Ace of Aces

1986 video games Atari gamesAmstrad gamesCommodore 64 gamesZX Spectrum gamesPC games

flight simulators

De Havilland Mosquito was unusual plane for World War 2 - built around wooden skeleton and containing very little metal it was designed to reach very high speeds, high enough to avoid enemy fighters during the recon missions behind enemy lines. While this was risky idea it worked perfectly and soon Mosquitos were used as multi-role airplanes - from intercepting enemy rockets to bombing targets or guiding bombers.

In Ace of Aces we flight in such Mosquito in number of missions based on true purposes of the plane - we can intercept German V-1 rockets or Ju-87 Stuka bombers, attack POW trains or U-Boat wolfpack leaving a port. We start in the air heading towards occupied Europe after selecting the loadout of out plane - we can take bombs, unguided rockets, ammo for guns and extra fuel tanks.

While the game interface was typical for the era - we have few screens on which we control the plane, engines, bomb bay or navigation - the unusual thing about Ace of Aces was the total freedom we had in flight: the target was clearly set and destroying it was the main purpose, the mission was ending when we return to England. We could approach the target from any direction we want, we could fly after the mission and fight with enemy planes or fly as fast as we could back home.

Ace of Aces was simple flight simulator (or rather arcade game with elements of simulation), but so well designed that it became a classic mixing realism and arcade elements: parts of our Mosquito could have been damaged during the dogfights with enemy fighters, so we had to finish the mission without altimeter or even the engine, target had to be reached within a time gap, each mission had its challenges.

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