Strike Commander (from the creators of Wing Commander) has to be my favorite flight simulator of all time. It’s not an exaggeration to say the game was so far ahead of its time in early 90’s that technology has finally caught up with it! Bump mapping, texture mapping, 3D worlds, this simulator started it all.
The best part of the game is not its incredible graphics (for the era), it was not its impeccable controls, it was not its extreme attention to detail and realism, it was its tilt.
The game was not another simulator.
You were the commander of a rag-tag group of mercenaries in a different future, where scores are settled and the victor is determined by the prowess of the mercenaries one can afford to drive your point across. Your team owned all the equipment and ordnance needed to get the job done. You owned the plane, you bought the missiles, you broke it, and you pay for it. You were in charge of finding missions, controlling your finances, and coming home at the end of the day with a few kills under your belt and some cash left to pay the overheads and the bills. You had friends, you had enemies, and you had people who wanted
to put a missile up your afterburner. You were in charge of managing all that, and flying the F-16C Fighting Falcon. Enemies knew how to fly their planes, and your plane was just as capable and vulnerable as theirs. If your missile missed its target, that’s a good chunk of change for the wasted ordnance you just saw go up in flames for no reason. The end of the game holds a few missions with a “special treat”, but I won’t spoil it for anyone.
This game made flight simulators fun again. It maintained the perfect balance between realism and entertainment. The level of difficulty can be adjusted, all the way up to near absolute realism.
It’s hard to point out anything negative about the game. Actually, it’s pretty darn near impossible. So I won’t even attempt it. Actually, on second thought, I do have one complaint: back in the day, my 80486 processor and non-existent graphics card was pretty close to melting down due to the immense resources the game demanded. This brings me back to my comment at the beginning: technology has finally caught up with the game. So my gripe is moot.
Since then, many have tried to emulate the game’s engaging story-line, the sense of responsibility, and the sense of flying through the air with tracers flying all around you with your name on it. Few have come close. Namco’s Ace Combat is one of the more recent and famous attempts at this feat, but falls far short in many aspects too numerous too mention, realism being the mother of them all.
If you want to know what it really takes to out-maneuver a missile with your name on it, look no further.
