History YMMV / NineteenFortyTwo

* OffendingTheCreatorsOwn: Three of the games (''1942'', ''1943'' and ''1944'') recreate the Americans' attacks on the Japanese in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The UsefulNotes/{{NES}}/UsefulNotes/{{Famicom}} port of ''1943'' in particular had to have the battleships renamed to avoid potential controversy.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: ''1941: Counter Attack'' is considerably easier to complete than ''1943'', featuring only 6 stages compared to the latter's 16, [[{{Power Up}} Power-Ups]] that last much longer (each pickup adds ''60 seconds'' to the weapon timer), no drain-over-time effect to the LifeMeter, a [[AfterCombatRecovery health refill]] at the end of each stage, life bar extensions to go with some of these end-of-stage refills, and a full health refill at least once a stage.

* NarmCharm: The ending of ''1942''. For many people, a simple "WE GIVE UP!" message is the epitome of AWinnerIsYou after going through 32 gruelling stages. But at the same time, it's more than just a simple "you won" -- it can be seen as a message not only from the in-game IJN, but also ''the developers'', who are shocked that someone could actually beat their unusually-long [[NintendoHard arcade-difficulty]] game. They're out of challenges to offer you, so they just award you 10 million points to get you to stop.

* NarmCharm: The ending of ''1942''. For many people, a simple "WE GIVE UP!" message is the epitome of AWinnerIsYou after going through 32 gruelling stages. But at the same time, it can be seen as a message not only from the in-game IJN, but also ''the developers'', who are shocked that someone could actually beat their unusually-long [[NintendoHard arcade-difficulty]] game. They're out of challenges to offer you, so they just award you 10 million points to get you to stop.

* NarmCharm: The ending of ''1942''. For many people, a simple "WE GIVE UP!" message is the epitome of AWinnerIsYou after going through 32 gruelling stages. But at the same time, it can be seen as a message not only from the in-game IJN, but also ''the developers'', who are shocked that someone could actually beat their unusually-long [[NintendoHard arcade-difficulty]] game.

** Any song fom ''1943''. Really, pick any one. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3sNcGcJ4_0 The first level theme alone]] was so awesome, they [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCPkTP-OWnc brought it back]] for ''Joint Strike''.

* OffendingTheCreatorsOwn: Three of the games (''1942'', ''1943'' and ''1944'') recreate the Americans' attacks on the Japanese in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The NES/Famicom port of ''1943'' in particular had to have the battleships renamed to avoid potential controversy.
* PortingDisaster: The NES port of ''1942'' has a very poor framerate and an even more annoying rendition of the March of Midway. This was due to Capcom outsourcing the port to a small company called Micronics, who also did their ''Ghosts and Goblins'' NES port. Capcom would learn their lesson for the NES port of ''1943'' which, while not meant to be an ArcadePerfectPort, is agreed by many players to be [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel a much better port]].
* SequelDifficultyDrop: ''1941: Counter Attack'' is considerably easier to complete than ''1943'', featuring only 6 stages compared to the latter's 16, {{power up}}s that last much longer (each pickup adds ''60 seconds'' to the weapon timer), no drain-over-time effect to the LifeMeter, a [[AfterCombatRecovery health refill]] at the end of each stage, lifebar extensions to go with some of these end-of-stage refills, and a full health refill at least once a stage.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Even if the game contains touchy subjects for many Japanese people due to how Japanese governments covered up the shameful truths, both ''1942'' and ''1943'' show how ''vile'' [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Japan]] was to neighboring nations, like [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar this]]. If this sounds farfetched, consider that Germany was in [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany a similar situation]] at the same time and it is now ''against the law'' there (as well as in some other European countries) to openly express pro-Nazi views or deny that the Holocaust ever happened.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Of note especially is ''1944''[='=]s hard rock soundtrack.

