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Pearl Harbor Trilogy - 1941: Red Sun Rising Wii
Pearl Harbor Trilogy - 1941: Red Sun Rising Image
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Metascore
70 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: [WiiWare] Pearl Harbor Trilogy - 1941: Red Sun Rising is the first title in a trilogy of air-combat action games for the WiiWare service. Take off from aircraft carrier decks and historic military bases as you conduct covert strikes, engage in furious dogfights and fly search-and-destroy missions. Pilot the most prolific fighter, bomber and torpedo-bearing aircraft of the World War II Pacific Theatre. Featuring two campaigns spanning the early years of the Pacific War, you can play as the United States Naval Air Force or the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force. You can also choose to practice your combat skills in the Avenging Ace or Survival dogfight modes.… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 16
  3. Negative: 1 out of 16
  1. NintendoWorldReport
    85
    Red Sun Rising is one of the better WiiWare games released yet, assuming you can adjust to the game's awkward style of controls.
  2. Official Nintendo Magazine UK
    74
    Surprisingly deep given how in-depth and graphically impressive it is. [Sept 2010, p.93]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. GamerNode
    20
    If you like jet shooters, WWII games, or games that you can play at all, avoid 1941: Red Sun Rising.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Vicsor
    9
    All in all this game is great value for a Wiiware game, with 2 campaigns to play, several planes to fly and a couple of extra game modes. Considering the limitations of the service, the graphical representation is surprisingly good. There's definitely a learning curve as far as the controls go, specifically the nunchuck's motion capabilities used to steer, but once you get used to it they work wonderfully. On the other hand the difficulty curve oddly seems to go in a downwards manner, in which the later levels of the campaign are surprisingly easy compared to the challenging first levels. A multiplayer mode however is sadly missed.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. blondowl
    9
    This is the best action game available on WiiWare and one of the best flight games on the Wii. The controls are perfect and really helps add to the fun, and the aerial battles are very impressive with a large number of opponent enemy aircraft and friendly wingmen combating each other. The first mission in the game is Pearl Harbor which is quite difficult but very satisfactory, then again I guess that is what one would expect from a historical game such as this. For only 7 bucks this is a no-brainer as it easily trumps many Wii retail games both in terms of fun and quality.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. WiiAndTheKid
    8
    So I remember my early experience with war flight simulators. The exact game escapes me but the controller is pretty typical. Big bulky flight stick with a million buttons and triggers and the suction cups on the bottom. First person point of view. Nothing but a pretty blank blue sky. A radar system I didn’t understand and the intense feeling of moving in slow motion. Waiting intently for anything to appear on screen to shoot at or clumsily launch a missile towards. Falling asleep during an all too slow chase of an enemy aircraft. Firing off every round of ammunition, and every tomahawk sidewinder in my arsenal and still not hitting as much as a wing tip. From that experience I learned to stay away from such mundane experiences as the flight simulator. I resolved that it just wasn’t fun for me. So from that experience you might wonder why I would drop $7 on “Pearl Harbor Trilogy - 1941: Red Sun Rising” by Legendo Entertainment. But I did. Initially the great artwork of the game drew me in, and then actually witnessing the action on the screen made me want to take the leap. It looked exactly how I imagined a flight fighter simulator should look; like WAR! Add in the use of motion control and it felt like a great gamble. The atmosphere of the game is spot on with 40’s style fonts and brown and copper color schemes. The story is told through comic book style cut scenes. The battles themselves are a blur of gunfire, smoke exhaust and explosions. Conquest music booms, as sirens blare and rattling gunfire flitters all around you. Legendo does an awesome job of dropping you in the middle of an era. You really get a great sense of being in the midst of a skirmish in the skies over Japan in 1941. You have several options at your disposal as far as control. There’s setups for the nunchuk and regular controllers, but for me the game shines when you use the motion control. To be able to control the pitch and yaw of your plane via the Wiimote is an extremely satisfying experience. It adds a great sense of connection between you and your plane. An interesting omission from the game is a health meter. You never really know when you may die in a fiery descent into the far east seas. All you get is a warning of “Critical Damage” when you’re about to find yourself in the middle of a fiery plane crash. Although this is very annoying when you start the game, due to the fact that you’re dropped in the middle of a losing battle in the opening level and are forced to survive and figure out the game at the same time, but it really adds to the reality of the experience. Real planes don’t have a health meter. In the midst of a real battle, you never know what that next bullet that hits your fuselage will do. A small, outside of the box idea that goes a long way to adding to the realism. A negative point of the realism may be the difficulty level of the game. I’m sure flying a plane in a war is just as hard, and harder as than the game makes it, but it could use a better learning curve. It took me at least 10 tries to even figure out how to make it through the first level, much less actually make it through. A training mode or a little more lightweight battle to begin with would have been extremely helpful to ease the player into the experience. You have to exercise patience and determination to continue to play a game that’s beating you down. Of course once you make it through that initial wall, this game is a very rewarding experience. The biggest downfall with this game is a lack of a multi-player mode. If you take this experience and make a 2 player dogfight mode and/or a wifi connect mode, it would be unstoppable. In time all things mature. So let it be the same with the flight simulator. As it grew, so did I. And now we have a great common ground to share in “Pearl Harbor Trilogy: 1941 - Red Sun Rising”. If only we could bring some friends along for the ride. 4…Sight…visuals 5…Sound…music and effects 5…Touch…controls 3…Engage…gameplay Score 4.25/5 http://www.wiiandthekid.com… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

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