1942

"Ever felt like everyone was out to get you?"

1942 is one of those games that people often bypass because of a better sequel, never bothering to play the original. While 1943 was certainly a better game for a variety of reasons, that is no reason not to try the original, which I feel can stand on its own. But just barely, as I will explain below.

STORY

There's really not much of a story to this game. You're an Allied fighter pilot in World War II, flying missions in the Pacific. Survive through 32 missions and you get to go home. Like any good pilot, you're counting them down.

GAMEPLAY

This is a standard vertical shooter; perhaps it set the standard for modern vertical shooters such as Raiden. You fly a plane (which as a side note was not in service at the time) that can take one hit before going down, and you try to destroy as many enemy planes as you can. Most of them take only one hit, but there are larger ones that will take five, bombers that take 10 hits or so, and the occasional giant bomber that takes numerous hits to shoot down. The latter is kind of a ''boss'' that you run into at the end of some missions. Scoring is as follows: 50 for a 1-hit fighter, 1000 for a large fighter, 2000-9000 for a bomber (this increments by 500 points for each successive one you shoot down in one life), and 20000 for the giant bombers. Of course, each mission things get a little tougher. More planes appear, they fire more bullets at you (in the last few missions a single plane may fire as many as six bullets at you at a time!), and they start swarming around you more aggressively. To aid you in your fight, you have the ability to do a high-altitude roll to temporarily evade the dogfight below, but you can only do that 3 times in a mission. Also of aid to you is what I call the ''POW'' planes. These are orange planes that fly across the screen in formation; shoot them all down and they leave behind ''POW'' items, which have several effects; some power up your guns, some wipe out all enemies on the screen, and so on. Occasionally there is also a small green plane that will fly straight up the side of the screen. Shoot it and it will spin out of control, leaving behind a pinwheel that is worth 5000 points. Speaking of points, after you get enough of them, you earn an extra life. That's about all there is to say about the gameplay; it's pretty basic. You'll spend your time strafing across the bottom part of the screen firing at the various incoming planes.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND

Most people seem to believe that graphics in this game are dull, monotonous and repetitive. However, I disagree. True, the graphics in this game are fairly plain and sparse; the water looks all right, which is a good thing, as you'll be seeing a lot of it in the game. You'll also be flying over some islands, which look fine enough; except the beaches are colored in a way that makes it difficult to see incoming bullets; you'll want to cross over these as quickly as possible. In the last few levels, you can also see towns below. So the background is done fairly well. However, most of the time you'll be paying more attention to what's in the air. Here, we run into a bit of a problem. There are only a few types of planes flying through the air, and after a while, they do in fact start to seem dull and repetitive. The only thing to keep you interested is the constant movement of the controls and the occasional large fighter or bomber.

As for the sound, well, it's abysmal to tell the honest truth. All you hear is the constant beeping noise that is supposed to be background music; it sounds like Morse Code, though I'm not sure what it's saying. At any rate, it gets on your nerves quickly, especially when you can't hear more important things, such as gunshots and explosions. This too is repetitive and boring, plus it's irritating to no end.

CHALLENGE

This is a very hard game, no doubt about it. However, I think it is easier than 1943. All the same, you may find that you'll have to emulate if you hope to see the ending, what little there is of one. That is another downside to this game--the fact that there is virtually nothing at the end of all your hard work.

Overall, this is an average gaming experience; it's good as a small, short diversion from the everyday grind. Due to the challenge of the game, and the monotony of the foreground graphics, you won't find yourself spending too much time at it. Just do yourself a favor and turn off the sound. You'll find the game much more pleasant.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/02, Updated 05/28/02