Aero Fighters 2 / Sonic Wings 2 - Arcade Longplay (Neo Geo) [074]
1AERO FIGHTERS 2
RELEASE DATE : 18th July 1994
OVERALL : 81%
Aero Fighters 2 is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released in 1994 by Video System. It is developed by SNK and released in Japan, North America and Europe. It is the second part of the Aero Fighters series followed by the third part Aero Fighters 3 and a spin-off Aero Fighters Assault. It was initially released as a cabinet token base game.
Success in the typical shooting game relies on two attributes in the player --- fast reflexes and memorization of enemy patterns. Some games, such as those in the R-Type series are famous for the emphasis put on memorization (If you don't know exactly what is going to come next and how it is going to come at you, you're dead. Period.), while others, such as those in the Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings series, earned their fame solely for being an exercise in twitching, fast moving and whatever else is necessary for dodging the (at least it felt like it to me) millions of bullets that fill the screen at once.
This game has 10 stages. Well, actually you could say it has 20 stages, but after beating the tenth, you get to start over with an advanced difficulty level -- so the final 10 aren't anything you haven't seen before. Of those 10, two are short bonus phases where your jet gets to shoot down planes for power-ups. The other eight are generally short, but ultra-exciting bursts through waves of enemy planes and structures on your way to an imposing boss.
Yes, most of these levels are pretty short, but there are more enemies and more potential ways to get shot down in those short levels than you'll see most games regardless of level length. Speaking of ways to get shot down, each boss in this game has more than enough ways to accomplish that. From large planes to a battleship to a giant eyeball, each of this game's bosses is more than able to put you down for the count.
There is a decent amount of variety in this game. You have the choice of eight pilots to start out with (ranging from a robot to a ninja to a dolphin --- this game should get bonus points for sheer weirdness, if you ask me). Each pilot has his/her/it's own plane and it's own special attack. A very nice way to ensure that this game won't be beat once and tossed away.
Overall, while not a perfect game (I just never will be enthralled with any game in which the challenge is created by putting so many bullets on the screen at once that it's near impossible to cheat death for long) -- I find it a bit of an improvement over the first in the series. Why? Well, let's look at the ratings.
Graphics/Sound: -- The Neo-Geo was a great home arcade system and on this game, it showed. Nice variety in the graphics with large, detailed bosses and beautiful backgrounds. The soundtrack was solid, but unremarkable --- except for the boss intro music, which I really liked. Something about the maniacal laughter that punctuated that little tune that really got to me.
Gameplay: -- Pretty solid stuff here. Control was good (as it would have to be to give you any chance of survival) and the action is frenetic at times. A nice touch is the ability to shoot at or destroy various background areas (like buildings) to get points or power-ups. Little things like that help to set the game apart from others in this genre.
Challenge: -- I have to say that the designers did a better job of making this game fun than they did in the SNES version of the first game in this series. To me, it seemed a lot easier to get through the levels themselves and that a large part of the difficulty came from the bosses. I remember that in the first game, there were a couple of levels that I spent a lot of time wondering if it was possible to even make it to the boss --- in this game, I just spent a lot of time wondering if it was possible to beat the boss.
Replay Value: -- More than the average shooter. With eight pilots, all with different special attacks (and different dialogue between levels, ranging from generic to hilarious Engrish --- ''I've never fryed over a jungle before''), it's definitely worth the time to replay with different planes. Then again, after struggling to beat the game once, you may not want to pick it up again.
Overall: -- Definitely a very good game and worth a play or two by anyone who has a decent tolerance level for frustration. Now, if you're a quick-tempered sort who cannot take setbacks, you might want to avoid this game, as it is full of frustrating moments (''I beat the boss!!!! Oh, wait.....it just opened up a new hatch and is spraying even more bullets at me....oh, crud, it killed me again.... HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DODGE ALL THAT!!!!!'').
BREAKDOWN:
GRAPHICS: 78%
MUSIC/SFX: 81%
PLAYABLITY: 80%
OVERALL: 81%
Other Videos By T.A.S Gamezone
Other Statistics
Aero Fighters 2 Statistics For T.A.S Gamezone
At present, T.A.S Gamezone has 29 views spread across 1 video for Aero Fighters 2, and less than an hour worth of Aero Fighters 2 videos were uploaded to his channel. This is less than 0.52% of the total video content that T.A.S Gamezone has uploaded to YouTube.