Ah yes, 1942...a game full of Drums, Whistles & Rolls. Those are the 3 words required to describe the game.

Going to the graphics, we have impressive usage of individual sprite "scaling" to represent planes gaining in altitude. To the colors? Colors are top notch, with no projectile being made "invisible" by the background.


Sound? I wasn't kidding when I said "Drums, Whistles" because most of the soundtrack is just that! In fact, the "coin insert" sound effect is just a very small excerpt from one of the songs in the soundtrack, which is just lazy. Sound effects on the other hand are mediocre.


As typical from the 1942 series of games, this game has a hook and keeps you hooked with said hook. Killing the medium size enemies feel rewarding, and how moderately easy it is to gain extra lives, you may be at this cabinet for a long time.

Depth? Did you say...32 stages!??!! No, I am not kidding you, this game has 32 stages, but during the early stages the game can get somewhat repetitive, which is bad news for the addictiveness, hence why it is at a 9 for addictiveness.


Difficulty even on the "easy" difficulty is hard, and I actually MEAN hard. You have the small enemy planes that are basically like bugs & attempt to distract you by their movements, while at the same time firing bullets at you. You also may feel cornered because no matter what position on the map you are on, enemies will come from that position and shoot you down. See what I mean by "hard"? Is it a bullet hell game or a shooter game, you tell me.

In general I give this game a 6.7 out of 10. This game could've used more care in the sound department. I'm not familiar with Capcom arcade boards so I don't know the sound chip of this game in particular. What I can tell you is that if you want to play a mediocre shooter, then 1942 is the right choice...for you!