Nt Mini. Arcade footage captured from MiSTer FPGA. Special thanks to @NewWaveToys and @MiSTerAddons. Video upscaled to 720 with XRGB Mini Framemeister.
Video Works is funded via Patreon ( / gamespite ) - support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its UA-cam debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! - Ігри
Bump N' Jump is secretly one of the best games on the NES, and your 1200 words did it justice my dude.
"Bumping AND jumping?! In this economy?!"
You're hilarious man 😂
"It kinda works here like Mickey Mousecapade..." - the most common comparison for 1943.
For most games, really
I’ve had Red Earth/ Warzard on the brain lately due to the capcom fighting collection, and I can’t help but wonder if 1943’s “bolt a single-player progression system onto a distinctly arcade-style game” approach was some kind of primordial-soup predecessor to Warzard’s EXP mechanic. NES works episodes on arcade ports are always some of my favourites, so great stuff as always!
I owned Bump 'N Jump as a kid and it is one of the few NES games I did not keep in to adulthood. For years, I forgot it even existed at all.
The problem with Bump n Jump, is you always bump when you should have jumped.
I had 1942 or maybe 1943 for the Sega Master System. It was a good game. I miss it. I never got to play the NES ones.
Interesting reviews. 1943 was the first of Capcom's many quality NES titles. I never played Bump'N Jump, and your videos help inform me about what I missed.
Surprised you didn't mention the incredible soundtrack of 1943. It's amazing that Capcom had all those composers on their team at the same time. They were kind of like the 1992 USA Basketball team of chiptunes.
Then again, they also produced this game's grating low-health music. It's the only time my wife has ever asked me to turn off a retro game.
He did mention it.
ua-cam.com/video/fMqc7-V7Zmg/v-deo.html
To be fair, the low health music used to be a thing that was absolutely not supposed to sound pleasant. Doesn't get much mention, but in the very first Zelda when you were down to your last half-heart, there'd be this incessant obnoxious beeping drowning out the rest of the game audio: "be careful, you're about to get killed dead!!!!"
@@texturem0nkey A lot of games do it the Zelda way. However, for whatever reason, Pokemon Black and White (as well as their direct sequels, Black 2 and White 2) had dedicated music that worked the beeps into the song.
Still annoying because I'd rather just hear the plain battle music most of the time, but it is better than the normal approach.
I was hearing Wizards & Warriors' dedicated low-health music half the time!
Bought a Max controller after a few days of having 1943. One of my favorite controllers ever.
The 2 Battle of Midway games are some of the very few video games that held my dad's interest (along with Iron Tank and light gun games). Not my favorite games, but a lot of fond memories involved.
Iron Tank is great!
I don't think I've ever commented on one of your videos, but just wanted to let you know I've watched just about every video on your channel and I greatly appreciate what you do. Definitely my favorite channel on UA-cam, and I watch every Wednesday when you upload a new video!
Also, 1943: The Battle of Midway is one of my favorites titles for NES. Never was able to beat it, but wow it was a much improved title from 1942! Before I started watching your videos, I always wondered why some earlier Capcom titles were such crap, but now I know a name to associate with that crapiness: Micronics. Damn you Micronics!!
1943 NES is oen of my fav shooters. tons of secrets, open ended upgrade system.
Woot Dr. Chaos is coming! Played that game with my brother every time we visited our aunt. And 30+years later we just discovered the “movie franchise” it’s linked to, that was a trip.
I always look forward to your work. Thank you for providing it!
It's weird that you say the lady with the flag in B&J is naked, because she clearly is wearing a racing suit.
I believe he’s being tongue-in-cheek, don’t think he’s serious.
I made it a hobby to collect retro games and yours, along with the Sega Lord X channel, are the 2 best on YT. There's nothin like retro games 😁Superb work, got yourself a new sub!
For the other side of this, you can play Sky Destroyer for the Famicom. When I first tried it I was surprised it never came out here until I realized you shoot down American pilots in that game lol
Imagining an alternate history where Parodius was published here and Joe Lieberman declared the eagle boss a threat to our nation's children in front of Congress
@@JeremyParish I would legitimately love to see a NES Works Gaiden on Sky Destroyer. I’m actually a bit surprised it never got reskinned and released over here, it looks like it plays pretty well for an 8-bit ““3D“” game.
@@JeremyParish I am still so ticked off we never got the Parodius games. Or Salamander 2, but that's a different story.
Wait, "naked lady" in bump and jump? I always saw her as wearing one of those tight one-piece suits you always see models wearing in car shows and races.
