More of a nerve-racking endurance test than a chirpy arcade blast, 1942 is a tense and lengthily affair. You'll be put to the test through 32 gruesome stages, sometimes for well over two hours. Discipline, and skill, are required. Things get pretty fierce by the time you reach Okinawa - although this has a lot to do with the bullets being somewhat hard to see over the city landscapes.
Yet once you've got to grips with the essentials, it doesn't take long for the real aim of the game to rear its ugly head. Your ultimate goal, whether you like it or not, is to shoot down as many enemy craft as you possibly can, in order to achieve a high 'Shoot Down Ratio' at the end of each stage. It doesn't take long before you start picking off every single opponent with clinically timed shots, since a high result is rewarded by a comfy bonus (interestingly, a perfect 100% is worth less that 90%-99%, for reasons that remain unexplained).
It may have aged a little, yet 1942 remains surprisingly fresh to play today. It's easy to see how it kickstarted one of Capcom's most cherished series this side of Makaimura, with a total of five sequels to date.
Regardless of the quality, gameplay or production values of each of these titles, why on earth did Capcom greenlight such a touchy subject matter? Japan's bizarre and twisted love affair with all things American is nothing new; but this is really pushing it. If anything it is just another insight into Japan's terminally misguided reassessment of the period.