History VideoGame / NineteenFortyTwo

* {{Irony}}: Meta example: In ''1942'', ''1943'', and ''1944'', you're fighting the Japanese military. [[Creator/{{Capcom}} The company behind this series]] ''is Japanese itself.'' According with Yoshiki Okamoto, who worked in the game, Capcom got into really ''hot water'' in Japan for having the Japanese players controlling an American plane and destroying Japanese planes and that was the reason why the NES version, ''1941'' and ''19XX'' features different kind of enemies, like the Germans in 1941.

The ''1942'' series is a series of arcade vertical-scrolling {{Shoot Em Up}}[=s=] developed by Creator/{{Capcom}}, set mainly in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The player is an American "Super Ace" in a P-38 Lightning who spends a surprising amount of time kicking the spit out of the [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese Navy]] for a series made in UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}.

* '''1943: The Battle of Midway''' (Arcade, 1987) Ported to the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]]/[[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] in 1988.
* '''1943 Kai''' (Arcade, 1988): Unreleased in the US, aside from a bootleg titled ''[[ColonCancer 1943: The Battle of Midway: Mark II]]''. Ported to the [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC-Engine]] by Naxat Soft in 1991.

* '''1942 Joint Strike''' (UsefulNotes/Xbox360 and UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, 2009)

** The series has weapons that should not have existed in WWII, such as a space shuttle-like rocket boss and ''[[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]].''

** Every game from the UsefulNotes/{{NES}}/[[UsefulNotes/{{Famicom}} FC]] port of ''1943'' onwards lets you charge up a powerful shot by holding down and releasing the shot button.

* ClipItsWings: See AttackItsWeakPoint above.

* CueTheSun: The ending of ''19XX''.

* EnergyWeapon: Some of the enemies happen to use laser weapons, in ''WW [[{{Pun}} frickin']] II'', no less!

* [[MidSeasonUpgrade Mid Game Upgrade]]: Partway through ''1944'', your {{Attack Drone}}s, which up to this point have been WWII-era planes, are upgraded to little jet fighters with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]].

* OrwellianRetcon: As already mentioned before, the game was pretty controversial in Japan when it was released in arcades, so Capcom had to make some modifications on the NES version of the game, including changing the name of the Japanese battleships using the Japanese names of ''Chinese'' warlords from ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', with the sole exception of the Ayako bombers, since [[{{Tuckerization}} they're probably named after the music composer of the game, Ayako Mori]], [[note]] Ryofu refers to UsefulNotes/LuBu, per example.[[/note]] not to mention the titular ''Battle of Midway'' being renamed to ''The Battle of Valhalla'' in the Japanese version. Oddly, the American game box still keeps the ''Battle of Midway'' subtitle, even if the English version also uses the changed Japanese names.

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: In ''1943'', you are congratulated for winning the war after defeating the first 16 or so stages. And then you find out that all those bosses were a diversion from the ''[[DiscOneFinalBoss real]]'' [[DiscOneFinalBoss army]].

* '''1943: The Battle of Midway''' (Arcade, 1987)
* '''1943 Kai''' (Arcade, 1988): Unreleased in the US, aside from a bootleg titled ''[[ColonCancer 1943: The Battle of Midway: Mark II]]''.

* AnachronismStew: The series has weapons that should not have existed in WWII, such as a space shuttle-like rocket boss and ''[[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]].''

* BossSubtitles: In ''1943'', each stage is preceded by a message saying "Offensive target: [Boss name]. May you fight bravely!"

* CoolTrain: Two bosses in ''19XX'' are actually this.

* EnergyWeapon : In ''WW [[{{Pun}} frickin']] II'', no less!

* RPGElements: The NES port of ''1943'' allows you to upgrade your plane's stats by touching certain hidden icons.
** Most specifically, it is a PointBuildSystem.

* StupidJetpackHitler: Certain enemies in ''1941'' fit this trope, not to mention some bosses (such as the [[spoiler:Gotha[=/=]HO-IX]]).

* WolfPackBoss: Some stage bosses in ''1943'' aren't a single large ship, but an entire fleet of bombers.

