[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_2strikers-1945-01_1669.jpg]]
''Strikers 1945'' is a series of arcade vertical ShootEmUp games by the now-defunct developer Creator/{{Psikyo}}.

The series is (in)famous for its blend of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and TransformingMecha. As far as gameplay is concerned, ''Strikers 1945'' is made from the same mold as most of Psikyo's other shmups, featuring random order for the early levels, dense ''and'' fast bullet patterns, and rather short levels contrasted with long {{sequential boss}}es.

Do not confuse with fellow shmup series ''VideoGame/NineteenFortyTwo'', although both thematically based on World War II, and Strikers 1945 is generally DenserAndWackier.
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[[header:''Strikers 1945'' (1995)]]

The first installment. Originally released for the arcade, was ported to the Saturn and Playstation (both Japan only) and later included as a part of the [=PlayStation=] 2 CompilationRerelease ''Psikyo Shooting Collection Vol. 1: Strikers 1945 I & II''. An emulated version was released for the Platform/NintendoSwitch in 2017

The story goes thus: After the end of World War II, a group of disgruntled soldiers called CANY is wreaking havoc all over the world with cutting-edge weaponry, and so a group of elite pilots called Strikers is formed to counter the threat. However, after a few battles, it is discovered that CANY are supplied by a race of crab-like aliens based on the moon.

With regard to gameplay, the game has a roster of six playable planes, each with their own type of shot and SmartBomb. Collecting power-ups gives you a helper plane, for a maximum of four. Holding the fire button with at least one helper plane will allow you to perform a strong Charge Shot specific for each plane, but your sub-shot will be unavailable during the duration of the attack. As in most Psikyo shmups, the first four levels are randomly ordered each play.
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[[header:''Strikers 1945 II'' (1997)]]

After the defeat of CANY, a group known as FGR recuperated, gained control of CANY's technology and used it in an attempt to start the Fourth Reich. Because of the potential threat, the Strikers team is called back into action.

This installment ditches the hand-drawn sprites of the first game in favour of pre-rendered 3D models and change the charge shot system, from the first game. Instead of being able to perform charge shots at any time with at least one powerup, there is a bar at the bottom of the screen which fills up and augment in power when destroying enemies, but won't let you perform the attack if it's too low.

Ported to the [=PlayStation=] and Sega Saturn, the latter only in Japan. Confusingly, the North American release was titled "Strikers 1945", perhaps because the original [[SequelFirst wasn't released]] there, save in its arcade iteration. Recently, [[RevivalByCommercialization this game comes back to Android]] as a free-to-play title in 2014 thanks to Mobirix, APX Soft and Google Play[[note]]as well other Psikyo games like ''Tengai[=/=]Sengoku Blade'' and ''Gunbird 2''[[/note]]. An emulated version was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2018.
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[[header:''Strikers 1999/Strikers 1945 III'' (1999)]]

54 years after their first defeat, in 1999, FGR bided their time and developed several new machines. However, as they are about to launch a new attack, a parasitic alien race (implied to be the same ones from the first game) invades Earth and infect all but one of their mechas. With most of the world's military in the control of the aliens, FGR and the Strikers team are [[EnemyMine forced to team up]] against the new threat.

The one addition for this installment is the "Technical Bonus" trick. During a specific attack, the bosses will expose a blue orb for a few seconds. Getting close to the orb without being killed will destroy the boss instantly and net a point bonus. Also of note is that the game ditches the anachronistic WWII theme of the first two for the present day. After the free-to-play mobile release on Google Play in 2014, an emulated version was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2019, followed by ''Strikers 1999/1945 III Classic'' on Google Play in 2020.
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[[header:''Strikers 1945 PLUS'' (1999)]]

