Task Force 1942
Task Force 1942: Surface Naval Action in the South Pacific is an MS-DOS video game released by MPS Labs (MicroProse) in 1992. The game is a surface naval simulation which allows the player to operate single ships or a task force made up of ships, from the United States Navy (USN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), or the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the South Pacific during WWII. It was designed to run under PC DOS or MS-DOS, version 5.0 or higher. The specific historical setting was the series of ferocious naval engagements fought around the largest island in the Solomon Islands chain, Guadalcanal, in 1942.
Task Force 1942
- Date
- 1992
- Publisher
- MicroProse
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
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wikidata · Q7687275 · wikipedia · Task Force 1942
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Developer — MPS Labs • Publisher — MicroProse • Director — Lawrence Schick • Designer — Lawrence Schick Ed Fletcher • Programmer — Ed Fletcher • Artist — Max D. Remington III • Composer — Jeffery L. Briggs Roland J. Rizzo • Released — 1992 • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — MS-DOS
Gameplay
Gameplay
• Illustration — Game screen. The player can fight either for the US Navy and its ANZAC allies, or the Imperial Japanese Navy. The player can start a single engagement (historical battle or battle made from the editor) or play in the campaign mode. Campaign mode takes place on the Guadalcanal campaign. The player is given full control over the naval forces of either side based in Espiritu Santo for the Allies, or Rabaul for the Imperial Japanese Navy. The player's goal is to capture Guadalcanal providing its ground forces with sufficient reinforcements and supply, while trying to disrupt the other side's own efforts. Apart from ships, the player has control over land-based air assets which can be used as real-time reconnaissance.
History of the object
Dated record
History of the object
Explore 1942–1992
The full dated record · 3 entries
1942
Task Force 1942 published.
1942
Task Force 1942 is associated with United States.
1992
Task Force 1942 is recorded as published in 1992.
Places
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Places
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- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
Task Force 1942 is associated with United States.
Country
Reception
Task Force 1942 was mentioned in 1993 in Dragon #193 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers normally gave a game from 1 to 5 stars, but instead gave this game an "X" for "Not recommended". This was due to the installation of the game not functioning properly on the reviewer's own PC, and thus not enabling them to actually boot-up and play the game. A 1993 Computer Gaming World survey of wargames gave the game three-plus stars out of five, approving of the graphics and depth of gameplay but criticizing the user interface and tactical-level AI.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Task Force 1942, revision 1373077549 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Lesser, Hartley. The Role of Computers. Dragon. 193. 57–63. May 1993.
- 2.Brooks, M. Evan. Brooks' Book Of Wargames: 1900-1950, R-Z. Computer Gaming World. 144–148. October 1993.
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Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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