Top Gun
Score: 60% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Mastiff Developer: InterActive Vision Games Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Action/ Simulation/ Flight
Graphics & Sound: Yes, it's that Top Gun... After twenty years, a completely over-the-top movie has spawned a game. Actually, Top Gun has graced several titles over the years, but this year does happen to be the 20-year anniversary of the movie. Even today, watching Top Gun on screen can bring some excitement, and I wish the same could be said for the game. Graphics are weak, both in terms of the detail for planes and your surroundings. Bland prevails, and there is only a little excitement when enemies blow up during combat. The routine sets in, and the lack of diversity in graphics doesn't help. There is at least one piece of the movie's theme in the game, but the one song I remember vividly - "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins - didn't make it to the game. The sound effects actually are nice, but recognizing some nice touches in sound or visual design doesn't make up for what is generally a dull presentation.
Gameplay: Top Gun would have you believe that training and flying missions connects this game with the movie, but there is hardly enough variety or story similarity to buy this. In fact, Top Gun plays like a decent arcade flight sim, if you were to go back in time about 5-10 years. It shares some character names and the premise that you get to fly Navy fighters (F-14, F-16 and F/A-18) in combat missions. Otherwise, you have mission-based flying action. Either through a wireless game download or through multiple copies of the game, Multiplayer action might make up for some lack of depth in the Campaign mode. I suppose if you and your friends have been dying to do some wireless dogfighting on your DS, this is the prescription until DS Air comes out this year or next. Otherwise, the shine is off this sucker within the first hour. Missions actually are scripted nicely, with different challenges on the ground and in the air. The planes are equipped with lock-on missiles and machine guns, so there aren't many other choices for attack capability. Dogfighting ensues, or maneuvering to avoid incoming missles and flack from the ground. The game is over in almost no time at all, so the options after beating Top Gun are to start over at a harder difficulty setting.
Difficulty: There is almost no challenge in the game, apart from some cheap deaths that come from nowhere. The targeting system is "fire and forget" which literally equates to firing your weapon and moving on. If real life pilots feel the way I do, there isn't much satisfaction in just launching missles. I want to see stuff blow up! Luckily, there are some explosions, and the handy, whooping wingman to keep you in high spirits. When you happen to have a missle headed your way, your training teaches you to pull evasive maneuvers. Don't fly too high, or else the game ends... Try flying low, and the muddy graphics may convince you that you'll actually clear a canyon wall instead of clipping it and blowing up.
Game Mechanics: The choice to fly different planes sounds better than it is in execution. Apart from looking different, there is little difference in control and feel from one plane to the next. The touch screen is hardly used at all, and the ability to customize play style toward more arcade or simulation action is about the only thing that will really change your approach to the controls. Arcade style puts everything on the D-pad, and keeps the movement simple. Simulation controls still rely on the D-pad, but instead of using the left/right action to move left or right, pushing left rolls the plane. You then have to hit the gas and pull up the nose to make the turn. Not a simulation, not a very compelling arcade flying game, Top Gun stumbles over the "why" question. As in, why should you bother? I'll admit there is something amusing about having a decent flight combat game in portable form. Rather than creative approaches that use the hardware's capability, the best we ever get from the touch-screen is a radar display. And the radar doesn't add much to the gameplay, so we're right back to a middle-of-the-road flying game.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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