Aerowings 2: Airstrike
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Crave Developer: Core Design Media: GC/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Miscellaneous
Graphics & Sound: Once again, I am impressed with the graphics on the Dreamcast. AeroWings 2 shows a great image with wonderful frame rates. There is not much ambient detail, but the planes look good. The actually scenery could have been done better, but the HUD and the exterior of the crafts looks good. I do need to complain about the sound effects. The whistle of the air and the hum of the engine is great, but it stops there. The machine gun, warning indicators, and missile shots sound horrendous. I mean bad! Again, overall, the game looks good. A little more attention could have been paid to the scenery and the sound effects, but as a whole, it's not bad.
Gameplay: Remember AeroWings? Remember how original and novel it was? Remember how much it sucked? Well, maybe it didn't suck, but it was not very fun for long. Well AeroWings 2 Airstrike is nothing like it. AeroWings 2 is a combat sim. You don't have to fly in formation or anything like that; you just get to dogfight. In this game, there are over a dozen different levels. The more levels you complete, the more planes you get to choose from. You can also fly at different times of the day (or night) and in various weather conditions. Hey, you can even fly head to head with some one else via split screen. The game is pretty fun, but it does have potential to get old. There are fewer than 20 levels, and the dog fighting is somewhat limited. I also found the game to be too automotive. However, it is still the best flight sim on the system.
Difficulty: I found AeroWings 2 to be very simple. Just about everything is automatic. Of course, you can turn some of the auto control stuff off, but it doesn't do everything. Granted, I don't want it to be impossible, but a little more realism would not hurt. Just for instance, I would like to be able to decide whether or not I want to use missiles or guns and not let the computer decide for me.
Game Mechanics: I thought the controls were very good. Usually, flying games have over sensitive controls, but this one is as smooth as can be. Actually, it is the controls that really help make this game. All of the main functions are very simple and right at your disposal (no shift keys or multiple key combos). I am also impressed with how fluid the game is. There is no slow down or chop involved with this one. Although it has a few small problems, AeroWings 2: Airstrike is the best flight sim you can get for the Dreamcast.
-Storm, GameVortex Communications AKA Jeremy Kelso
Corporate Pilot Armada