Producer: Elite
Retail Price: £7.95
Author: Dominic Wood
The Second World War is hotting up between the war torn countries. Out in the pacific sporadic dog fights between the warring factions rage up in the skies. The enemy forces are seriously building up their airborne craft and it's up to you to try and limit their numbers before they obliterate the goodies for good. Yup, ELITE have turned their talents to converting 1942, a very early Capcom game.
You are taken into enemy zones on the deck of an aircraft carrier. When the situation becomes too dangerous for the carrier to go any further into hostile waters it's time to fly up into the skies to meet the enemy. As usual they appear to outnumber you grossly.
The enemy are pretty mean shooters and do their best to blast heroic pilots right out of the air. However, if this wasn't enough, those dastardly baddies are so committed to their cause that they've turned into Kamakazis and will willingly sacrifice their own lives... They seta collision course and if they meet up with you in those lonely skies then it's curtains, and into the drink. One more life is lost from a dwindling supply.
Fortunately, ammunition is not in short supply - it's seemingly endless. Firepower can be souped up by collecting POWer points that appear at random on the screen. Just as well, as the aim of the game is to fly over enemy islands and stretches of sea shooting anything that appears in your path. The enemy are quite sneaky and sometimes appear from the rear and often follow quite random paths of flight so you never know where they're going to pop up next.
When each level is completed, return to the aircraft carrier and you are transported to the start of the next level where the fun starts again - and there are thirty two levels to fight through. There is also a two player option in the game so you can compete against someone else, and see who wins superiority in the skies first.
Apart from being able to move the plane backwards forwards and from side to side on the screen, you can also perform rolls which come in handy in tight spots. Picking up a white object in the air has a smart bomb effect, and obliterates all the enemy planes on the screen. Mother chance to be a hero of the skies comes your way
COMMENTS
Control keys: redefinable directions. 0-4 to Roll
Joystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2
Keyboard play: responsive enough
Use of colour: lots of colour, resulting in terrible clashes
Graphics: small, but fairly detailed
Sound: lots of clicking sound effects
Skill levels: one
Screens: 32 scrolling play areas
After the brigade of great arcade conversions, I expected a little more from the father company of classics like Bombjack, but it seems that they have let their standards slip a little. Paperboy maybe wasn't quite as good as it could have been, but 1942 is definitely lacking. The graphics aren't amazingly good, but the game is averagely playable and addictive. I probably wouldn't go out and buy 1942, because all it is is a fancified shoot 'em up. If you're really amazingly into 'blast the enemy until they are nothing but a clutter of misplaced pixels games,' then there's a fair chance that this game will appeal to you, though it doesn't exactly grab me. But then there wasn't that much to the arcade original in the first place...
This game didn't really impress me in the arcades, so I wasn't that interested when 1942 poked its head around the office door. I'm sorry to say that is seems to have lost a lot of its addictive qualities and playability in the conversion to the Spectrum. The various characters used are not detailed so they look a little on the shoddy side and the use of colour is suspect. The sound is a big disappointment as there are no tunes and only a few effects. Generally, I am a shoot em up fan, but this one doesn't really appeal to me as it simply isn't fun to play.
This must be one of the worst games to come out of the ELITE offices in yonks. 1942 contains extremely basic graphics and colour that is used very unimaginatively. The sound is not too exciting, and does more to get on your nerves than compliment the game. The presentation of the game is the usual ELITE stuff, consisting of all the options and a nice little highscore table. I can't say that I've seen the arcade game, but if this is all that it contains then I'm not looking forward to it. The game is not very responsive and the collision detection is appalling. I also noticed that planes can often fire at you even if they're in their own explosion. 1942 has none of the addictiveness that all the recent ELITE games contain and they have tarnished their good name with this release.
Elite
£7.95
1942 - almost my IQ. Also a machine that inhabited a pub I used to haunt. though it looked fun, I never actually tried it. Now, at last, here's my chance to experience Hell in the Pacific... or rather, in my own front room.
Let's just say that as arcade conversions go, this one doesn't have the most sophisticated plot. It's only about one step up from Space Invaders. The enemy has a variety of flight patterns, but in the long run it comes down to one simple philosophy... shoot everything that moves!
With the squabble in the South Seas hotting up, the USAF calls on you to boldly go where no-one else is mug enough, into the heart of the enemy forces to waste their war effort. There you'll find installations that you can instil with the fear of God as you fly over them. They're defended by every type of aircraft under the Rising Sun. Yes, this is really one for the plane spotters among you!
You'd better harbour thoughts of revenge for Pearl Harbour, because these are the oriental airforce's finest officers pledged to die for their country. You'll be flying by the seat of your cami-knickers if you're going to avoid these kamikaze kowboys.
Still, there are always the POWer capsules to help you avoid becoming a POW. You can pinch these projectiles when you shoot up certain planes, and they'll give you extra guns or maybe act as smart bombs, if you're smart enough to grab 'em in time.
What makes your progress across the scrolling seas of South East Asia such fun is just how well balanced 1942's gameplay is. The planes follow each other in wave after wave - honestly, it's worse than a Chelsea hair salon. The constant swooping of the enemy forces you to shoot fast and accurately, or you'll soon find your airspace jam-packed with Japs. There's a nip in the air, as they say. Luckily you can dive and roll, but beware of coming up under a Honda or Sony, or whatever the Japanese flew in WW2.
You'll also soon learn where the next attack is coming from, which lets you build up a strategy. Be prepared for the bigger planes which take more shots to destroy. And flak me, if you don't have to avoid their shells as well. With 32 levels to go, this should keep you in the air for quite a while.
