Ultimate Air Combat (NES) Playthrough
179A playthrough of Activision's 1992 action game for the NES, Ultimate Air Combat.
Activision didn't put out a lot of stuff on the NES, but when a game showed up with their name on it, it was usually worth paying attention to. Ultimate Air Combat combines elements of two of their earlier games, Stealth ATF (https://youtu.be/HJQTFSQO0c4) and Galaxy 5000 (https://youtu.be/wDQpN--yA0E) to create what is quite possibly their best game on the platform.
Ultimate Air Combat's campaign features thirty-seven missions in which you must wage war against Don Gwano (lol!), a dictator with access to huge oil reserves that have let him grow a bit too big for his own britches. The missions task you with destroying important assets to undermine his ability to make war.
Missions are split into two distinct parts. The first half has you flying to the objective in first-person combat sequences that closely resemble those from Top Gun: The Second Mission (https://youtu.be/pTALOP6en1A). A steady stream of bogeys appear on the radar, and once you've dropped them all into the drink you can move on.
Upon reaching the objective, the game switches its focus to air-to-ground combat from an isometric view. You'll be given a set number of bombing targets (hangars, gunships, radio towers, etc.), and after you've reduced the area to rubble, you'll return to the carrier for your next mission briefing.
You choose from three planes to pilot (an F-14, an F-18, and a Harrier jet) at the start of each mission, and they all handle differently and carry different load-outs from one another. If you lose one, it's gone for the rest of the game, so its important to weigh their strengths and weaknesses carefully when deciding which to take into battle.
I must admit that I wasn't expecting much from a game burdened with such a generic title, but Ultimate Air Combat goes above and beyond in delivering an exciting and polished action game that blows the doors off the competition.
It refines the mechanics of Activision's previous works to near perfection, and the pairing of such different styles does wonders for its appeal and longevity. It controls well, the difficulty curve makes for good sense of progression, and even with so many stages, it never feels like it overstays its welcome. Most important of all, though, is that its stupidly fun to play. It exceeds the sum of its parts.
The presentation also highlights just how well the guys at Activision knew the NES hardware. The graphics and sound are uniformly excellent, and the entertaining cutscenes bring it all together in a satisfying way.
The US version lacks the movie license tie-in of its Japanese release, Aces: Iron Eagle III, but it would be a real shame to let its uninspired title stop you from giving this unsung hero of the NES library a shot.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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