This game is a flashback to the glory days of the video arcade, with flashing lights, 90 degree rooms and teens smelling of Oxy 10.

1942: Joint Strike is a remake of the original arcade game of 1942 and it does a excellent job of recreating the original gameplay.

Graphics: 90% (Lost a few points for the lower level of detail)
The graphics of the game were stunning on my 50” plasma in 1080p mode.  The screen and playing field were wide enough to allow me to avoid a lot of the missiles and bullets that were fired at me.  The thing that I noticed right away playing this game was the similarity of the “look and feel”  to the original arcade game with an amazing facelift.  The same planes coming in at you from all angles was great.

Sound:  90% (There wasn't a lot of dynamic range)
The sounds in the game were close to the original, and you could even hear the sound of the engines in the planes in the background.  The only detractor was the lack of dynamic range. i.e. explosions were not appreciably louder that the bullets.

Gameplay: 100% (All I can say is “Wow.”)
Players can choose from three different fighter planes with unique capabilities.  The Mosquito plane has weak armor and starts with a weak twin shot attack but the plane is extremely agile, while the Spitfire is slower but it has more powerful cannon.  Each player also has a limited number of joint strike weapons that effectively annihilate everything - an effect which looks incredible, particularly on a widescreen.  There is also a weapon power up used by holding down the fire button.  This will fire a large focused blast and destroy everything in its path.  The enemies fly in with the same patterns as they used to in the original game, oddly very similiar to Galaga. The other difference between this game and the original arcade is the weapon namesake "Joint Strike". This weapon is a massive "blow up everything on the screen" when you fire it in multiplayer mode and you are given 3 of these powerups every level. The weapon takes the form of either lightning between the planes which kills everything it touches or a large central explosion that clears out most of the screen.

Multiplayer: 90% (It would be fun to have more than two players)
When I fired up Xbox Live and started a multiplayer session I had no idea of what to expect.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a gentleman join me on my first mission in co-op mode. We were able to breeze past the first boss, which had stopped me so many time before.

Controls/Interface: 90% (Very easy to learn and very intuitive)
The controls were pretty standard for a top-down shooter. The only thing that took me a little bit of time to figure out was the placement of the special weapon button.  Once I had that down, the controls were quite intuitive.

Summary: 92% (This is a fun game, end of sentence)
Joint Strike is the sort of retro title that I would like to see more of.  Capcom and others could draw upon their entire library of coin-op classics. 

Simply, 1942: Joint Strike is fun to play and the price won’t break the bank.  The only really downfall of the game is that with only five missions, the game is over pretty quickly.  I was able to complete it in about eight hours of concentrated play.  For a co-op with 25 years of history behind it, it really recreates the feel of the original arcade classic.

This review is based on the Xbox 360 version.

Fast Facts:
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Release date: July 23rd, 2008
PEGI: ESRB E
Format: Download
Genre: scrolling Vertical Shooter
Cost: 800 Microsoft points

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