Software:Wings 2: Aces High

Wings 2: Aces High
North American box art
Developer(s)	Malibu Interactive
Publisher(s)	NA: Namco EU: Namco JP: Namco
Producer(s)	Ken Lobb
Programmer(s)	Steve Hughes
Artist(s)	Jeremy Cantor Steve Thomson
Composer(s)	George Sanger Joe McDermott David Govett Kevin Phelan
Platform(s)	Super NES
Release	JP: September 29, 1992 EU: January 21, 1993 NA: October 1992
Genre(s)	Action Flight simulator
Mode(s)	Single-player

Wings 2: Aces High (スカイミッション, lit. "Sky Mission") is the Super Nintendo Entertainment System sequel to the Amiga game Wings that takes place during World War I (though the developer is Malibu, rather than Cinemaware). The game was sold in Europe as Blazing Skies.

A realistic aerodynamics system is used in the game that replicates the physics of a First World War biplane. Many of the loop-de-loops that are possible in modern aircraft were not possible given the limited speed and velocity of the early 20th century flying machines.

Gameplay

File:Wings2AcesHighScreenshotFarminFrance.jpg

The player is flying above a farm in France while mentally preparing himself for a bombing run on a German military base.

As the leader of a squadron of British warplanes, the player must bomb German buildings viable to Kaiser Wilhelm II's war effort while over the fields of France.

Five different pilots are given this difficult task; obtaining status points to improve their performance in combat. If any of these pilots fails to complete their appointed mission but survives the actual combat, the pilot will suffer demotion. If failure to complete missions (while surviving) persists, the eventual result will be a dishonorable discharge from the military. If he dies in the line of duty, then the player gets a cemetery scene with the game taking place in the year 1917, with applicable medals earned displayed by the fighter's portrait.

In standard (non-bombing) flight missions, the player must use guns to blast down German biplanes. Eventually, the player will get to face off with the Red Baron (famed World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen). There is also a cheat code for radar which, unusually, was included in a small section of the manual. In real life, radar was not operationally employed as a means to seek out enemy aircraft until World War II. The game is controlled using controls that are friendly to most arcade players and a password system can be used for advanced players to gain the ability to join the conflict during any stage.

The game also contains a number of Easter eggs, including a Super Mario themed plane in the event the player wins the game without losing a pilot.

Development

Wings 2: Aces High is based on Japanese title Sky Mission. The Wings branding was only added to the game's US release, with the European version going under the name Blazing Skies. The title was superficially similar to the original game, with dogfighting and bombing missions, but was presented in more of an arcade format whereby the player was sent back and forced to complete failed missions - in Wings, by contrast, the narrative continues whether missions are passed or failed and even when the player pilot is killed the game continues with another.

The instruction manual has been illustrated with numerous photographs from the era, donated by the San Diego Aerospace Museum along with the explanation about the origins of World War I.