Unknown Shmup I need identified

Axon · Post by **Axon** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:06 pm

I remember when I was little about an arcade shmup that was in my local Pizza Hut. I loved it, you could choose a character to be and I remember picking a guy that I think had the Japanese flag on his headband. All I remember about the gameplay was that his fighter's special attack was a blue laser beam which was about as wide as the fighter. It was a vertical shmup and it was WWIIish.The stage I played on was a sea map with a bunch of battleships. Can anyone tell me what shmup this is and if you can buy it today?

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:34 pm

It sounds like one of the Sonic Wings games offhand...

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:38 pm

Definately Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings. The bomb for Hien is the huge straight blue laser. Actually, it may not be, since Hien doesn't have the Japanese flag on his helmet.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:43 pm

Possibility that it could be Aero Fighters 2 or 3.
There's another Japanese pilot that isn't Hien, it could be them.

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:45 pm

I think it's Aero Fighters 3.

Axon · Post by **Axon** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:03 pm

Does anyone know where I can get screenshots from the Sonic Wing games?

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:31 am

Check out neogeoforlife.com, I'm certain Kazuya has reviewed both Aero Fighters 2 and 3. There might be some pictures in the reviews, he usually has screens in all his.

Axon · Post by **Axon** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:08 am

Thank you.

Alpolio · Post by **Alpolio** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:15 am

LoneSage wrote:Check out neogeoforlife.com, I'm certain Kazuya has reviewed both Aero Fighters 2 and 3. There might be some pictures in the reviews, he usually has screens in all his.

They don't have the right shots of the games. I just checked myself and I think that he's after Aero Fighters 2. Here's the key screen shots.

In Aero Fighters 3, instead of the blue beam, he turns into a giant flaming bird. But neither game is set in WWII.

doctorx0079 · Post by **doctorx0079** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:28 am

Couldn't it also be Aero Fighters I? He said it was when he was a kid. Aero Fighters I used to be very very very common IIRC. I seem to remember Hi-En had a big blue laser in that game too. It was his super weapon. I used to play that game a lot, because it was easy. I got sick of Truxton II kicking my butt all the time.

Aero Fighters I has a sea level with a bunch of battleships. You can pick up bonus items that are the currency symbol of your country, for Hi-En it's a yen symbol.

I seem to remember there was a SNES cartridge but I've never actually seen it.

If Axon could remember how the screen was aligned it would help. They are all vert games but IIRC, AF1 had the monitor with the long side vertical, whereas AF2 and AF3 had the long side horizontal.

Alpolio · Post by **Alpolio** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:29 am

Here's some screenshots of Aero Fighters 1.

It came out in 1992, so it's probably the right age (AF2 = '94 & AF3 = '95). It's not set in WWII either, but it does have a WWII'ish look to it. And the beam has more blue to it than AF2 and the main concentration of the beam is the same width as the aircraft. And it's got the battleship level. Hmmm.... I think that we've got a winner. Good call doctorx.

doctorx0079 · Post by **doctorx0079** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:42 am

I used to play that game all the time. Thank goodness I have a PS now.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:39 am

I have 2+3 for Neo Geo CD and Remix for PSX. But what about Aero Fighters I? Was it ported to any console?

Post by **Ghegs** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:22 am

Ceph wrote:I have 2+3 for Neo Geo CD and Remix for PSX. But what about Aero Fighters I? Was it ported to any console?

There's Aero Fighters for SNES plus Sonic Wings for PS2 with proper TATE.

Axon · Post by **Axon** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:47 pm

I don't want to burst your bubble but I don't think the game I remember is the game in the screenshots you posted. The stage is focused on the enemies too much and the laser is bigger than I remember. The stage I remember looks similar to the chopper shmup stages as in less focus on enemies. I might be wrong though.

Alpolio · Post by **Alpolio** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:22 pm

Do you remember the year that you played it?

Axon · Post by **Axon** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:50 pm

I don't remember exactly but probably within 1996-1999.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 1:51 am

Sonic Wings LIMITED?
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?let ... me_id=9630

Axon · Post by **Axon** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 1:58 am

That could be it.

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 3:39 am

Too bad. If it was Aero Fighters (3, or better 2) it would've been cooler

Axon · Post by **Axon** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:00 am

I am 90% positive that game I described was Sonic Wings. I just saw thre album cover and the guy with the mustache and the soldier guy sparked something in my brain. Can I still buy this game easily?

Alpolio · Post by **Alpolio** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:25 am

Axon wrote:I am 90% positive that game I described was Sonic Wings. I just saw thre album cover and the guy with the mustache and the soldier guy sparked something in my brain. Can I still buy this game easily?

Aero Fighters is the American name for Sonic Wings. Link.

Oh... the blue beam pulsates when it fires by rapidly switching between 3 frames so it looks like it has a large glow to it. Here's a capture of Sonic Wings title, character select, and the 3 frames of the weapon blast (slowed way down).

I did some checking around, and if you can play a Japanese PS2 game, you can find "Oretachi Gesen Zoku: Sonic Wings" import for PS2 on Ebay right now. Here and here.

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:15 am

Alpolio wrote: I did some checking around, and if you can play a Japanese PS2 game, you can find "Oretachi Gesen Zoku: Sonic Wings" import for PS2 on Ebay right now.

Is this an actual conversion or an "emulated" version?
And more importantly, how well does it play when compared to the arcade version?
The package sounds good to me so I am interested in the quality.

Alpolio · Post by **Alpolio** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 7:33 am

Super Laydock wrote: Is this an actual conversion or an "emulated" version?
And more importantly, how well does it play when compared to the arcade version?
The package sounds good to me so I am interested in the quality.

I can't find any reviews on this game. And I never personally played the PS2 version. But since we're talking about a 1992 arcade game, I don't think that the PS2 should have any problems emulating it.

Zach Keene · Post by **Zach Keene** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:10 pm

There are a couple of brief impressions of the PS2 version in this thread:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 4&start=30