Pilotwings is pretty impressive as far as launch games go, and a great technical showcase for the SNES' Mode-7. I was a bit too young at the time to fully appreciate it, but the leap from NES flying games like Top Gun to the far more believable 3D space of Pilotwings must've been incredible.
I've talked recently about getting a Super Famicom and buying games I'm confident I can play without knowing the Japanese language, but I might've underestimated the amount of reading you have to do in Pilotwings, because the majority of my playthrough was more-or-less spent flipping through my Japanese-only flight manual in a panic while "SINK RATE - PULL UP" blared from the console. Not that I'm good at this game to begin with. Even when I play the English version, I feel like I don't have a handle on things. I know I'm supposed to hit this draft and climb to 500 meters, but I can't even figure out how to keep my hang glider in the air and not accidentally dive-bomb the crowded stands of the USO show.
Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll ever get to play those late-game levels where Pilotwings suddenly morphs into a military shooter, but at least I got a cool looking box to put on my shelf.
I've talked recently about getting a Super Famicom and buying games I'm confident I can play without knowing the Japanese language, but I might've underestimated the amount of reading you have to do in Pilotwings, because the majority of my playthrough was more-or-less spent flipping through my Japanese-only flight manual in a panic while "SINK RATE - PULL UP" blared from the console. Not that I'm good at this game to begin with. Even when I play the English version, I feel like I don't have a handle on things. I know I'm supposed to hit this draft and climb to 500 meters, but I can't even figure out how to keep my hang glider in the air and not accidentally dive-bomb the crowded stands of the USO show.
Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll ever get to play those late-game levels where Pilotwings suddenly morphs into a military shooter, but at least I got a cool looking box to put on my shelf.