Air Combat 22

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: Novice (with and without instructions), 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 Novice 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.

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 of 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]

Gallery

Promotional image of the arcade game.
Air Combat 22 'Aces' Squadron
"Aces" squadron logo, Dogfight mode
"Top Gunners" squadron logo, Expert mode
"Aeries" squadron logo, Novice mode
The whole arcade setup for Air Combat 22

References

[1] Lost Levels: "Videos surface of Namco's Rave Racer for PowerVR equiped PCs"

[2] FreeLibrary: Compaq selects PowerVR 3D graphics architecture for next-generation, high-performance Presarios home

[1]

[2]

Ace Combat games

Numbered Series	Air Combat Ace Combat 2 Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

Secondary Games	Ace Combat Advance Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy Ace Combat: Northern Wings

Spin-Off Games	Ace Combat: Joint Assault Trigger Finger Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Ace Combat Infinity

Other Games	Air Combat (arcade) Air Combat 22 The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces AR Aircraft Hanger Mach Storm

Unreleased	Ace Combat SS: The Young Yellow Brave Arms / Second / Chain Lim!t Galaxian Heroes