Ultimate Air Combat
Encyclopedia
Ultimate Air Combat is a semi-realistic combat flight simulator
developed and published by Activision for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Having relatively good graphics for the console, Ultimate Air Combat differs from other similar games by having both a cockpit view and an isometric view throughout the missions.
The game seems to be set in the near future due to some of the highly advanced weapons systems but modern day planes. In Japan, the game is known as Aces: Iron Eagle III
and is barely based on the film of the same name (as both involved aircraft).
calls an emergency meeting, where they reveal that the military dictator Don Gwano is using the high revenue from his large oil exports to fund his large army and navy. He is now attacking neighbouring countries and the president's military advisers have agreed that action needs to be taken. Rather than a full scale invasion, they propose a tactic of quick lightning strikes to take out specific systems vital to Don Gwano's militaristic regime. As the top pilot in the military, you are chosen to perform these attacks.
Ultimate Air Combat has thirty seven different missions (nine groups of four missions then the final, slightly longer mission). Each mission is grouped into two parts. The first part of the mission has the player flying to the destination from the view of the pilot, within the cockpit
. In this mode, the player will receive helpful information from the co-pilot such as when damage has been inflicted, when danger of stalling the plane and when an enemy plane is spotted. After destroying three enemy planes the mission moves onto the second half of the mission. This half of the mission is from an isometric
view of the plane and the surrounding area where the player completes the actual mission target, usually destroying a particular structure or structures.
The aircraft has limited fuel (though a fuel tank can be added at the weapon selection screen for more fuel to allow for a longer time to complete the mission) .
If the aircraft being piloted is destroyed by enemy fire, crashes into the sea or runs out of fuel, the pilot survives but the plane being piloted is crashed and unable to be flown again at any further point in the game, so in essence, the player has three lives throughout the game.
Three aircraft are available to pilot within the game: F14 Tomcat, F18 Super Hornet
, Harrier. The cockpit layout is slightly different within each plane. Each plane has its own specific weapon later in the game and some other weapons are available for a specific plane or planes. Also there are minor differences in handling, the Harrier being notably easier to control during the first part of a mission where the player's view is from within the cockpit.
Professor Newron updates the planes, either by adding new weapons systems or by adding new hard points to allow more weapons to be loaded onto the plane. There are 13 different weapons (not including the fuel tank and machine gun), some of these are available to all planes while others are plane specific. As the player completes more missions, more weapons are developed and the finite number of weapons load points are increased.
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
developed and published by Activision for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Having relatively good graphics for the console, Ultimate Air Combat differs from other similar games by having both a cockpit view and an isometric view throughout the missions.
The game seems to be set in the near future due to some of the highly advanced weapons systems but modern day planes. In Japan, the game is known as Aces: Iron Eagle III
Aces: Iron Eagle III
Aces: Iron Eagle III is a 1992 action film directed by John Glen and is the third installment of the Iron Eagle film series, with Louis Gossett, Jr. reprising his role as Col. Charles "Chappy" Sinclair. Also starring are Japanese actor Sonny Chiba and retired boxing champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini...
and is barely based on the film of the same name (as both involved aircraft).
Story
The story begins when the White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
calls an emergency meeting, where they reveal that the military dictator Don Gwano is using the high revenue from his large oil exports to fund his large army and navy. He is now attacking neighbouring countries and the president's military advisers have agreed that action needs to be taken. Rather than a full scale invasion, they propose a tactic of quick lightning strikes to take out specific systems vital to Don Gwano's militaristic regime. As the top pilot in the military, you are chosen to perform these attacks.
Gameplay
Cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin...
. In this mode, the player will receive helpful information from the co-pilot such as when damage has been inflicted, when danger of stalling the plane and when an enemy plane is spotted. After destroying three enemy planes the mission moves onto the second half of the mission. This half of the mission is from an isometric
Isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
view of the plane and the surrounding area where the player completes the actual mission target, usually destroying a particular structure or structures.
If the aircraft being piloted is destroyed by enemy fire, crashes into the sea or runs out of fuel, the pilot survives but the plane being piloted is crashed and unable to be flown again at any further point in the game, so in essence, the player has three lives throughout the game.
Aircraft
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a twin-engine carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft. The F/A-18E single-seat variant and F/A-18F tandem-seat variant are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet. The Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm gun and can carry air-to-air...
, Harrier. The cockpit layout is slightly different within each plane. Each plane has its own specific weapon later in the game and some other weapons are available for a specific plane or planes. Also there are minor differences in handling, the Harrier being notably easier to control during the first part of a mission where the player's view is from within the cockpit.
Weapons