** ''1944'' has [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong Jimmy Hart Versions]] of rock songs that wouldn't exist for another 20-30 years.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Do not confuse with]] ''VideoGame/Battlefield1942'', which is a whole different ballgame, the movie ''Film/NineteenFortyOne1979'', ''VideoGame/Strikers1945'' (despite that also being a shmup series), or (heaven forbid) ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Also has nothing to do with the video game company Creator/MidwayGames.[[note]]The "Midway" referred to here is Midway Island, which was part of the Pacific Theater of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.[[/note]]

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Do not confuse with]] ''VideoGame/Battlefield1942'', which is a whole different ballgame, ''Film/NineteenFortyOne'', ''VideoGame/Strikers1945'' (despite that also being a shmup series), or (heaven forbid) ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Also has nothing to do with the video game company Creator/MidwayGames.[[note]]The "Midway" referred to here is Midway Island, which was part of the Pacific Theater of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.[[/note]]

* OrwellianRetcon: As already mentioned before, the game was pretty controversial in Japan when it was released in arcades, so Capcom had to make some modifications on the NES version of the game, including changing the name of the Japanese battleships using the Japanese names of ''Chinese'' warlords from ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', with the sole exception of the Ayako bombers, since [[{{Tuckerization}} they're probably named after the music composer of the game, Ayako Mori]],[[note]]Ryofu refers to UsefulNotes/LuBu, per example.[[/note]] not to mention the titular ''Battle of Midway'' being renamed to ''The Battle of Valhalla'' in the Japanese version. Oddly, the American game box still keeps the ''Battle of Midway'' subtitle, even if the English version also uses the changed Japanese names.

* {{Sentai}}: Some stage bosses in ''1943'' aren't a single large ship, but an entire fleet of bombers.
** Boss ships do count too, since you shoot the lower-class ships first.

** Inverted (sort of) in ''1944'', where you are shown the subtitles only ''after'' you’ve defeated the boss.

The ''1942'' series is a series of arcade vertical-scrolling {{Shoot Em Up}}s developed by Creator/{{Capcom}}, set mainly in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The player is an American "Super Ace" in a P-38 Lightning who spends a surprising amount of time kicking the spit out of the [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese Navy]] for a series made in UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}.

** Every game from the NES/FC port of ''1943'' onwards lets you charge up a powerful shot by holding down and releasing the shot button.

** ''Kalebert Armor'' is a slow-moving battle train that was overseeing operations at the heart of Africa.
** ''Sancho Pedro'' is a SuperPrototype train that was being developed in a secret factory in Spain. It can fire, among other things, a WaveMotionGun at the player.

The ''1942'' series is a series of arcade vertical-scrolling {{Shoot Em Up}}s developed by Capcom, set mainly in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The player is an American "Super Ace" in a P-38 Lightning who spends a surprising amount of time kicking the spit out of the [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese Navy]] for a series made in Japan.

* BalanceSpeedStrengthTrio: Different from past games of the series, in ''19XX'' you can choose between three planes with different skills: Lockheed P-38 Lightning (balance), the series's staple and the most balanced ship of the three; de Havilland Mosquito (strength), returning from 1941 that focuses on firepower; and Kyushu J7W Shinden (speed), a newcomer ship and the most fast and maneuverable ship.

* EverythingsBetterWithCows: In ''1943'', there are hidden cow icons that, upon collection, refill your LifeMeter.

* EnemyMine:
** Played with in ''19XX'' which has the Japanese-made Shinden, which was never put into real battle at that time due to Japan's surrender in WWII (but one of two examples was dismantled, shipped to the US, and restored), and ''1944'' in which the second player character brings in a Japanese-made Mitsubishi [=A6M=] Zero.

** Played with in ''19XX'' has the Japanese-made Shinden, which was never put into real battles at that time due to Japanese surrender in WWII. However, one of two examples were dismantled, shipped and restored by US.
** Played with in ''1944'' in which the second player character brought in Japanese-made Mitsubishi [=A6M=] Zero. It's up for the knowledged players to throw in WildMassGuess.

* SmartBomb: ''1943'' and ''1941'' have special attacks that damage everything on-screen at the expense of health. ''19XX'' and ''1944'' instead give you bomb items, with the former allowing you to charge up a bomb attack that deals more damage than simply tapping the bomb button.

** Barrel[[labelnote:*]]10,000 points, Arcade; 16 weapon points, NES[[/labelnote]] - Pirate Ship Higemaru

** Strawberry[[labelnote:*]]20,000 points, Arcade[[/labelnote]], bamboo shoot[[labelnote:*]]2000 points, Arcade; One power point, NES[[/labelnote]], dragonfly[[labelnote:*]]10,000 points, Arcade; Two power points, NES[[/labelnote]] - ''Son Son''
** Mobi-chan[[labelnote:*]]100,000 points, Arcade; 32 energy and points, NES[[/labelnote]] - ''Side Arms''