A reworking of ''Strikers 1945 II'' for the Platform/NeoGeo arcade system. Though it has the same structure as ''II'', the playable cast is a mix of planes from the first two games with one newcomer, the charge-shot system is different, the levels are completely redesigned, two of the bosses are completely changed and the returning ones have more destroyable parts and new attack patterns. It is also noticeably more BulletHell than the rest of the series. Later ([[PortingDisaster half-assedly]]) ported to the [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]] and Platform/PlayStationNetwork.
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!!This series contains the following tropes:

* AllegedlyFreeGame: Strikers 1945 II and Strikers 1945 III has this in 2014 by Mobirix, APX Soft and Google Play. Every plane but the first is locked, there are Google ads in the main menu and pause screen, and unlocking other planes either requiring grinding or outright real many purchase. However the game difficulty is greatly reduced in the new easy mode.
* AnachronismStew:
** The forces of CANY use weaponry that are far beyond the era of World War II, with a special focus on TransformingMecha.
** The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36_Peacemaker B-36]] did not enter service until 1949, four years after the war had ended.
* ArrangeMode: ''PLUS'' revamps the playable roster of planes to include the Spitfire and Zero from the first game as well as the new Fiat G.56 and and XP-55 Ascender, completely replaces 2 bosses, changes up the charge shot system, and slows down the now-purple bullets into patterns that wouldn't look too out of place in a Creator/{{Cave}} game.
* ArtifactTitle: The third game isn't set after World War II or in the 40s. Hence the fact that the third game is sometimes retitled ''1999''.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: In the first game, your World War II plane is launched into space without any ill effects despite the low atmospheric pressure. The modern-day jet fighters of '''[=1999/III=]''' later repeat the exploit. The second game (and by extension, ''PLUS'') has your World War II plane [[InvertedTrope dive deep underground]] into the center of a volcano, again without any ill effects despite the immense atmospheric pressure.
* BattleshipRaid: The battles against Khabarovsk and Kii in the first, Iron Casket and Graf Zeppelin in ''II'', and Thanatos in ''[=1999/III=]'' (even if Thanatos is an attack train, rather than a ship).
* BombWhistle: Multiple instances in all games, all involving bombs.
** In the first game, when the P-51 summons B-29's to carpet bomb the screen.
** In the second game, when the P-38 fires its max level charged shot.
** In the third game, when the F/A-18 drops a ballistic missile to the dead center of the screen and when the Harrier summons B-52's to carpet bomb the screen. Also happens when the X-36 is about to drop its energy bomb.
** Averted in ''PLUS'' where the bombs don't make whistling sounds whatsoever whenever they are dropped on the screen.
* BulletHell: Especially ''PLUS'', which use bright pink and blue bullets, not unlike Creator/{{Cave}} games. In the mobile ports of ''Strikers 1945 II'' and ''1999'', there are "Pro" and "Master" options that take this to a new extreme. The ''Strikers 1945 Classic'' series has "Hard" and "Very Hard" options that makes the ports look more arcade-perfect in terms of gameplay (fast bullet patterns, more bullets fired from enemies, two loops), but players can [[AntiFrustrationFeatures thankfully continue playing even during the second loop when it's not possible in the original arcade version.]]
* TheCavalry: Many of the bomb attacks from ''II'' onwards involve the player calling for reinforcements, usually in the form of bombers and fighter squadrons to clear the screen.
* ChargedAttack: Hold-type. As you destroy enemies, a meter builds up at the bottom, and when it's charged to at least level 1 (of 3) you can fire off a high-powered attack by holding down the shot button and then releasing.
* CollisionDamage: Averted. Colliding with another plane will just power you down a notch. Some players use this feature to control the game's DynamicDifficulty.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience:
