ong ago, when arcades were still where people went to play video games, the flying/dogfighting genre was ruled by 2-D games like Vanguard and Time Pilot. What these games lacked in conveying the actual feel of dogfighting, they made up for by bombarding the players with enemies to destroy. Now Sony Computer Entertainment brings
that classic flood-the-sky-with-enemies aesthetic to its new 3-D dogfighting game, Sky Gunner.
Originally developed for the Japanese market, Sky Gunner has anime-inspired character designs and animation. The music and background designs will also remind players of various classic Japanese cartoons of the fantastic. The background is a lost island with a steampunkish technology that is menaced by an evil genius and his air force. The island's only hope are the mercenary Sky Gunners and their fighter plans. Players take the role of either of the available characters, and try to defend the island. The odds are not on their side.
The pattern of the game is familiar. The enemy planes come in a variety of sizes and threat levels, from tiny fighter craft to huge battleships. The player character's planes add weapons and abilities as they clear each level. The player's plane can be controlled either in the basic mode, which allows one stick to control all the movement, or in the advanced mode, where pitch, roll and yaw are all controlled separately. How and how many enemy planes the player kills earns points, and those points unlock secrets and a third player character.
2-D action evolved into 3-D gameplay
The best thing about Sky Gunner is the camera. Unlike most dogfight games, the camera is not locked into the view out the nose of the aircraft. Instead, the view follows whatever the player has selected as the target. This mobile point of view makes it harder to guide the plane when using the expert controls, but it makes it easier to track enemy aircraft, getting them lined up in the sights and keeping them there.
Hand in hand with the camera view is the locking onto targets. The controls let the player easily choose either a specific enemy, a group of enemies or (on the larger enemy craft) specific weapons. Targeting is tied not only to the camera view, but also to earning points. The more enemies the player
can kill with single shot or maneuver modes, the more points are earned. Plus, there is no shortage of enemies to target, so the ease of selecting them is often crucial.
The fun of Sky Gunner is how there are lots of enemies and how they keep coming. On most levels, the game fills the sky with enemies that can then be destroyed with the well-placed use of one of the special weapons. The cost of so many targets, unfortunately, is that there are times when the PS2 processor simply cannot keep up. The frame rate drops to a level that actually impedes play. The fix for this, provided by Sony Computer Entertainment, is a code which lowers the resolution of the game so that the processor can keep up. Not the best solution, because Sky Gunner has art that is worth seeing in its fully rendered glory—but it is better to have blocky art that moves as it is supposed to than smooth art that is impossible to play.
I like that Sky Gunner kept the Japanese audio track even though the designers recorded an English one as well. Players can choose either, but it is fun to put on the English subtitles and play the game with the Japanese voices.
— Eric
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