Air Combat #17 | Discovery of Airborne Fortress!
10Welcome to a non-commentary playthrough of the original Ace Combat (Air Combat as it was named outside of Japan), where I'll be going through each of the game's 17 sorties and doing my very best to ace a lot of bogeys!
I have set myself some conditions for this run: Hard difficulty, no damage and (if possible), destroy any non-targets or as many as I can. I'm also using certain planes for certain missions. All of this is to try and unlock a bunch of achievements through the RetroAchievements website, just for some extra 'ace pilot' cred.
STORY:
The hidden HQ within the ravine proved to be no match for Scarface Squadron, but as they flew out of the other side it became apparent that their enemy had one last ace up their sleeve.
The rear of the HQ had been a hideaway for a large craft of some unknown type, something that intelligence had been unaware of.
An emergency briefing was headed by Commander Tyler; an unidentified aircraft had been detected on approach to the mainland. It had been quickly identified as some type of 'airborne fortress', based on plans that had been recovered from Scorpion Island. This flying behemoth was the rebel commander's final gambit and there was little doubt that he himself was aboard the colossal craft. It was unknown what weaponry the fortress carried, but one thing was certain. If it reached the mainland of the Islands, it could be catastrophic.
Scarface Squadron immediately scrambled to intercept the 'Sky Fortress', coming under fire from its guard squadron of F-22s that had been sent out ahead. As the rest of his team broke off to engage the defenders, Phoenix alone approached the looming behemoth in the distance, knowing that all his flying skills were about to be put to the test.
And aboard the bridge of the Sky Fortress, the maniacal rebel commander dared the 'Firebird' to come....
"I'll put your flames out....once and for all!"
BRIEFING:
"Urgent message! Enemy giant Airborne Fortress discovered. This may be your final task. Eliminate it before it reaches our air space! Good luck!"
Designated aircraft: SU-27 Flanker
MY THOUGHTS:
The first ever superweapon in the Ace Combat series! However, it's not nearly as fearsome as it looks, as long as you're not stupid enough to try and sit behind it.
First and foremost; it's a waste of time trying to destroy the AA guns and SAMs. They self repair infinitely as far as I can tell and you'll only be wasting missiles. Likewise with the F-22s; the Sky Fortress will simply launch more. It seem the rebels have an F-22 factory on board!
Your targets are the four engine blocks, which take about six missiles each to destroy. I do not recommend guns as you put yourself in danger of getting hit the by the AAs (which are really accurate here), not to mention you're very likely to crash into the Fortress at that range. As each block is destroyed the Fortress will start to veer erratically, making it trickier to get a good angle on it. This intensifies once the all the engines are gone, so bear that in mind as you make your attack runs.
You then have to attack the main body which takes TEN missiles, so that's five attacks you'll have to make! You'll get missiles in your face the whole time but don't be afraid; they actually track very poorly compared to normal SAMs; they feel more like rockets. Just stay focused on the target. It won't be long before the Sky Fortress's wings get clipped!
And with that....this was a lot of fun to do! It made me see the game in a way I never really did as a kid and really pushed my skills at points. I'm amazed at how well AC1 still holds up to this day even against its better known sequels. It also has a look and feel all its own that none of the other games (except maybe AC2) has really bettered.
There are a few other achievements that I might take a stab at at some point (including beating the whole game in under 35 minutes which I don't think will be doable outside of Easy mode) but for now, this has been Air Combat and I have been your friendly neighbourhood ace. Thanks very much for watching! =)
Here's the achievement list over on RetroAchievements if you're interested in giving this a go for yourself:
https://retroachievements.org/game/11423
NOTE: Played & recorded on DuckStation with RetroAchievements enabled.
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