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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Shooter Developer: Backbone Entertainment Publisher: Capcom |
With it being nearly 25 years since Capcom first released “1942” to the arcades, but it hasn’t been forgotten. Many players of the game may remember “1942” as an influential top down shooter game, other remember
it as a classic arcade game that set a standard for all other arcade games of the same genre. For those who would try to revisit the game again today, the game would be quite boring; it is one of the many classic
arcade games that weren’t able to withstand the test of time. Luckily, when Capcom and developer Backbone Entertainment decided to remake the game in “1942: Joint Strike,” they ignored everything that was in the
original game and created a new game for a new generation.
The only elements of “1942: Joint Strike” that remain the same as the original “1942” would be the fact that it is still a top down shooter and players are once again flying in a plane in the Pacific Theatre shooting down
wave after wave of enemy aircrafts, ships and tanks. The rest of the game has been changed from the original game and has proven to be a good thing for the franchise overall.
The first major improvement that many players are going to notice is that this time around the game is in widescreen, which dramatically expands the game play area that players need to patrol, but is also ends up
shortening the field of vision on how far ahead players can see and attack the enemies that are still to come. This is a very big change for a top down style shooter and gives players both more area in which to hide, but
also more enemies filling up the screen to shoot down. In the single player mode, this can sometimes lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed by the enemy, making the game much more intense and satisfying to play.
However, in the two player cooperative mode, the mode that many players will probably choose to stick to when playing the game, it widescreen element helps players keep from overlapping and confusing each other as
to who is where and who is being attacked.
When playing in cooperative mode, which is available in both local play and online play, players and their friends choose from three different planes, each with different statistics that will affect game play, as well as one
of three unique power attacks called Joint Strikes. The Joint Strikes are special attacks that require both the player and their wingman to work together to maximize damage done to the enemies. The most popular of
the Joint Strikes, Chained Lightning, creates a bolt of lightning between the player and their partner’s places. Anything that gets between the two planes takes on a massive amount of damage. Only by communicating
and working as a team will players be able to effectively guide both planes in such a way as to cause the most destructive path against the enemies.
Unfortunately, if players don’t’ have any friends, or at least no friends that don’t have the game or aren’t online to play, they will be out of luck when it comes to the very useful Joint Strikes. Rather than finding a creative
way to incorporate the Joint Strikes into the single player game, Capcom instead decided to take them out of the single player mode and instead give players missile strikes to use instead, this is a bit of a letdown. Of
course players can have a lot of fun with the game in single players mode, and for those who never even attempt to play a cooperative game, they will never really know what they are missing, making the game seem
just fine. It is more difficult to go from multiplayer to single player than it is to go the other way around. It is hard to miss something when it isn’t even known that it is there to begin with.
The problem with playing online is that the online mode has proven to have some issues. Players may find that their game will be ended not due to enemy fire, but because of bugs in the game. These could range from
simply crashes of the game to dropped textures and renders. However, there are plenty of times that the game runs just fines without any problems whatsoever, except for the occasional slow down in areas that have
many objects of the screen. The issues with the online play are the most frustrating because of the fact that the game is the most rewarding when it is played with a friend.
Though the majority of the original “1942” was changed and improved upon in order to create “1942: Joint Strike,” it still remains a top down arcade shooter. The game ends up being really short overall, around a
possible one to two hours kind of short. The hope is that players will want to replay the game again and again to get a high score on the leader board. Players will find themselves wondering if it is worth the $10 for a
game that has such little depth, no plane customization and issues with the online mode. In the end, it isn’t really worth it. “1942: Joint Strike” is the kind of game that will have players excited and having fun for a little
while. Overall it looks great, is easy to play and offers a lot of fun, but it is very unlikely that players will come back more than a few times to play the game. There is very little content that keeps this game flying high.
it as a classic arcade game that set a standard for all other arcade games of the same genre. For those who would try to revisit the game again today, the game would be quite boring; it is one of the many classic
arcade games that weren’t able to withstand the test of time. Luckily, when Capcom and developer Backbone Entertainment decided to remake the game in “1942: Joint Strike,” they ignored everything that was in the
original game and created a new game for a new generation.
The only elements of “1942: Joint Strike” that remain the same as the original “1942” would be the fact that it is still a top down shooter and players are once again flying in a plane in the Pacific Theatre shooting down
wave after wave of enemy aircrafts, ships and tanks. The rest of the game has been changed from the original game and has proven to be a good thing for the franchise overall.
The first major improvement that many players are going to notice is that this time around the game is in widescreen, which dramatically expands the game play area that players need to patrol, but is also ends up
shortening the field of vision on how far ahead players can see and attack the enemies that are still to come. This is a very big change for a top down style shooter and gives players both more area in which to hide, but
also more enemies filling up the screen to shoot down. In the single player mode, this can sometimes lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed by the enemy, making the game much more intense and satisfying to play.
However, in the two player cooperative mode, the mode that many players will probably choose to stick to when playing the game, it widescreen element helps players keep from overlapping and confusing each other as
to who is where and who is being attacked.
When playing in cooperative mode, which is available in both local play and online play, players and their friends choose from three different planes, each with different statistics that will affect game play, as well as one
of three unique power attacks called Joint Strikes. The Joint Strikes are special attacks that require both the player and their wingman to work together to maximize damage done to the enemies. The most popular of
the Joint Strikes, Chained Lightning, creates a bolt of lightning between the player and their partner’s places. Anything that gets between the two planes takes on a massive amount of damage. Only by communicating
and working as a team will players be able to effectively guide both planes in such a way as to cause the most destructive path against the enemies.
Unfortunately, if players don’t’ have any friends, or at least no friends that don’t have the game or aren’t online to play, they will be out of luck when it comes to the very useful Joint Strikes. Rather than finding a creative
way to incorporate the Joint Strikes into the single player game, Capcom instead decided to take them out of the single player mode and instead give players missile strikes to use instead, this is a bit of a letdown. Of
course players can have a lot of fun with the game in single players mode, and for those who never even attempt to play a cooperative game, they will never really know what they are missing, making the game seem
just fine. It is more difficult to go from multiplayer to single player than it is to go the other way around. It is hard to miss something when it isn’t even known that it is there to begin with.
The problem with playing online is that the online mode has proven to have some issues. Players may find that their game will be ended not due to enemy fire, but because of bugs in the game. These could range from
simply crashes of the game to dropped textures and renders. However, there are plenty of times that the game runs just fines without any problems whatsoever, except for the occasional slow down in areas that have
many objects of the screen. The issues with the online play are the most frustrating because of the fact that the game is the most rewarding when it is played with a friend.
Though the majority of the original “1942” was changed and improved upon in order to create “1942: Joint Strike,” it still remains a top down arcade shooter. The game ends up being really short overall, around a
possible one to two hours kind of short. The hope is that players will want to replay the game again and again to get a high score on the leader board. Players will find themselves wondering if it is worth the $10 for a
game that has such little depth, no plane customization and issues with the online mode. In the end, it isn’t really worth it. “1942: Joint Strike” is the kind of game that will have players excited and having fun for a little
while. Overall it looks great, is easy to play and offers a lot of fun, but it is very unlikely that players will come back more than a few times to play the game. There is very little content that keeps this game flying high.
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