Sentences written about this title, gathered by type from the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles (as of 2026-8-30).
In the "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25" ranking for the second half of 1988, compiled by the amusement trade paper Game Machine from ratings by operators at major locations, the game took 8th place in the "table-type video game machine" category, and it was noted as a hit for Jaleco after a long gap.
Commodore User praised the addictive gameplay and graphics, stating that "this one looks set to be Jaleco's most successful product to date; it's certainly their best.".
Boris Schneider-Johne of German publication Power Play commended the visuals and bosses, though the slowdown when many sprites are on-screen was criticized but noted this was crucial for certain situations, stating that "if you want to let off steam for a few laps, "P-47" is just the thing.
Computer and Video Games Paul Glancey praised the PC Engine port for its graphics as well as sound and gameplay, regarding it to be a "very tough arcade conversion, but veterans of computer wars past should find P-47s good blasting action both addictive and challenging.
CU Amiga-64s Mike Pattenden criticized the sound and difficulty level of the Amiga port.
Amiga Formats Andy Smith praised the Amiga port for its arcade-accurate presentation and co-op play.
Daniel Melin of Swedish magazine Datormagazin praised the visuals but criticized other areas of the Amiga port.
Amiga User Internationals Tony Horgan criticized the presentation, graphics, design, sound and gameplay of the Amiga port.
ST Action praised its appealing simplicity and playability.
Aktueller Software Markts Peter Braun praised the graphics, sound and gameplay of the ST port, stating that "P 47 can be recommended to all those who are fed up with adventure and strategy construction sites and want to hit the wall again with a good action game.
Martin Gaksch of German magazine Power Play commended the gameplay speed and co-op feature of the ST port but criticized various in-game issues, regarding the game to be an average shooting game.
French magazine Amstar praised the Amstrad CPC port for being "an excellent conversion of the arcade game of the same name", praising the visual presentation and difficulty level.
Amstrad Actions Trenton Webb and Rod Lawton praised the CPC port for its visual presentation and addictive gameplay, though Lawton ultimately remarked that the game was "just another shoot-em-up when all's said and done".
Tilts Alain Huyghues-Lacour praised the CPC port for being better than the Atari ST iteration, commending the graphics and gameplay but lamented the lack of co-op play.
Aktueller Software Markts Torsten Blum regarded the C64 port to be disappointing, criticizing the jerky-scrolling background graphics and lack of music during gameplay, however the sprite animations were praised.
Commodore Forces Miles Guttery criticized the preset enemy patterns but regarded the C64 port to be a "fair trigger exercise.
The Games Machines Warren Lapworth praised the MS-DOS port for its arcade-accurate visuals and adjustable gameplay options but criticized the sound effects and keyboard controls, stating that "P47's still a jolly little shoot-'em-up.
Your Sinclairs Robin Candy regarded the Spectrum port to be a traditional horizontal-scrolling shoot 'em up, criticizing the overly detailed backgrounds that leads enemy bullets blend within the scenery, however Candy stated that "P47 may not be R-Type, but it's a perfectly competent and satisfying addition to the Speccy stable of shoot-'em-ups.
Spanish magazine MicroHobby praised the Spectrum port for its visuals, controls, sound and replayability.
Working from that concept, Okamura says the music of this game was written not to convey the terror of war but to explore "what freedom is".
Okamura also stated that, depending on the designers, he would be instructed to compose the music in a certain manner or let him handle the music compositions by himself.
When asked about hardware limitations during the composition of music for arcade titles at the time, Okamura stated that he had to figure out how to use and work with a limited soundscape, in addition of what could be fit within limitations at the time.
Commodore User praised the addictive gameplay and graphics, stating that "this one looks set to be Jaleco's most successful product to date; it's certainly their best.".
ACEs Andy Smith stated that "the game's fun but it's not going to get your heart racing too much.
Boris Schneider-Johne of German publication Power Play commended the visuals and bosses, though the slowdown when many sprites are on-screen was criticized but noted this was crucial for certain situations, stating that "if you want to let off steam for a few laps, "P-47" is just the thing.
French magazine Amstar praised the Amstrad CPC port for being "an excellent conversion of the arcade game of the same name", praising the visual presentation and difficulty level.
Amstrad Actions Trenton Webb and Rod Lawton praised the CPC port for its visual presentation and addictive gameplay, though Lawton ultimately remarked that the game was "just another shoot-em-up when all's said and done".
Crashs Mark Caswell and Nick Roberts commended the ZX Spectrum port for its visual presentation, however Caswell stated that "P-47 holds nothing new in the way it plays, but could just give the hardened shoot-'em-up fan a challenge.
Your Sinclairs Robin Candy regarded the Spectrum port to be a traditional horizontal-scrolling shoot 'em up, criticizing the overly detailed backgrounds that leads enemy bullets blend within the scenery, however Candy stated that "P47 may not be R-Type, but it's a perfectly competent and satisfying addition to the Speccy stable of shoot-'em-ups.
An iOS version was also distributed in 2011 as a port of the arcade game, and in 2020 PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions were distributed as the 1st title in Arcade Archives.
In the "Gamest Awards" No. 2 (1988), a feature of the game magazine Gamest, it took No. 43 in the Hit Games of the Year by reader vote.
In the "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25" ranking for the second half of 1988, compiled by the amusement trade paper Game Machine from ratings by operators at major locations, the game took 8th place in the "table-type video game machine" category, and it was noted as a hit for Jaleco after a long gap.
It scored a total of 27 out of 40 in the "Cross Review" in the magazine Famicom Tsushin; 7, 7, 7 and 8 for a total of 29 out of 40 in Marukatsu PC Engine; and, in the "Game Report Card" reader poll in PC Engine FAN, 20.69 out of 30, as set out below.
This score also placed it 287th among all PC Engine titles (485 titles in total, as of 1993).
The game is also known as a hard shooter full of fast-moving shots, and it stands as a symbol of the way shooters were growing harder at the time it came out.
CU Amiga-64s Mike Pattenden criticized the sound and difficulty level of the Amiga port.
French magazine Amstar praised the Amstrad CPC port for being "an excellent conversion of the arcade game of the same name", praising the visual presentation and difficulty level.
Okamura first composed the music using a Yamaha MSX computer, which featured the same sound chip Jaleco used for their arcade releases, before being converted into a useful program for his work to be played back and implemented for sound.
P-47: The Phantom Fighter was first released in Japan in May 1988 and North America on August of the same year by Jaleco, as well as Europe by Electrocoin, running on the Mega System 1 board.
In 1995, an arcade-only sequel titled P-47 Aces was developed by NMK and published by Jaleco for the Mega System 32 hardware.
A conversion for the Sega Mega Drive under the title The Freedom Star was in development but never released, though the Mega Drive version's soundtrack was later released as part of the SUPER Rom Cassette Disc In JALECO music album by City Connection's Clarice Disk label and has since been showcased in a playable state at a Japanese gaming event.
The Mega Drive conversion internally titled P-47: The Freedom Star was in development around 1990, but was cancelled for unknown reasons.
Japanese magazine Game Machine listed P-47: The Phantom Fighter on their June 15, 1988 issue as being the fourth most popular arcade game at the time.
Martin Gaksch of German magazine Power Play commended the gameplay speed and co-op feature of the ST port but criticized various in-game issues, regarding the game to be an average shooting game.
Outside Japan it was released as "P-47: The Phantom Fighter".
The sentences quoted on this page were taken from the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles exactly as they stand. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) — usable under those terms. They are the work of the people who wrote them.