Review Nobody_Important 1/5 · Jul 4, 2025
Flying ace? More like dying ears
1942 is one of those games that seems simple enough to be fun. You'd think a shoot 'em up where you play as a plane against hordes of other fighters and bombers would be an easy win. But once you start playing, you quickly realize why it fails at something so basic.
The good
-
The graphics are good for its …
1942 is one of those games that seems simple enough to be fun. You'd think a shoot 'em up where you play as a plane against hordes of other fighters and bombers would be an easy win. But once you start playing, you quickly realize why it fails at something so basic.
The good
-
The graphics are good for its time, all the planes look distinct and you can easily spot them in the background. You will easily memorize which plane is which and how to fight them.
-
The controls are very simple and work. You can do a dive bomb to escape projectiles but it is limited, you can shoot, you have a power up system that gives you more bullets and eventually you get two backup planes that makes things easier.
The bad
-
You're locked into a loop of shooting down the same enemy types and facing off against the exact same boss that doesn't change at all. This makes every single level feel the exact same and they blend; you can't distinguish level 30 from level 10.
-
The music is horrible, it is nothing but high-pitched beeping. The "BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEPBEPBEP-BEEPBEEPBEEP-BEEP" loop will likely grate on your nerves faster than using an actual anti-air weapon trying to shoot down enemy planes. I cannot play this game for long periods of time without having a massive headache from the sound.
-
The game will slow down and it chugs hard, the developers sometimes make too many planes spawn causing the entire game to slow down or flicker sprites, causing you to die to a random stray bullet.
Conclusion
Fly past this one, never land here.