Air Combat was one of Namco’s early games for the PlayStation. It wasn’t as prominent as Ridge Racer or Tekken, but it did offer arcade-style flight combat that was easy to pick up and play. In 1995, it was hard to think that this game would go on to spawn seven console-based sequels over the next 16 years… but here we are, still talking about games in the series like Assault Horizon. Air Combat set the table for one of the most popular flight combat series for consoles, so revisiting this title to begin the Ace Combat Megaplay makes sense.

Storylines are a staple in the Ace Combat series, but Air Combat isn’t where this began. The game enlists players into a mercenary fighter squadron which has been hired to stem the tide of a recent coup attempt. The overall objectives are to recapture air superiority and surgically strike certain ground targets. There’s not much of a story here, but that doesn’t really affect the game too much. The main attraction is being able to fly real-life aircraft and engage in some Top Gun-style combat, and the game does this well.

Air Combat offers 17 sorties for players to take part in. Air battles are mixed with attacks on ground and naval targets, and completing all of the missions isn’t required to beat the campaign. A fuel gauge represents the allotted time to carry out each mission, and mission completion occurs when all of the primary targets (TGTs) have been destroyed. There are always secondary targets, and destroying them is usually a good idea since more kills earn more money along with weaker enemy resistance. Money earned during missions can then be used to purchase new planes as they become available. There aren’t any special weapons to purchase in this game.

The missions here may be varied, but there’s a lack of speed here that makes each mission feel too long; dogfights aren’t fast-paced at all. There’s a lot of circling that goes on, and none of the planes handle particularly well. It’s easy to overcompensate on a turn while pursuing an enemy, so a period of adjustment is needed to learn when to straighten out and let enemies glide into your target reticule. This lack of maneuvering response also affects striking ground targets, especially when trying to take out surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) once they lock onto your plane. This was more tolerable back in 1995, but replaying Air Combat now has a certain level of frustration with the play control that can’t be defended.

Air Combat also ends quickly. Despite a reasonably impressive final battle that pits players against a flying fortress craft, the game is over after three hours. There’s not really much of a reason to go back and play through the game again once beaten, either. The biggest bonus is that all of the game’s aircraft become available at the start of the second playthrough, but that’s not really much of a motivator to get players to run through the experience again. The arcade influence is present here; it’s a game that, with persistence, you can blow through and say, “That was fun. Now what?”

Although Air Combat hasn’t really stood the test of time, there are some notable features in this game that were held over for future installments. Pre-mission briefings started in this game, and have only improved over time. Pilot chatter was introduced here, even if the lines are few and constantly repeated. Using money earned from completed missions to purchase new (and better) planes remains a feature in Ace Combat (and other flight combat) games today. The soundtrack is still great, and future games would go on to match or top that level of quality. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the easy-to-learn controls and gradual difficulty curve offered in this first Combat game have continued to be staples in every game in the series since then. Air Combat was never meant to be a simulator. It was meant to be an arcade-style experience that players of any skill level could enjoy, and that line of thinking hasn’t changed.

This isn’t a game in the series that many fans will play through often. It’s short, flawed, and has been surpassed in quality by almost every other flight combat release that’s followed. It’s still an important game in the series, setting the stage for some great titles in the series to come. Combined with Namco’s other early PlayStation titles, Air Combat also showcased the publisher’s confidence and skill with Sony’s new platform and helped to build its reputation as a strong gaming console.

The return to Air Combat was a rough one for me. Revisiting the game shed light on how future titles evolved, but regressing to digital-only control and having to readjust to the sluggish handling of the aircraft made this experience a difficult one to enjoy. Dogfighting rarely felt intense, thanks to the lack of speed, and the ground missions weren’t varied enough to add to the game. Playing through to the end felt like going through the motions until the final mission raised the stakes a bit. Nostalgia can sometimes mask flaws in older games, but those blinders had no effect in this case.

For now, while I enjoy some R&R before my next sortie, feel free to add your own Ace Combat memories below. What was your first Ace Combat experience? Do you have a favorite game in the series? Maybe I’ll reference some of your experiences for future MegaPlay installments!

Image credit: Giant Bomb

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