The first game of the Ace Combat series. Combat flight simulator in which you play a mercenary pilot who hires his combat skills to several corporations, governments, etc. in order to get cash for weapons & upgrades. The game progresses through a series of linear missions, and has a 2 player split-screen deathmatch mode plus a series of extras like hidden planes, mini-games, etc.
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Not sure what I would be able to say about the game, that's not already been said honestly. An admirable release for a PS1 launch game that builds the skeleton for what comes after, but would mainly be worth playing now as a curiosity more than anything.
Is Air/Ace Combat the best fighter jet simulator series on the Playstation?
The first game in the Air/Ace Combat series was a special bonus from my summer job. It came in one of those weird extra large CD boxes and when my brother and I cracked open the box and slapped that disc in our PS1, the absolutely sick soundtrack and fun, exciting gameplay had us hooked. The vaguely Australian guy telling us what to do and the lady constantly repeating "Alert! Body damage" lulled us to sleep as we carefully controlled our fighter jets like a million other white dudes who had seen Top Gun in their lifetime wanted to do. I mean, the copilot does sound a bit like Goose, right? At any rate, the missions are pretty simple and the story is pretty loose, but the game is fun to play.
The graphics during the 3-D battles are, of course, completely terrible since it is an early PS1 game. The plane models probably used what, 30 polygons each or something? The flying animation leaves quite a lot to be desired as you can almost see the different frames in the third-person view (choose first-person view, obviously) and pop-in is a real problem in the terrain. To be honest, though, you can kind of look past the graphics as you play because the gameplay is so engaging even though there's not a ton of variety in combat style.
Sure nostalgia plays a part in this review but I think it is still a solid game.
Review from thedonproject.com.
The first game in the Air/Ace Combat series was a special bonus from my summer job. It came in one of those weird extra large CD boxes and when my brother and I cracked open the box and slapped that disc in our PS1, the absolutely sick soundtrack and fun, exciting gameplay had us hooked. The vaguely Australian guy telling us what to do and the lady constantly repeating "Alert! Body damage" lulled us to sleep as we carefully controlled our fighter jets like a million other white dudes who had seen Top Gun in their lifetime wanted to do. I mean, the copilot does sound a bit like Goose, right? At any rate, the missions are pretty simple and the story is pretty loose, but the game is fun to play.
The graphics during the 3-D battles are, of course, completely terrible since it is an early PS1 game. The plane models probably used what, 30 polygons each or something? The flying animation leaves quite a lot to be desired as you can almost see the different frames in the third-person view (choose first-person view, obviously) and pop-in is a real problem in the terrain. To be honest, though, you can kind of look past the graphics as you play because the gameplay is so engaging even though there's not a ton of variety in combat style.
Sure nostalgia plays a part in this review but I think it is still a solid game.
Review from thedonproject.com.
Despite its somewhat dry and serious disposition, I had a surprisingly fun and thrilling time with this one. Like Star Fox for "grown ups". Will probably check out more games in the series.
Humble beginnings is the best way to describe this game, still holds up as a fun arcadey jet game
Ain’t no combat like Air Combat!
Air Combat is a combat flight sim where you choose one of a few planes to take on missions to take down the big bads that fly before you. You’ll be dodging missiles, peppering planes with bullets, sinking ships with homing missiles, and weaving your way through rock formations in this exciting PlayStation launch title.
Right off the bat you can choose to have a simplified control scheme or try out “expert” controls, where you roll and lean to make accurate turns. Having played entirely with this control scheme, I had a great experience learning how to accurately fly in this mode as I take down opponents in style. Air Combat is certainly a rewarding game to master.
The game has a strong selection of ships to choose from, leading to multiple play styles being offered to the player. Personally, I would go on to main the SU-27 for its enhanced mobility and offensive capabilities. Given how you’re encouraged to take enemies on directly, stealth planes sadly seem pointless. I would have liked to see missions that rewarded keeping a low profile to encourage using these planes. Perhaps this will get addressed in a future game of this style, but as of writing this (May 18th, 2021) I have not gotten to experience the other combat flight sims offered on the PlayStation, so time will tell if I will get my wish. (2024 Note: I still haven't gotten around to the sequels yet, but that will change eventually!)
For the most part, missions are comfortable to get through on the Normal difficulty. There were some choke points I faced in missions 5 and 9, but with enough attempts I was able to overcome them and felt satisfied as I made my way further into the game.
The game tries to punish failure by taking away any plane that has fallen in combat, encouraging you to spend money on new planes and try out new approaches to the campaign. However, this design point can be circumvented completely by loading your save each time you fail, allowing you to keep re-trying with the plane you originally entered with.
Air Combat's soundtrack does an excellent job of keeping you motivated as you complete objectives. The jammin’ tunes provided here carry you through many a mission and are easily worth listening to outside the game itself.
Overall, Air Combat is a very enjoyable experience. It feels great to play and is rewarding to master. I just wish there were more incentives to use planes outside one’s comfort zone, like the stealth planes.
[This review was originally written on May 18, 2021, on a website I had since abandoned. I will be sharing these reviews over the next few weeks so they can actually be read by others for once!]
Air Combat is a combat flight sim where you choose one of a few planes to take on missions to take down the big bads that fly before you. You’ll be dodging missiles, peppering planes with bullets, sinking ships with homing missiles, and weaving your way through rock formations in this exciting PlayStation launch title.
Right off the bat you can choose to have a simplified control scheme or try out “expert” controls, where you roll and lean to make accurate turns. Having played entirely with this control scheme, I had a great experience learning how to accurately fly in this mode as I take down opponents in style. Air Combat is certainly a rewarding game to master.
The game has a strong selection of ships to choose from, leading to multiple play styles being offered to the player. Personally, I would go on to main the SU-27 for its enhanced mobility and offensive capabilities. Given how you’re encouraged to take enemies on directly, stealth planes sadly seem pointless. I would have liked to see missions that rewarded keeping a low profile to encourage using these planes. Perhaps this will get addressed in a future game of this style, but as of writing this (May 18th, 2021) I have not gotten to experience the other combat flight sims offered on the PlayStation, so time will tell if I will get my wish. (2024 Note: I still haven't gotten around to the sequels yet, but that will change eventually!)
For the most part, missions are comfortable to get through on the Normal difficulty. There were some choke points I faced in missions 5 and 9, but with enough attempts I was able to overcome them and felt satisfied as I made my way further into the game.
The game tries to punish failure by taking away any plane that has fallen in combat, encouraging you to spend money on new planes and try out new approaches to the campaign. However, this design point can be circumvented completely by loading your save each time you fail, allowing you to keep re-trying with the plane you originally entered with.
Air Combat's soundtrack does an excellent job of keeping you motivated as you complete objectives. The jammin’ tunes provided here carry you through many a mission and are easily worth listening to outside the game itself.
Overall, Air Combat is a very enjoyable experience. It feels great to play and is rewarding to master. I just wish there were more incentives to use planes outside one’s comfort zone, like the stealth planes.
[This review was originally written on May 18, 2021, on a website I had since abandoned. I will be sharing these reviews over the next few weeks so they can actually be read by others for once!]
The combat is pretty basic, but I'm surprised by how playable it is, all things considered. They could've done a whole lot worse for a dogfighting game that predates analog controllers.