More fun to pretend she's nekkid 😉lol
I thought I saw the straps of a bikini on her hips. She's just posing in a position where you can't see the rest of it.
The hateful civil engineer was the bizarro universe version of Robert Moses.
I used to play 1943 (and Dig-Dug) all the time at my local pizza place until they renovated the place and got rid of the multi-cade machine. RIP in peace, Pizza Multicade. We hardly knew ye.
Oooh, Dr. Chaos is next! That'll be fun! And also, weird!
An interesting bit of editing here... the alternate weapons don't appear in the 1943 review until you specifically mention the power up system, which grants you access to them. Also, those accursed dump trucks in Bump 'n Jump sometimes drop a 1UP in your lap, rather than a pile of dirt.
I always try to do that with my editing, but usually it’s too difficult to hold back footage of a key feature until it comes up in the narration. Thanks for noticing, though! It’s a deliberate choice.
@@JeremyParish You are nothing if not deliberate! And that careful attention to detail is why people enjoy these videos and respect them as a historical reference.
I wanted Bump'n Jump so badly on the Atari 2600 when I was a kid. I never got a copy, and I guess my desire for the game (in any form) had petered out by the time the NES came around, as I still haven't played this conversion.
As a kid I was baffled by the fact that the real battle of Midway was in 1942.
Here I am again commenting the video insertion after the intro. Man, when I was a teen, that guy from Information Society had the coolest f-ing hair, and I wanted mine to look like that, but couldn't for a bunch of reasons (mostly school and parents).
Dr Chaos? I'm pretty excited to see an obscure game on here that I actually grew up with. Probably the first game that I was actively afraid of playing, so I just watched my dad play it. The box art only reinforced that.
I remember the Commodore 64 version of Bump n' Jump, called Burnin' Rubber (a 1983 release). Had a lot of fun with that as a wee lad.
Real nice to hear you get out of your comfort zone and describe some American history, and must have been interesting to research stuff from that period of time for one of these videos, great job!
Only you could make a video about Bump N' Jump entertaining. Great job as always. Although funny, I don't think that lady is naked. It looks like a Nascar style racing jumpsuit.
The tsunami (lighting) gets only three uses at 0 fuel. First stage shotgun sucks in comparison to spread cannon. Second stage shotgun (obtained after picking up the powerup twice in a row on the same SW timer) is how you beat the game- wider and better range spread with forward shots going full screen, all with the same shoot enemy bullets effect. Both stages of the shotgun have about roughly 1/2 the power of the default gun (forward shots of stage 2 are about 3/4). Turbo controller is highly recommended (which renders machine gun powerup pretty useless, but you'll feel like a god with turbo lasers, final tier SW).
That's funny it's called tsunami, as in Japanese tsunami means large/big wave, ツナミ which is why Konami means small wave コナミ 🤯🤯
Information Society was my favorite way back when... one of the first tapes I ever bought as a little kid.
Shiiiit... best vertical shooter ever right here.
I gave you your 1K. As for Bump and Jump, just because the publisher only released 3 games in one year, doesn't mean they didn't have all their resources buy making their 5 for next year. I used to love that game as a kid.
Nice InSoc clip as the beginning
The tl;dr of this episode? You guessed it!
1943 - kinda like Mickey's Mousecapade
Bump 'n Jump - not like Super Mario Bros. 2.
love the information society clip
"who would want to focus on failure and defeat?"
Well
there are a lot of vietnam FPS games.....
That's just what we did. We couldn't win it, but we never completely forgot it.
Another banger from Jeremy Chaos!
I wonder if the fuel tank system was chosen because the P-38 was an especially long range fighter for the time, which made it well suited for some missions in the Pacific
Did you use the charge shot any in 1943? It's really powerful and takes down larger foes quite quickly, as well as saving your poor thumbs.
I knew the tune stuck in my head wasn't the Mega Man 2 intro...
Funnily enough I was reading about an abysmal microcomputer knockoff of Bump 'N Jump this morning. A German game called, slightly brilliantly, "Car-Race".
I played a ton of Bump 'n' Jump as a kid but I was only ever able to beat it with save states. I'm convinced no one can beat it legitimately because of how punishing and exacting the final stages are.
Dude. I love your channel. I’m currently revisiting my NES library so I really enjoy playing what you document afterward. Thanks for the hard work.
That rules. There's some good stuff ahead. Enjoy!
Pure Energy.
When I finally saw the Star Trek episode that came from I felt like I had achieved world peace
Really looking forward to Dr Chaos. I remember ads for it in comic books and that I liked the monster designs (in the art for the ads), but also that said ad also scared the piss out of me (I was 6 I think?)
