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Acepedia


Air Combat 22 (エアーコンバット22, Eā Konbatto Ni-Ni) is an arcade game developed by Namco released in early 1995. It was built on the company's Namco Super System 22 arcade system board, hence the "22" in the title. Together with the prequel Air Combat, they were the predecessors to the Ace Combat series.

Gameplay[]

There are 4 modes available to choose at the start of the game: Cadet (With tutorial), Cadet (Without tutorial), Top Gun (Expert), and Dogfight mode. The player's callsign will depend on the chosen mode.

Unlike Air Combat, multiple enemy targets will appear at the same time, and the player will have to shoot them down within the time limit. Additional time is rewarded for each aircraft shot down, as well as completing refueling or landing sequences.

In Cadet mode, the missions are fixed and the player aircraft has two guns instead of one.

In Expert mode, the mission branching depends on the time remaining after a stage is cleared.

In Dogfight mode, player has to destroy four enemy aircraft per stage, where they appear one at a time. The game is cleared when 32 stages are completed.

Controls[]

The cabinet is flown with a throttle on the player's left hand side and a flightstick in the center that sits between their knees. There is no yaw control as the game is flown with Novice (Normal)-style controls. There is a start switch (labeled Start Sw) on the instrument panel for the menu. The instrument panel instruments and multi-function displays are non-functional and exist for aesthetic purposes.

A flightstick controls the aircraft's pitch and bank. When the stick is moved in any direction (for example the stick is moved full left), the aircraft will continue in that direction until the stick is moved or let go into the neutral position, to which it will also return to level flight. There is a trigger for the guns and a thumb button for missiles.

In comparison to a standard throttle system, pushing the throttle forwards slows down the aircraft, and pulling it backwards speeds up the aircraft. Letting the throttle go from either position will cause the throttle to spring back to the neutral position, and the plane will fly at a "neutral" speed.

Aircraft[]

Playable aircraft[]

There are three playable aircraft to choose from: 

Enemy aircraft[]

Trivia[]

  • The pilot ejects from the aircraft when it is destroyed unlike almost every other Ace Combat game, giving the player a non-violent ending.
  • Victor Entertainment released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Namco Video Game Graffiti Vol.18 - VICL-15040) on 25/05/1995.
  • A PC port of the game was announced by Namco in May 1996, along with ports of Rave Racer and Tekken. The games were meant to support PowerVR, a 3D graphics architecture designed by VideoLogic (currently Imagination Technologies) supported by various gaming brands and chosen by Compaq to be used in their Presario personal computer line. However, none of the ports materialized due to budget and time constraints.[1][2]
  • Trigger's logo from Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is a homage to the "Aces Squadron" logo, featuring the dog/wolf holding a revolver in its jaws.

Gallery[]

References[]

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