Fans of retro arcade games may recall Avenging Spirit, the first in a catalog of Jaleco conversions by DotEmu.  We reviewed the game when it was released late last year and enjoyed its unusual body-swapping antics and challenging platform gameplay.  DotEmu has released another Jaleco conversion this month, and it’s the sideways-scrolling shooter P-47 – The Phantom Fighter.

The first time I played P-47, it had a pig of a control system.  The touchscreen control was too jerky for precise movements resulting in all five lives being lost within the first few waves of enemies.  After Avenging Spirit, this was a major disappointment and my review would have been less than positive.  However, that review of P-47 was never written, as version 1.1 appeared a short while after release and cured the dodgy controls.

P-47 is best described as R-Type with WWII aircraft.  It’s a sideways scrolling shooter where your lone plane must fight off wave after wave of enemy craft, ranging from other planes and helicopters to tanks and gun emplacements on the ground.

In addition to R-Type, P-47 reminds me of Silkworm, the Amiga shoot’em up with a helicopter able to fire both a main weapon and drop bombs on ground-based foe.

You’ve got two control systems to choose from, a fullscreen mode with part of the left hand side blocked out to give you some finger room (in a similar style to CAVE’s Espgaluda II) or an impossible ‘arcade’ style with a virtual joystick.

Provided you forget about the joystick and just use the touchscreen, you’ve got a chance of making it through a couple of P-47′s levels, but unless you’re a shoot ‘em up master, you’re going to struggle to make it past level three as believe me, this game is hard! Like R-Type, most of the waves follow a set pattern so it’s possible to learn them and remember what’s coming next; however some waves do seem to home in on you.

Your enemies are also very good shots, and as fire comes from the ground as well as the air there’s a lot to avoid.  Add in a distinctly annoying problem of unless you stay stock-still while blowing up a stream of attacking planes, it’s very difficult to re-engage them, usually resulting in one of them colliding with you.

The action is fast and frantic, the graphics are suitably retro and although I’ve not seen the original, certainly have a classic arcade look to them.  It’s good to see a choice of game modes too, with a nine-life Survival mode and a five-life Story mode with the option to unlock new levels to start from in future games.

Aside from its sheer difficulty, there are some other problems with P-47, for instance there are power-ups to collect but little indication what they do – I never noticed a huge difference before or after picking them up – and if you repeatedly tap the bomb button in the heat of the moment, your plane refuses to move for a few heart-stopping moments.  You can guess what usually happens next.

P-47 The Phantom Fighter is a hardcore retro arcade game with a high degree of difficult and unforgiving controls, but it appears to be true to the source and should entertain those who don’t like their shoot ‘em ups wrapped in cotton wool.

Positives:

• Looks great, with a very distinctive arcade look and sound.
• Game Center support.

Negatives:

• Very similar to R-Type, but not as enjoyable to play.
• Much too difficult to make a good casual blaster.

Overall: 3/5.