Jeremy Parrish is BACK BAYBEE
1943 was a wonder in both the arcade and home incarnations. I had played Bump n Jump at some family member's home as a child, and I remember being highly disappointed by it. I was hoping it would be more like City Connection, and it was definitely not.
I think I never gave 1943 another look as an NES title because I had remembered what absolute garbage 1942 was (I never knew the Micronix connection till this series).
Bump and jump was in my local arcade in the back room you could rent out for parties with games too old to turn a profit (had no idea was an Nes game).
It is interesting realizing how much of the US market was just an amalgamation of Japanese releases from various dates in the past
Big fan of 1 through 1941. 1942 is sketchy tho.
I have a nostalgia soft spot for Bump n Jump
Bump & Jump is a game that I enjoyed greatly in the times I played it, but was never able to "complete" until I had access to copious amounts of rewinding. The rote memorizations and countless optimizations needed to survive enough stages to get to the massive tank base where your captive partner is simply happens to be a number too high for most anyone.
And that number was typically stage 4, if the tropical stage 3 didn't off me first.
Bump 'n jump is an classic arcade game I play it arcade game first and the nes version. 😀👍🎮
It’s a racing jumper @ 14:11
1943 I definitely remember fondly... thank god capcom opted to do it in-house this time! not one I ever finished, perhaps I need to reacquire the NES version?! Bump and Jump I know for sure I rented in the late 80s-early 90s at some point... not as fondly remembered as 1943 but I enjoyed it enough.
I absolutely adore 1943, it was one of the most played games for us as kids back in the late '80s and honestly it's what established the Capcom name for us even before the likes of Mega Man or bionic commando and other earlier titles like that. I was obsessed with World war II particularly the aircraft flown by every nation involved. The p38 lightning is one of the most iconic and incredible planes ever made. Was seriously obsessed with this game only ever completed it after buying in NES Max, haha!
It was definitely designed as a use case for auto-fire controllers
@@JeremyParish agreeeeeeed! Haha
I love Bump 'n' Jump and in my opinion the NES conversion seriously bungled the game, I would literally recommend the Atari 2600 version over it (which is actually okay somehow).
Yeah, Bump 'N Jump is hard. Not my cup of tea but I guess some enjoy it. Good to see Capcom's streak of NES bangers continue with 1943. Looking forward to Pony Canyon next time with Dr. Chaos.
Spy hunter fans will love it
Bump n Jump really strikes me as one of those games where if I'd had it as I kid I probably would have thrown it in every six months or so just to shake things up and then stopped after an hour or so.
I wonder how the 194X series was received in Japan. I could never imagine an American developer making an arcade game where, say, a single Viet Cong guerrilla singlehandedly destroys the entire US army, not even if Vietnam was a major world economic player they were desperate to sell games to.
It's not a clean comparison though. The united States remained a hegemonic world power after the Vietnam war while Japan was put into a state of demilitarization and Western influence, not to mention the incredible suffering wrought at home. The devastation of WWII was much greater after all.
It is still weird though, definitely.
Man, we didn't even get the game where Che Guevarra and Fidel Castro team up to liberate Cuba from the forces of Capitalism without massive revisions.
Information Society shout out…nice!
Making 1943 is certainly quite pandery to American audiences, and kind of feels like foreshadowing to Capcom's similar efforts to make games that appeal to the West in the 2000s (which is why we got that Bionic Commando reboot and the like).
I remember seeing this in the arcade and wondering why Capcom was throwing down the gauntlet with the developer of Rampage. (WWII history wasn't a big focus in the third grade)
See, we NEVER learn about the Battle of Midway in Second World War themed history classes here in Europe, and I assumed this game was published by Midway in the States and they just named a fictional battle after themselves.
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer Honestly I can't remember if I learned about Midway eventually from school, or looking up family history years later (grandfather fought in the Pacific). Probably the latter.
I remember when my dad bought me 1943, I loved that game. It's the reason why I got an nes max controller 😂 Yes I preferred the max to the advantage because I was and still am awful with joysticks. I still play the arcade version plus all the arcade sequels.
We Stan a giantess racing queen
Also known as a size queen
Bump n' Jump on NES is an odd one. It's a decent port for sure, but strangely lags a bit behind the Intellivision port in the playability department. On NES, there is just something "off" feeling about it, whereas the Intellivision port feels smoother and more like the arcade original. 1943 is a gem of a port though- masterful work by Capcom there & I agree it's one of the best vertical SHMUPS on the system.
Thank you!
