Overview
1942 is a single-player or alternating two-player vertically scrolling shooter. The game is set in a loose World War II Pacific air campaign. The player controls a fighter pilot known as Super Ace, flying a P-38 Lightning from aircraft carrier to aircraft carrier through a long sequence of aerial battles. The objective is to survive enemy air attacks, destroy formations of hostile aircraft, and advance through the campaign toward the final confrontation.
Each mission begins with the fighter taking off from a carrier before moving into vertically scrolling combat over ocean, islands, and land. At the end of a completed stage, the fighter returns to a carrier and the game displays a performance summary before the next sortie begins. The campaign is presented as a countdown of stages, with the original arcade structure beginning at 32 stages remaining and working downward as the player advances. Stage groupings use Pacific campaign names such as Midway, Marshall, Attu, Rabaul, Leyte, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
