Area 88 (1989) is the horizontal shoot 'em up Capcom developed on CPS-1 hardware based on the identically named manga and anime by Kaoru Shintani, the story of mercenary pilots trapped in a war contract they can only leave by shooting down enemies or dying in combat. In the West it was known as U.N. Squadron, with the pilots renamed, but the level design, the between-mission purchasable weapons, and the bosses are the same.
It's one of the most solid shooters in Capcom's early catalog, with a between-stage weapon-purchase system that gave it a strategic touch uncommon in the genre. It still plays well today thanks to that tight pace and that instantly recognizable period art.

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