* FirstInstallmentWins: No one seems to have heard of ''19XX'' or ''1944''. It doesn't help that they're the only arcade games thus far without rereleases or ports.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Even if the game contains touchy subjects for many Japanese people due to how Japanese governments covered up the shameful truths, both ''1942'' and ''1943'' show how ''vile'' [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Japanese]] was to neighboring nations, like [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar this]]. If this sounds farfetched, consider that Germany was in [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany a similar situation]] at the same time and it is now ''against the law'' there (as well as in some other European countries) to openly express pro-Nazi views or deny that the Holocaust ever happened.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Even if the game contains touchy subjects for many Japanese people due to how Japanese governments covered up the shameful truths, both ''1942'' and ''1943'' show how ''vile'' [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Japanese]] was to neighboring nations, like [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar this]]. If this sounds farfetched, consider that Germany was in [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany a similar situation]] and it is now ''against the law'' there (as well as in some other European countries) to openly express pro-Nazi views or deny that the Holocaust ever happened.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Even if the game contains touchy subjects for many Japanese people due to how Japanese governments covered up the shameful truths, both ''1942'' and ''1943'' show how ''vile'' [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Japanese]] was to neighboring nations, like [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar this]].

* EarWorm -- The March of Midway, featured in ''1942''. It's even worse in the NES port, which turns the whistling into beeps.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Even if the game contains touchy subjects for many Japanese people, both ''1942'' and ''1943'' show how ''vile'' [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Japanese]] was to neighboring nations, like [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar this]].

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Even if the game contains touchy subjects for many Japanese people, it shows how ''vile'' Japanese was to neighboring nations, like [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar this]].

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Even if the game contains touchy subjects for many Japanese people, it shows how ''vile'' Japanese was to neighboring nations, like [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar this]].

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Of note especially is ''1944''[='=]s hard rock soundtrack.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: In terms of NES ports, ''1943'' is a huge improvement over the outsourced ''1942'', featuring mostly-consistent 60 FPS, a PointBuildSystem for ship customization, and arrangements of the arcade tracks that are just as good. It's not an ArcadePerfectPort, nor does it support 2 players, but it's a great improvement in its own right.

* OffendingTheCreatorsOwn: Four of the games (''1942'', ''1943'', ''1944'', and ''1942: Joint Strike'') recreate the Americans' attacks on the Japanese in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The NES/Famicom port of ''1943'' in particular had to have the battleships renamed to avoid potential controversy.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome -- Of note especially is ''1944''[='=]s hard rock soundtrack.

* FirstInstallmentWins -- No one seems to have heard of ''19XX'' or ''1944''. It doesn't help that they're the only arcade games thus far without rereleases or ports.
* OffendingTheCreatorsOwn -- Four of the games (''1942'', ''1943'', ''1944'', and ''1942: Joint Strike'') recreate the Americans' attacks on the Japanese in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The NES/Famicom port of ''1943'' in particular had to have the battleships renamed to avoid potential controversy.
* PortingDisaster -- The NES port of ''1942'' has a very poor framerate and an even more annoying rendition of the March of Midway. This was due to Capcom outsourcing the port to a small company called Micronics, who also did their ''Ghosts and Goblins'' NES port. Capcom would learn their lesson for the NES port of ''1943'' which, while not meant to be an ArcadePerfectPort, is agreed by many players to be [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel a much better port]].
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel -- In terms of NES ports, ''1943'' is a huge improvement over the outsourced ''1942'', featuring mostly-consistent 60 FPS, a PointBuildSystem for ship customization, and arrangements of the arcade tracks that are just as good. It's not an ArcadePerfectPort, nor does it support 2 players, but it's a great improvement in its own right.

* OffendingTheCreatorsOwn -- Four of the games (''1942'', ''1943'', ''1944'', and ''1942: Joint Strike'') recreate the Americans' attacks on the Japanese in WorldWarII. The NES/Famicom port of ''1943'' in particular had to have the battleships renamed to avoid potential controversy.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel -- In terms of NES ports, ''1943'' is a huge improvement over the outsourced ''1942'', featuring mostly-consistent 60 FPS, a PointBuildSystem for ship customization, and arrangements of the arcade tracks that are just as good. It's not an ArcadePerfectPort, but it's a great improvement in its own right.

* EarWorm -- The March of Midway, featured in ''1942''.

* PortingDisaster -- The NES port of ''1942'' has a very poor framerate and an even more annoying rendition of the March of Midway. This was due to Capcom outsourcing the port to a small company called Micronics, who also did their ''Ghosts and Goblins'' NES port.

* PortingDisaster -- The NES port of ''1942'' has a very poor framerate and an even more annoying rendition of the March of Midway.