1944 : The Loop Master
1944: The Loop Master — Classic World War II Arcade Shooter
1944: The Loop Master is a vertically scrolling shooter set in the skies of World War II, where two ace pilots take on an entire enemy army alone. Developed by Raizing and published by Capcom, it landed in arcades on June 20, 2000, as the fifth chapter of the long-running 194X series.
This one picks up right after 19XX: The War Against Destiny. But instead of copying its predecessor, it leans back toward the feel of the earlier games in the series—tighter, more old-school, less forgiving.
Pick Your Plane
You fly one of two legendary aircraft: the P-38 Lightning or the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. The game opens by showing off each plane’s stats, which is a little misleading. They actually handle the same. The only real difference is who gets which: player one takes the Lightning, player two takes the Zero.
How the Combat Works
At its core, this plays like most shooters of its era. Every stage throws waves of planes, tanks, trains, turrets, and battleships at you, and each one ends with a boss fight. Clear the boss, move on.
The charge system carries over from 19XX and it’s worth mastering. Hold the fire button and a bar slowly fills. Once it maxes out, your plane lifts up and goes invincible for a short window—great for pushing through a wall of bullets you’d otherwise never survive. There’s also a bomb button that sends Tomahawk Missiles streaking up the screen, shredding anything in their path.
Here’s where it gets brutal. You get one life. Just one. Your plane runs on a health bar that drops with every hit, and the game is stingy with health pickups. Mess up too often and that’s the run.
Wingmen and Firepower
Backup matters more in this game than in others from the series. Every so often a small golden plane drifts down the screen, dropping a wingman icon when you grab it. Wingmen pile on extra firepower, though they’ll take damage from enemy fire just like you. Push past stage 8 and they upgrade to laser shots, which changes the math on tougher levels.
Stages, Loops, and Bosses
There are 15 stages in total. Arcade operators could tweak a stage-select option to launch players in at stage 1, 6, or 11. Set the layout to endless and you also get to pick round 1, 2, or 3—higher rounds crank up the difficulty.
Boss battles hide a clever twist: an invisible timer. If even one core on a boss survives past the limit, the mission counts as failed. That doesn’t kick you out or reset your progress, but you lose the stage clear bonus. The roster of bosses includes Nagi, a high-speed destroyer; Akane, a prototype attacker; and Kai, an anti-submarine battle cruiser.
Beat the final stage 15 boss, Appare Toride, and the game wraps up—if it’s set to a single loop. On endless, you loop straight back to stage 1, except now every enemy fires faster. That loop is where the title gets its name, and where the real challenge lives.
Where to Play It Today
The game didn’t fade into obscurity. In 2021, Capcom folded it into pack 3 of the Capcom Arcade Stadium collection on Nintendo Switch, so you don’t need to track down a cabinet to play it.
It made noise back in the day, too. Japan’s Game Machine ranked it the thirteenth most-successful arcade game in its November 15, 2000 issue. Not bad for a series sequel.
Game Controls
- Directional controls — move your aircraft around the screen
- Fire button — shoot; hold it down to charge up and trigger temporary invincibility
- Bomb button — launch Tomahawk Missiles for heavy screen-wide damage
As always, remember to have fun!
