It says a lot about postwar Japan's attitudes that they willingly made a game about the P-38 Lightning, which mowed their Zeroes down like grass. It even summons bolts of lightning in the game as if Thor were piloting it. Personally, I would bump up 1942's rating a bit, but I have a huge place in my heart for arcade-style games.
I keep wondering if anyone who developed 1942 felt awkward given who the enemy was, lol
It’s interesting to see pretty much straight arcade ports like 1942 and Commando given how lots of other arcade games (like Capcom’s own Strider) were pretty different when they came home to the NES.
Agreed. I think arcade-to-NES ports really started to shift around '87/'88 with NES Rygar and Double Dragon being different to their arcade counterparts.
Commando is definitely the... more polished of the two, I suppose? 1942 feels like it's being held together by tape and glue and ol' fashioned gumption. Yet it works!
I don't blame anyone for trading 1942 in for a superior game, though.
Yeah I think I was a wee too young to find either of these games in the arcades in the early 90s. By then, beat-em-ups and Street Fighter II ruled the landscape. Would have been cool to play 1943, though! Definitely the better of the two games.
Just imagine a book report citing 1942 as a source.
"And the P-38 Lightning was able to establish Allied air superiority in the Pacific theater by summoning bolts of lightning to smite the Japanese air force."
It says a lot about postwar Japan's attitudes that they willingly made a game about the P-38 Lightning, which mowed their Zeroes down like grass. It even summons bolts of lightning in the game as if Thor were piloting it. Personally, I would bump up 1942's rating a bit, but I have a huge place in my heart for arcade-style games.
I keep wondering if anyone who developed 1942 felt awkward given who the enemy was, lol
It’s interesting to see pretty much straight arcade ports like 1942 and Commando given how lots of other arcade games (like Capcom’s own Strider) were pretty different when they came home to the NES.
Yeah... I've wondered that myself too.
Agreed. I think arcade-to-NES ports really started to shift around '87/'88 with NES Rygar and Double Dragon being different to their arcade counterparts.
Japan had a lot of psychological knots to unwind after WWII. Maybe making a game where they played as the other side was therapeutic, in a way?
Surely some brave interviewer has asked 1942’s designer, Yoshiki Okamoto, about this at some point?
I would love to read that interview.
I am excited to give Bionic Commando another go. I don't think I ever got to those bonus stages, alas.
Totally agree about the POW, very similar font. Capcom, you rascally devils!
Commando is definitely the... more polished of the two, I suppose? 1942 feels like it's being held together by tape and glue and ol' fashioned gumption. Yet it works!
I don't blame anyone for trading 1942 in for a superior game, though.
Yeah I think I was a wee too young to find either of these games in the arcades in the early 90s. By then, beat-em-ups and Street Fighter II ruled the landscape. Would have been cool to play 1943, though! Definitely the better of the two games.
Haha, yeah, I can see parents thinking along those lines. Get the kid a "realistic" game, maybe he'll learn something.
Just imagine a book report citing 1942 as a source.
"And the P-38 Lightning was able to establish Allied air superiority in the Pacific theater by summoning bolts of lightning to smite the Japanese air force."