ACE COMBAT: STRANGEREAL COLLECTION

ACE COMBAT: STRANGEREAL COLLECTION

ACE COMBAT

ACE COMBAT is the scrappy first game that basically laid the groundwork for one of NAMCO's coolest series, and it still has some charm. It puts you in the middle of a military coup where you take on enemy fighters, bombers, ships and ground targets across a branching campaign. The story is pretty barebones but the missions actually connect in a way that makes the campaign feel coherent and that adds points to it. Gameplay is the real star: flying is arcade focused, easy to pick up and satisfying, with different planes having their own strengths, a shop for buying aircraft and even wingmen you can hire. The catch is that the controls can feel stiff now, machine guns are basically useless compared with missiles and losing a plane actually matters because purchased aircraft can be lost permanently. Mission variety is better than you might expect, with canyon runs, naval attacks, bomber hunts and ground strikes, tho some players still find the campaign repetitive and short. Visually, yeah, it's very early PS1: chunky aircraft, simple environments and lots of flat looking terrain but there's a certain retro vibe to it that works. The soundtrack is probably the biggest surprise, with energetic rock tracks that give the dogfights way more personality than the graphics suggest. It hasn't aged perfectly but for a first attempt, it's pretty respectable.

 

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ACE COMBAT 2

The second game is the point where the series really starts feeling like ACE COMBAT. Set during another coup d'état, you're sent across Usea to take back cities, destroy enemy forces and eventually deal with the tougher aces standing in your way, with the story still being pretty simple but the presentation making the whole thing feel more important. Gameplay got a glow up: flying is smoother, the missions are more varied, you get a much bigger selection of real world aircraft, wingmen, branching objectives and roughly 30 missions, so there's more reason to keep playing. The aircraft buying system is also nice because earning money and moving from weaker jets toward monsters such as the Su-35 or F-22 gives the campaign a satisfying sense of progress. The enemy AI can still be predictable tho, and the cannon feels awkward and underpowered compared with simply locking on and firing missiles. Visually, it's a step up from the first game with cleaner polygons, better environments and much clearer 3D mission briefings, while the PS1 era presentation somehow gives the whole thing a very specific charm. The soundtrack deserves a shout out, it does a lot to make ordinary missions feel exciting with bangers like Fire Youngman and Warning Line. The story ain't gonna blow you away, the difficulty is sometimes too easy and it's definitely showing its age, but ACE COMBAT 2 is fast, stylish, replayable and ridiculously fun for a 1997 game.

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ACE COMBAT 3 -electrosphere-

ACE COMBAT 3 -electrosphere- is where the series goes absolutely wild with its ideas, turning the straightforward military action of the first two games into a cyberpunk anime about corporations, identity, AI and the future of warfare. Set in 2040, you play as Nemo, a pilot caught between rival factions and megacorporations with your decisions sending the campaign down different routes toward five endings. The Japanese version is the one worth playing with the English fantranslation 'cuz the Western release chopped out the branching story, anime scenes, characters, voice work and 16 missions. It feels ridiculously ambitious for a PS1 game with two discs packed with voiced communications, animated messages, news reports, archives, cutscenes and a slick computer interface presentation that makes you feel as if you're actually digging through some futuristic network. Gameplay is still classic ACE COMBAT at heart but the flight model feels heavier and more deliberate than the previous game, while the futuristic aircraft, strange weapons, zero gravity sections and branching missions give it a much weirder identity. The story can also get pretty dense and philosophical, sometimes a little too anime for its own good but when everything clicks, the cyberpunk atmosphere, character drama and increasingly bizarre plot make it seriously memorable. And the soundtrack? Absolute fire.

ACE COMBAT ADVANCE

ACE COMBAT ADVANCE takes the series' usual dogfighting and turns it into a top down shooter. Set in 2032, you join the United Air Defense to fight General Resources Ltd., a megacorporation throwing its military power around but the story is barely there and mostly just connects the 12 missions. The gameplay is quick and arcadey with air and ground targets, unlockable aircraft and destructible environments, so there's some fun to be had once you get used to the controls. The problem is that it doesn't really capture what makes ACE COMBAT special. The tiny screen, limited visibility, repetitive missions and generic planes make it feel more like a random GBA shooter wearing an ACE COMBAT name. Some people find it playable for short sessions but most bounced off its awkward handling and forgettable presentation. The soundtrack and pixel art are decent enough tho, and there's something kinda nice about seeing Strangereal squeezed onto a GBA. It's not a disaster if you treat it as a simple portable arcade game, but compared with the console entries ACE COMBAT ADVANCE feels pretty stripped down and forgettable.

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ACE COMBAT: ASSAULT HORIZON LEGACY+

ACE COMBAT: ASSAULT HORIZON LEGACY takes the spirit of ACE COMBAT 2 and squeezes it into a portable campaign. You play as Phoenix, leading Scarface Squadron against a rebel uprising with a straightforward story that mostly exists to push you from one dogfight to the next. As always, the real appeal is the flying: it's fast, arcade focused and smoother with loads of aircraft to unlock, varied missions and that awesome feeling of turning an enemy fighter around and blowing it out of the sky. The Plus version adds New 3DS C-Stick camera control, improved controls and Nintendo themed aircraft through amiibo or hidden Question Mark blocks, including planes based on Mario, Peach and Bowser. While the upgrades are pretty modest and the campaign can feel short and a little repetitive once the novelty wears off, people remember it fondly for its quick missions, great soundtrack, satisfying plane collection, awesome presentation and for being the only remake in the series.

Base game

 

Update v2.1