Bump n Jump was one of my go-to games at the Space Station arcade (far back left corner) in Novato, Calif.
Sadly, I picked up the NES cart a few years back and have barely touched it. It just somehow doesn't feel as "fun"... I would have preferred a straight up arcade port.
I keep thinking Vic Tokai is the name of a person.
Maybe it is and he’s best friends with John Micronics. Or maybe it’s like Bon Jovi and he’s just the frontman.
I've literally named a character in a script I wrote for university "Victor Cai" thanks to this company.
I had 1942 and thought.it was a good port.. At the time most players went from something like the 2600 to the nes. So even 1942 was impressive. When 1943 came out I was disappointed it wasn't two player but liked it and eventually was able to beat it without continuing
I used to borrow my neighbor’s nes advantage, and just mow through this game. Good times!
keep at using rich and varied vocabulary like you do. Old video games deserve it. I feel the weight of a monocle resting on my cheekbone when I watch your videos. top hag gaming man wishes he could achieve that.
Oh, thanks... I basically just write down the words that seem to best describe the topic each week, no conscious lexical flexing involved.
When you lose the technical power of the arcade adding depth and trying to not gobble quarters is something lots of home games added back then. Which makes me kind of want hackers and modders to bolt these improvements back into the arcade roms if possible. At least we have Unworked Designs undoing bad regional port "Improvements" Vic Ireland popped into games. (Which is obviously 100x easier than full on adding content and reprogramming old arcade games.) I guess the differences make it worth getting some arcade releases and console though just for different experiences. Sometimes.
Question - Will you be covering games mentioned in Nintendo Power which disappeared into the ether?
In your review, I saw a blurb on Empire City 1931, which had been mentioned and even got screen shots in a different game magazine of the time.
A quick search shows it did get released on the Famicom and that the US publisher would have been Acclaim, which fits with much of their output at this time such as Star Voyager and Tiger Heli.
Lord knows you have enough projects to work on but that seems like the kind of thing appropriate for NES Works Gaiden.
I'll probably do an episode or two on unreleased games, yeah. Someone mentioned Chesterfield in the comments earlier today and that got my mental gears a-churnin'.
Meta-stat upgrade carry over. Sounds like an eaely rogue-lite to me. Sounds fun
that girl isn't naked she's wearing a jumpsuit
She's naked beneath the jumpsuit tho
what about the bumpsuit
I've never heard of 1943, just 1942 and that people were upset at the contents...
That amazing artwork is totally wasted on Bump ‘N Jump.
Unexpected Information Society!
Two of my all time favorites. 1943 is especially good.
Good thing there was a continue code for bump n jump or else I never would have cleared it.
Hold Select on controller one and press A and B on controller two then continue holding these buttons and press Start twice on controller one.
I'm currently making my way through the NES library. I started off playing well known games that make the majority of lists of the system's top games, but I've started going through alphabetically. I beat 1942, and while it sounds horrendous and is sub-par in terms of its graphics and overall presentation, gameplay-wise I found it fairly approachable and pretty enjoyable. It's a genuine reaction based shooter. You take out as many enemies as you can to clear a path and avoid what you were unable to shoot down. The fact I finished it within a day, does highlight the fact that it's too short/easy though. Is it great? No, but I don't think it deserves the hate it gets.
I'm now going to give a take that I suspect will be unpopular: I started playing 1943 and I dislike it A LOT! Yes, it's much more polished in its presentation, but almost everything about its design is irritating to me.
1) Having your fuel and health combined into a single meter that's constantly draining: You can collect the weapon powerups so you can shoot down enemies more effectively so you take less damage, but your energy is draining regardless. Alternatively you can get the fuel which means you don't have sufficient firepower to take down the enemies resulting in more hits. It's a lose lose situation.
2) Having to shoot the POW pickup to get the item you want: Enemy waves come one after the other almost continuously, so you need to be shooting them down nearly continuously to prevent the screen from becoming too crowded because it's nearly impossible to avoid getting hit when you let the screen get too busy. Often, in order to keep shooting down enemies, it's nearly impossible to avoid shooting the powerup (especially if you're using an attack with a spread), which results in it changing to an item you don't want. So you end up in situations where you have to either stop firing and possibly take a hit to get the item you want or continue firing and lose your weapon upgrade because it's timed out, which screws you over until the next item comes along where the same might happen.
3) The upgrade system and hidden items: In some games there are hidden items, but they're more of a bonus. In 1943, not getting these items puts you at an extreme disadvantage throughout the rest of the game. In my opinion, they should have implemented the upgrade screens between levels so you're always in good stead for the level you're about to face. Being punished in later levels because you haven't got the upgrades you need because you either missed or weren't able to get to the bamboo shoots is bad game design in my opinion.
