''1942'' is a 1984

vertically scrolling shooter A vertically scrolling video game or vertical scroller is a video game in which the Player (game), player views the field of play principally from a top-down perspective, while the background Scrolling, scrolls from the top of the screen to the b ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

for arcades. Designed by

Yoshiki Okamoto , sometimes credited as Kihaji Okamoto, is a Japanese video game designer. He is credited with producing popular titles for Konami, including '' Gyruss'' and '' Time Pilot'', and for Capcom, including ''1942'', '' Gun.Smoke'', ''Final Fight'' and ...

, it was the first game in the ''194X'' series, and was followed by '' 1943: The Battle of Midway''. ''1942'' is set in the Pacific Theater of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and is loosely based on the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...

. Despite the game being created by Japanese developers, the goal is to reach

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and destroy the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

air fleet; this was due to being the first Capcom game designed with Western markets in mind. It went on to be a commercial success in arcades, becoming Japan's fifth highest-grossing table arcade game of 1986 and one of top five highest-grossing arcade conversion kits that year in the United States. It was ported to the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

, selling over 1 million copies worldwide, along with other home systems.

Gameplay

The player pilots a

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

dubbed the "Super Ace". The player has to shoot down enemy planes and avoid enemy fire: a single hit on the plane or a collision with another aircraft causes the loss of one life. During the game, the player may collect a series of

power-ups In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chose ...

, one of them allowing the plane to be escorted by two other smaller fighters in a Tip Tow formation. Enemies included:

Kawasaki Ki-61 The Kawasaki Ki-61 ''Hien'' (飛燕, "flying swallow") is a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft. Used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, it was designated the "Army Type 3 Fighter" (三式戦闘機). Allied intelligence initially be ...

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1940 to 1945. The ...

s and Kawasaki Ki-48s. The boss plane is a

Nakajima G10N The Nakajima G10N ''Fugaku'' ( Japanese: 富岳 or 富嶽, "Mount Fuji") was a planned Japanese ultra-long-range heavy bomber designed during World War II. It was conceived as a method for mounting aerial attacks from Japan against industrial t ...

. The game has "a special roll button that allows players to avoid dangerous situations by temporarily looping out of" the playfield. In addition to the standard

high score In video games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties. Most games with score ...

, it also has a separate percentage high score, recording the best ratio of enemy fighters to enemies shot down.

Development

The game was designed by

. The game's main goal was to be easily accessible for players, leading developers to use a

theme. ''1942'' was also the first Capcom game designed with Western markets in mind. To appeal to the American market, the development team decided to have the player pilot an American P-38 fighter plane. The game is loosely based on the

, which was a turning point in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

when the Americans began defeating the Japanese.

Ports

The game was released to the

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

NEC PC-8801 The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan. The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the four major Japane ...

FM-7 The FM-7 ("Fujitsu Micro 7") is a home computer created by Fujitsu. It was first released in 1982 and was sold in Japan and Spain. It is a stripped-down version of Fujitsu's earlier FM-8 computer, and during development it was referred to as th ...

, and Sharp. A port to the

developed by Micronics was released in 1985 in Japan and North America in 1986. This version was also released at arcades by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

through their PlayChoice-10 arcade machines. A

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

version was also released in North America in May 2000 and the PAL region in the year 2001. The European games publisher

Elite Systems Elite Systems is a British video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. It is known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games. Elite also published compilations of games on the Hit-Pak ...

later released versions for the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

, and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

. The music of the Commodore 64 version is based on the main verse of Ron Goodwin's ''

633 Squadron ''633 Squadron'' is a 1964 war film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, and Maria Perschy. The plot, which involves the exploits of a fictional World War II British fighter-bomber squadron, was based on ...

'' film score, with arrangement by Mark Cooksey.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''1942'' on their January 1, 1985 issue as being the fourth most-popular arcade game for the previous two weeks. It went on to be Japan's seventh highest-grossing table arcade game during the first half of 1986, and the overall fifth highest-grossing table arcade game of 1986. In the United States, it was one of the top five highest-grossing arcade conversion kits of 1986. In the United Kingdom, it was the top-grossing arcade game on the Euromax arcade charts for five months in 1987, from July through November. The NES version sold over 1 million copies worldwide. ''1942'' was Capcom's breakaway hit, eclipsing in popularity the company's preceding three titles: '' Vulgus'', '' Sonson'', and '' Pirate Ship Higemaru''. Mike Roberts reviewed the arcade game in the May 1985 issue of British magazine ''

Computer Gamer Argus Press was a British publishing company. It was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested management buyouts of the 1980s when ...

''. While noting the game's scenario was "an odd subject for a Japanese arcade manufacturer" to take up, he said it has "nice" graphics and had an "original" gameplay feature in the form of the percentage high score. Retrospectively, Brett Alan Weiss of ''

AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...

'' called it "a fondly remembered" shooter and praising the special roll button, "perfectly balanced" gameplay, "colorfully detailed" graphics, and "nifty" power-ups.

Legacy

''1942'' was the first Capcom title to spawn a successful series of sequels, with five titles in the ''194X'' line released from 1987 to 2000. Many of Capcom's other vertical shooters featured very similar gameplay, such as '' Varth: Operation Thunderstorm''. It was re-released in '' Capcom Generations 1'' for the PlayStation and Saturn consoles. It was featured in the ''

Capcom Classics Collection is a video game compilation developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was developed by Backbone Entertainment, Sensory Sweep, and its Japanese developer Klein Computer Entertainment. A second volume, ''Capcom Class ...

'' for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

, as well as '' Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded'' for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

. The arcade version was added to the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

in Japan on December 21, 2010, and in the PAL and North American regions in January 2011. It was also re-released for

Windows Mobile Professional Windows Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDA). Designed to be the portable equivalent of the Windows desktop OS in the emerging Mobile device, mobile/port ...

. '' 1942: Joint Strike'' was released for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in 2008. ''1942: First Strike'' was released for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

in 2010. The game series has sold a total of 1.4 million units worldwide as of December 2019, and stands as Capcom's 18th best-selling franchise.

References

External links

* * * * {{Franchises by Capcom 1984 video games Arcade video games Amstrad CPC games Capcom games Commodore 64 games IOS games FM-7 games Game Boy Color games MSX2 games NEC PC-8801 games Nintendo Entertainment System games PlayChoice-10 games Romstar games Sega Saturn games Sharp X1 games ZX Spectrum games Vertically scrolling shooters PlayStation Network games Virtual Console games Pacific War video games Windows Mobile Professional games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Mark Cooksey Video games set in 1942 Video games set in Alaska Video games set in Japan Video games set in the Marshall Islands Video games set in the Northern Mariana Islands Video games set in Okinawa Prefecture Video games set in Papua New Guinea Video games set in the Philippines Video games set in the United States Fiction about aircraft carriers Digital Eclipse games Multiplayer and single-player video games Cooperative video games Micronics games Elite Systems games