1942: The Pacific Air War is a flight simulation set in World War II, more specific the Pacific War between Japan and the United States.

The focus is on the realistic simulation of the ten aircraft, this means for instance that there is no indicator for ammo. The game features several missions which can be either played independently from each other or in two campaigns for the United States or Japan. The goals are mostly to liberate an area, to defend an area or to destroy a specific target.