4) Your dodge and panic offensive are combined: Some of the previously mentioned issues could be alleviated slightly if you had free use of the dodge function. You could shoot the POW pickup until it's the item you want and use the dodge button to safely retrieve it, BUT NO! It's also equivalent to your panic offensive in a beat "em" up, which takes a chunk of your energy away. They easily could have made it so you tap to dodge and hold for lightning or even made select your lightning attack. As is it renders the dodge effectively a no go throughout the majority of the game and only useful when you're on your last legs or in a boss fight.
5) The sound when you're low on health: Because of the pick your poison nature of the gameplay, it's very likely you're going to be hearing this at some point in a level. I think I actually preferred the beeping sounds of 1942 over this.
I'm no stranger to a tough game. I've beat a number of NES games that have a reputation for being difficult (Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Contra, Batman and some others) all without cheats, turbo fire or save states. With most of the difficult games I've taken on, the challenge normally comes down to one particularly difficult gameplay element which requires a high degree of focus to overcome. What bugs me about 1943 is that, in addition to the expected challenge of shooting down enemies and avoiding their attacks, you're also juggling all the other irritating BS I mentioned above. I don't get why this game gets a pass when I've seen other games get negative criticism for gameplay annoyances that aren't nearly as egregious.
One of the hardest games for the nes
1943 is one of my favorite shooters, or "shoot-em-ups" as we used to call them back then. I've played a lot of it in Capcom Arcade Stadium. I like that powerups are mostly not predetermined but can be selected by shooting them repeatedly. The music is also really good.
(I think Zanac is handily better on the NES, though. Just my opinion.)
Bump n Jump was a pretty solid pick up and play game. Still a good bang for your buck since the cart is still under $10
Information Society and Capcom together at last!
So glad you came back to NES on a regular basis. I Hope you could do the same with GB
2023 is gonna be a real letdown for you, I fear
@@JeremyParish I really enjoy your content. I will next year too!
“1943” for the NES is way better than “1942”, but “1942” for the NES sucked since Micronics was a developer behind “Athena”, “Ikari Warriors”, “Ikari Warriors 2: Victory Road” and “Ghosts ‘N Goblins”.
Plot twist: Micronics was LJN in disguise.
To be fair, it was pretty meh even in arcades.
Dr chaos openong screen scared me as a kid lol
It's weirdly intense for an NES game!
Really enjoying playing Bump N Jump on my Evercade, my personal favorite way to enjoy retro games.
At least one person has beaten Bump n Jump. The Mexican Runner has beaten all 709 officially licensed NES games. Bump n Jump took him about 20 hours. He has two ten hour videos on UA-cam with all his attempts.
Yeah, that was (I thought) clearly meant to be a tongue-in-cheek remark
@@JeremyParish He has a couple games where he's literally the only person known to beat it, so it's not too farfetched.
Hahahaha @ "Nathan Drake it ..."
Sometimes you just have to inflict disproportionate violence on masses of people who get in your way
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1943: the battle of midway it's an kick ass sequel I will play the arcade version first and the nes version. 😀👍🎮
Random note: The Battle of Midway took place in 1942
Not in the alternate reality where one dude stopped the imperial fleet by himself
I think the reason why Vic Tokai cancelled the US release of Chester Field and Algina no Yogen (which were also advertised in the Golgo 13 comic) in favor of Bump N' Jump is because of the current demographic at the time being more of arcade gamers though, so they published the Famicom Buggy Popper port on the NES under the Bump N' Jump name.
Going out on a limb here to speculate, but also probably because Chester Field is kind of bad! I pined for that game for years after being intrigued by those ads and was horrified when I finally played the damn thing.
Pretty nuts how a Japanese developer made 4 games in a series about killing the entire Japanese military
The assertation that the checkered flag woman clearly wearing a red racing suit is naked is a hell of an interpretation, but one I'm not necessarily against? 🤔
People sure have fixated on five particular seconds of commentary
@@JeremyParish In the anime community you'll see a spike in the viewing graph any time a naked foot appears on screen.
Welcome to youtube, baybeeee~
1943: The Battle of Midway is a good game, but its title is historically inaccurate. The real Battle of Midway happened in 1942.
It's a shame, the game is so true to historic events in every other respect
Another banger from Jeremy Chaos!
I wonder if the fuel tank system was chosen because the P-38 was an especially long range fighter for the time, which made it well suited for some missions in the Pacific