Full run of Power Strike II on Wild mode (hardest difficulty) for the Sega Master System (SMS) developed by Compile. This was captured from a JVC X'Eye using the Master System Converter II and the real cart. No emulation or cheats.

Stage Listing:
00:00 - Intro
01:31 - Stage 1
05:27 - Stage 2
09:26 - Stage 3
13:54 - Stage 4
17:54 - Stage 5
25:17 - Stage 6
29:42 - Stage 7
34:32 - Stage 8
35:00 - Final Boss + Ending
38:41 - Special Ending Message

Power Strike II is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Compile for the Sega Master System/Sega MK III (and soon to be re-released on the PS4 and Switch). It is billed as a sequel to Power Strike (which is actually an Aleste game) but actually has nothing to do with the first game. In fact, this game seems to take place in an alternate reality and has references to sky pirates in 1930's Italy. What? I don't know, none of these "stories" ever made sense.

The game does have the familiar Compile gameplay with the player collecting power chips to upgrade the primary while the carriers also return to deliver special weapons (numbered 0-6) . These special weapons are quite diverse and fun to use, in particular I REALLY like number 3 (burner), which acts like the options in Gradius combined with the flame weapon from Gun-Nac!

In addition to your regular weapon and special weapons, you also have a charge attack that functions similarly to a bomb. The longer you continuing firing your primary weapon, the longer the charge attack will last when you use it. The charge attack not only does massive damage to everything, but it has the handy ability to cancel most bullets as well. It can get you out of tight situations or obliterate enemies before they can become a threat.

In this run I played on Wild mode, which is the hardest difficulty setting of the game. In typical Compile fashion this means that the enemies fire faster, more frequently, and have more life than in the default setting. In addition, they also release revenge bullets upon death, so you must be very careful of destroying things as to not throw massive amounts of bullets in your direction. Mastering the use of the charge attack and also using special weapon number 6 (which also cancels bullets) are your main tools in dealing with the flood of bullets.

Did I mention that the graphics and music are both top notch in this game? For an 8-bit game, it is absolutely gorgeous and one of the best looking games of the 3rd generation of consoles. It was also one of the last games Compile made before their long hiatus, and it does not disappoint.

One final thing I want to mention is the "controversy" surrounding this game. There is still debate to this day whether or not his game is meant to be played at 50Hz (PAL) or 60Hz (NTSC) because it was one of the few games that was never released in Japan or the US. I played it on a US console, so it's running at 60Hz. I also tested it on an emulator playing it at 50Hz and it does run slower and the music is less energetic. I'm still not sure what the "correct" speed is, but it does feel like a much more frantic game at 60Hz.

Anyway, go play this game if you can, it's one of the best 8 bit shmups ever made.

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