** The planes in ''II'' have color-coded shots depending on their nationality.
*** Lightning and Flying Pancake (USA): Blue
*** Ta-152 and Mosquito (Europe): Green
*** Hayate and Shinden (Japan): Purple
** Planes in "Plus" have color-coded shots depending on their alignment.
*** Lighting, Flying Pancake, Spitfire and Ascender (Allied): Yellow
*** Focke Wulf, Zero Fighter and Fiat G.56 (Axis): Red/Orange
** The modern-day jets in ''III'' have color-coded shots depending on their movement speed.
*** F/A-18 (Medium): Blue
*** F-117 and AV-8 (Slow): Purple
*** F-22 and F-4 (Fast): Green
*** The X-36 is an exception as it shoots blue despite being the fastest.
* CompilationRerelease: ''Psikyo Shooting Collection Vol. 1: Strikers 1945 I & II''.
* DeathFromAbove: Several {{Smart Bomb}}s, most notably the P-51's one in ''Strikers 1945'' --several B-29 Superfortress carpet-bombing the screen and the AV-8 Harrier's one in ''Strikers 1945 III'' --same but with B-52 Stratofortress instead. The Mosquito in ''Strikers 1945 II'' and Spitfire in ''Strikers 1945 Plus'' do this with Mosquito fighter bombers, followed by a Mosquito firing formation. The XP-55 Ascender's Smart Bomb in ''Strikers 1945 Plus'', meanwhile, summons the B-36 to carpet bomb the screen from the center of the Y axis.
* DifficultyByRegion: The Western versions of ''PLUS'' only gives you two lives instead of three, though that could be changed in the BIOS menu.
* DynamicDifficulty: The more power-ups you have, the more difficult it becomes.
* DualBoss: Cross Blade in ''1999''.
* EnemyMine: In ''[=1999/III=]'', both the Strikers and FGR, despite fighting each other for decades, join forces to fight off the alien invaders.
* EnergyWeapon: In World War II!
* {{Fanservice}}: Getting a golden medal on all missions will show pictures of the almost naked female pilots. It didn't cause controversy in western territories because of the NintendoHard requirements, but ''someone'' in Japan must have noticed because the pictures were replaced in the Saturn port.
* FunWithAcronyms: CANY is derived from "kani", the Japanese word for "crab".
* GiantEnemyCrab: Robot alien crabs, at that.
* GuestFighter: Ayin, the pilot of the Shinden in the first was also one of the main characters of the ''VideoGame/SengokuAce'' series, and is a hidden character in ''VideoGame/{{Gunbird}} 2''.
* HotterAndSexier: Inverted. The first game features Fanservice if you play well as all but one of the pilots are attractive girls with three different pictures acquired as you beat the first loop (covered, face reveal and character info, and raunchy) depending on how you achieve the game. The second game has its ending told in WWII esque stock photos, and the third game only shows the boss and the location where each stages are fought.
* NintendoHard: Naturally, as it's an arcade game series. The second loops are best known for their lightning-fast bullet patterns, which are a signature element of Psikyo games.
* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: ''Strikers 1999''.
* OneWingedAngel: All the boss encounters run on this.
* SettingUpdate: ''[=Strikers 1999/1945 III=]'' is ''Strikers 1945'' [-[[JustForFun/RecycledINSpace IN]] [[TheNineties THE 90'S]]!-]
* ShownTheirWork: If you like UsefulNotes/WorldWarII planes you can recognize among the enemies planes that in RealLife did not pass the prototype stage or even the drawing boards, as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229 Horten Ho 229]]. Other real-world WWII vehicles also appear, as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_VIII_Maus Maus]] super-heavy tank.
* SpinAttack: If you fail to perform the Technical Bonus against Spectre in ''[=1999/III=]'', its next attack involves it corkscrewing as it moves from side to side, sending bullet walls straight down.
* StupidJetpackHitler: The FGR from ''II'' is all but stated to be a Nazi remnant group, given that it wants to create a Fourth Reich using reverse-engineered CANY tech from ''I'', culminating in incubating a giant alien embryo inside a volcano. It even manages to survive into ''[=1999/III=]'', developing the [[TransformingMecha X-36 Warlord]].
* TransformingMecha: Many of the bosses. [[MyfriendsandZoidberg And the X-36 on the players' side.]]
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