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1942: Joint Strike

Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Genre: Vertical scrolling shooter
Release Date: July 23, 2008
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: Capcom

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Synopsis

1942: Joint Strike is a video game developed by Backbone Entertainment for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network. It was released in 2008. It is the remake of the original 1984 video game 1942. Despite the name, the game is an amalgamation of various elements of the 19XX series. For example, it includes health meter and bomb system from 1943: The Battle of Midway; charge-fire, land-based battle sections; and rank increases from 1941: Counter Attack, fighter lineup, bomb-based end-level bonus, level rank system from 19XX:The War Against Destiny.

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Gameplay

Set in a birds eye view of a 1942 aircraft ship. You will be required to go through multiple stages destroying enemy aircrafts that will be shooting at you while trying to stay alive. Each stage last around 2-3 minutes with a boss at the end allowing you to show your true skills. Each boss will have a unique way of defeating them by either destroying each gun on a blimp or destroy a huge cannon on a ship. You will be given a default machine gun at the start of each stage but you will be able to pick up power-ups through the stages that will be difficult to get or just out in the open. These power-ups will give you either a stronger weapon on your plane or just another life allowing you to be revived after getting blown up. You will be able to play with another player making your battles easier but there may be more chaos on your screen. There are a total of 3 different planes you can switch at the start of a stage. Each plane has different states to one being main for health to one for being good at fire rate. As always this game is based on points and has a leaderboard if you were to be on xbox live, each ship and power-up racks up more points for your final score.

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Graphics

The graphics in 1942: Joints Strike impressed me a lot when doing some stages. The main thing you'll notice is the stuff going on in the background. You'll see ships and buildings on fire and they look so real making the environment of the game look realistic. Each plane in the game is also detailed and has great texture even when you destroy one you'll see parts fly around and flame go everywhere. Each power-up and weapon you use has notable details and enhance the visuals of the game a lot. There is not much customization in this game besides a few planes you can use but each plane has a unique to it and doing some research each plane looks pretty close to some planes in real life. In each stage there is going to everything going on, planes blowing up, 1000 bullets hitting planes, and the game runs as smooth as a babies bottom. It seems like they used a great engine to run this game.

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Controls

Similar to the game Aegis Wing, You will be using your analog stick to move side to side or you can even use the d-pad if you feel more comfortable with that. Then you'll have your firing button as A and your power-ups as B and X. Something many people don't notice is you actually have a button for a bomb where you just drop down a bomb exploding all planes for 1-2 seconds. To use it you press Y. Other than that the controls are pretty easy to use and can be looked at in the settings of the game when in the start menu or by pressing pause.

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Rating

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Controls: 10/10
Overall: 10/10