The past few months I've been focusing on specific games for specific platforms. Well, this time we're focusing on one of the fastest-growing types of game there is, digital download games. If you don't know what that is, then what the hell is wrong with you allow me to explain. Using any of the current gen systems, a gamer can connect their console to the Internet and digitally purchase entire games from the services that each console offers for a small fee. They're normally small games, but that doesn't mean they are bad by any means.

I took a look at a few shooter games that have all been, coincidently, developed by Capcom. Capcom seems to be the current expert on digital download games. The widespread love for this game genre by the masses of fanboys across the world gives us a solid excuse to goof around and play some games! We got some pretty interesting titles in this month's episode of Press Start!

1942: Joint Strike is a top-down shooter made completely in 3D art, with a brand new game engine at its core. All images © Capcom.

1942: Joint Strike for the Xbox LIVE Arcade and PSN; Publisher: Capcom; Developer: Backbone Entertainment; Release Date: July 23, 2008; ESRB Rating: E10+ for everyone; Genre: shooter; Players: 1-3; Support: N/A; Online: 1-3 players

I want to say that this is "an oldie but a goodie," but technically it's not. The 1942 series has been around since the early '80s; the top-down shooter series, like all of Capcom's other games, first debuted in the arcades, where it devoured millions of my quarters. Later additions to the series came along, such as 1943 and 1943: Kai. Even later came 1941: Counter Attack which, of course, was a prequel that had better features than any of the other games in the series, but made you think, "If they had these things in 1941, why the hell didn't they have them in 1942?" Needless to say, the arcade versions were nearly impossible unless you had about $200 worth of quarters in your pocket; the only ones that were even approachable were the NES versions.

Nowadays, for about 40 quarters, one can download the newest addition to the series, 1942: Joint Strike. Like its predecessors, Joint Strike is a top-down shooter made completely in 3D art, with a brand new game engine at its core. Joint Strike takes all of the best features of the previous 194X games and filters out most of the worst features. For one thing, Joint Strike has three different weapons to pick up during gameplay: a laser, a machine gun and a spread shot. Each weapon can be powered up by picking up the same weapon twice. The charge shot from 1941 has returned, but instead of being a swarm of missiles, the charge shot is a huge fiery blast straight forward. The missiles are also a part of your arsenal, just in a different way; missiles can now be shot with a single button press, but now there is a limit to have many can be shot.

Be sure to play Joint Strike with a friend so that you can pull off the titular maneuver.

Of course, what 1942 game would be complete without the single attack that kills everything on the screen? The M-Crash is back, but now it's just called a bomb. The only thing that hasn't returned is the loop maneuver to dodge bullets and planes; oh sure, your fighter plane loops before using a bomb, but that's just for show. Fighting off wave after wave of enemies only to have to fight a gigantic boss at the end of the level is definitely what you can expect from Joint Strike, but it's not as frustratingly impossible as before; Joint Strike feels more like a game of real skill, rather than a game where you're praying that you don't get hit by the rain of bullets that fills 96 percent of the screen!

The true nature of this game shows forth when you play it with a friend; hop onto Xbox LIVE or PSN and you will find that you can pull off a maneuver called a "Joint Strike." All that means is that, instead of having a limited number of missiles, you now have a limited number of cooperative attacks, such as connecting a bolt of lightning between the two planes that destroys anything it touches, or dropping a huge bomb onto any enemies between the planes. The whole game feels great; it's hard, but nothing feels too out of reach (except for the final boss; he's a real MFer!).

The first ever Capcom game, Vulgus, was also a top-down shooter and, back in the '80s, no other studio made them better. It seems that Capcom hasn't lost its touch; the best thing about Joint Strike is that it is seriously addictive and that is what I always say makes an awesome game.