There are four difficulty modes, really separated more by the number of lives and joint strike attacks you begin with rather than actual difficulty, and three different planes to choose from. The planes each have their own set of four attributes, but the ones you will care about are speed and power. There are no more 'rolls' to avoid enemy fire. Instead, you must rely on your concentration and sharp eyes to evade incoming bullets and rockets. Planes with greater speed will get through the mass of bullets boss battles throw at you easier, but the sapped power will mean that it will take longer to finish them. None of the three options steals too much from any one category, so there are really just minor differences between them. The game is more focused on how well you can dodge a bullet rather than how accurate a shot you are.
When playing co-op, players get to select their own joint-strike ability. Those wanting to change things up can select different attacks for each plane, in an effort to be ready for any situation. The player that initiates the attack is the one whose strike is used. Using these powerful attacks can be the difference between beating a tough level and being frustratingly sent back to level one. Sadly, the Live experience suffers from frequent network errors and disconnections. When it works, though, the Live version is a blast.
The presentation makes a feeble attempt to capture the spirit of World War II. Somehow, the prettied-up look of the vintage posters looks too nice for their own good. The game needs a little more grit and gristle to its look to pull it off. The worn-down color scheme of the levels fails to deliver the graphical upgrade you would expect for a game delivered exclusively to XBLA and Playstation 3's PSN. They are passable, but nowhere near the quality of other recent XBLA titles.
With Joint Strike, Capcom delivers another solid, but unspectacular, remake based on their back catalog. 1942 is a solid vertical-shooter addition to XBLA, just do not expect a killer revamp, a la Pac-Man Championship Edition. Since it is not quite as deep as many other 800 MS Point titles, it feels like 1942 requires a new price point between the current low and high end price tags; which is where this one's value lies.