Maybe Elite has produced better conversions, and this suffers from some dodgy collision detection. But even though there are quite a few good shoot 'em ups around nowadays, this rates up there in the air. It's a classic case of the just-one-more-go game.
Label: Elite
Price: £7.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Brenda Gore
It is 1942. War is raging in the Pacific and the enemy - presumably the Japanese, though the program studiously avoids saying so - is building up both its fleet and its air force.
You've been sent on a single-handed search and destroy mission - your objective, to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible.
1942 is the latest hot arcade conversion from Elite - hot on the heals of its Commando and Ghosts 'n' Goblins No 1 hits.
The basic scenario will be familiar if you've seen the Cliff Robertson film Battle of Midway. The game itself is derived from the Japanese (appropriately enough) Capcom coin-op firm.
The program keeps pretty much to the style of the Capcom game. It's a top-to-bottom scrolling blast.
You start off on an aircraft carrier. Take off and head out over the ocean and almost at once, the first enemy planes appear.
They come in a variety of shapes and colours. Small red planes fly fairly predictable holding patterns and are easy to shoot down. Small blue planes are less organised and have the annoying habit of shooting back.
Then there's a medium sized blue plane. It's slightly slower and less manoeuvrable than the smaller fighters, but you'll have to hit it a number of times before you succeed in destroying it. When it starts glowing red, you will know 'big blue' is in trouble. Another couple of hits and it will be sure to blow.
And small black planes are definitely nasty. They tend to appear in pairs, appearing on opposite sides of the screen. Some are flown by suicidal pilots who will crash into you if you fail to shoot them down. They're also armed.
Survive long enough and a large, slow black plane appears at the bottom of the screen. Reminiscent of a B52 bomber. It flies slowly straight up the centre of the screen and a rear gunner sprays out bullets in its wake.
The trick to beating it is to manoeuvre your plane behind this great black shark of the skies. Then, you dodge its bullets, while pumping shots into it as fast as possible. If you don't hit it enough times, the enemy planes will reach the top of the screen, where it will weave from side to side, still firing backwards. Then it's a case of who gets who first.
Things are not all negative. From time to time 'POW' capsules floating down the screen which give you extra fuel, fire-power and so on for your plane - if you manage to fly into them. Eventually - if you stay alive long enough - your aircraft carrier will reappear scrolling from the top of the screen. Landing on the carrier happens automatically when you get within range, it earns you a significant bonus and the chance of a quick respite and ends the first level. Take off again, this time on the second level.
It's possible to play 1942 using the keyboard - just about - but I doubt that anyone without a joystick will survive for long. Complicated aerobatic manoeuvres, such as looping the loop, are controlled from the keyboard.
What's it like as a game? The concept is very simple - its arcade origins are clear from its straightforward scrolling zapping style. The graphics are adequate, but nothing too special. Sound is average.
But shoot 'em up addicts will find themselves glued to the screen.
1942 has the magic ingredient - you'll always be coming back for more. It's good.
Encore, £1.99, Spectrum
Another arcade conversion on re-release, 1942 is a progressively scrolling vertical shoot 'em up. It's your job to pilot your plane over the Pacific ocean laying waste to all in your path. POW symbols occasionally surface after the destruction of the appropriate enemy giving you enhanced fire power when collected.
1942 spawned many arcade and home computer clones with Flying Shark being the most successful. Our advice is to stick to the original for a rollicking blast party.
MACHINE: Spectrum
SUPPLIER: Elite
PRICE: £7.95
Who says the 64 has all the best shoot-'em-ups? Hot on the heels of Paperboy comes Elite's version of the Capcom arcade game, 1942.
1942 is a sort of airbourne Commando. You're flying a twin-tailed fighter over enemy territory shooting down anything that strays across your path.
The enemy sends several sorts of aircraft after you - all of them have kamikaze tendencies - so watch out and don't let them get too close.
There're blue aircraft which are relatively easy to dispose of. Black fighters are slightly tougher. They can fire and fly rings around you! Collisions are, of course, fatal to you, and you only have four lives to complete an amazing 32 levels!
Red fighters are the ones to watch out for. A red squadron carries one of the useful POW capsules which, when collected, gives your fighter extra capabilities. They can boost your firepower or act like SMART bombs, destroying all the enemy aircraft near you when you pick them up.
You are flying from an aircraft carrier and you land back on board ship after completing a level where you get a chance for a breather and earn a big bonus.
This is an extremely satisfying and very playable bit of arcade action.
Elite
£7.95
This is a conversion of a very successful arcade game but may not be an automatic hit unless there are sufficient shoot 'em up fans out there who prefer to do their blasting at home.
You take off in your fighter from the deck of a carrier and proceed across land and sea confronting waves of enemy planes. There are four phases on each level before you can land safely back on the carrier which really means just different permutations of planes coming at you. One phase has a huge bomber and bringing this down will bring you big bonus points but it's not necessary to destroy it to get onto the next phase.
Destroying certain planes will give you extra firepower or clear the screen of attacking planes for a moment. Apart from that there is little to divert you from the business of shooting the enemy out of the sky and amassing vast numbers of points. You are allowed a certain number of aerobatic rolls to get you out of trouble on each level and you have five lives in order to get as far as you con.
Landing back on the carrier gives you a thoroughly deserved 5000 point bonus before you take off again. Once back in the air it's the same old thing with just a few more planes and marginally more flak flying.
Ominously the level gauge slips back from 32 to 31 presumably meaning there are 32 flights left to complete. Personally I packed my goggles after three levels and had to put my trigger finger into traction. As an out' and out shoot 'em up 1942 certainly succeeds but if you are looking for something more than a musclebound joystick hand and zillions of points give this one the flypast.
All information in this page is provided by ZXSR instead of ZXDB