Interesting Video Game

This board had a wide variety of people on it from tons of different age groups, and I figured it was a good place to suggest a recent video game purchase I made to anyone who’s interested. The game is called Aero Elite: Combat Academy, and it’s made by the Sega Corporation. It’s for the Sony PlayStation 2 game console. It’s the first actual “flight sim” that I know of on any console, as it actually tries to give a fairly realistic rendition of how the various aircraft you fly in the game actually fly. Now I’m sure this game isn’t as realistic as some of the flight sims you’d find for the personal computer, but as far as console games go it is by far the most realistic, as it’s not really an arcade shooter type game, it’s a true to life flight sim. The game’s focus is more on training and learning to fy the various types of aircraft, although combat is performed through the Aero Meet mode or the more unrealistic arcade mode. Anyway, to wet anyone’s appetite I though I’d provide a list of the wide variety of aircraft in this game. The aircraft that are available in this game for you to fly are as follows:

(NOTE: The game is focused on the JASDF and as such aircraft from the JSDF…various branches within it….are very abundant and both the fixed and rotary wing training you go through are done in the aircraft that the JASDF and JGSDF use)

Fuji T-3
Fuji T-3 (in special paint scheme)
Mitsubishi T-2
Mitsubishi T-2 (in agressor paint scheme)
Mitsubishi T-2 (in Blue Impulse paint scheme)
Kawasaki T-4
Kawasaki T-4 (in what appears to be the colors of the prototype)
Kawasaki T-4 (in Blue Impulse paint scheme)
North American F-86F Sabre (JASDF scheme)
North American F-86F Sabre (USAF scheme)
North American F-86F Sabre (Blue Impulse scheme)
Mitsubishi F-1
Mitsubishi F-2A
Mitsubishi F-2B
Lockheed F-104J Starfighter
Lockheed UF-104J Starfighter
McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II (USN colors)
McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II (USAF colors..Hill Grey colors)
McDonnell Douglas F-4EJ Phantom II
McDonnell Douglas F-4EJ-Kai Phantom II (current JASDF F-4 colors)
McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle (current USAF colors)
McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle (current USAF colors)
McDonnell Douglas F-15J Eagle (current JASDF colors)
McDonnell Douglas F-15DJ Eagle (current JASDF colors)
Grumman F-14B Tomcat (current USN colors)
Grumman F-14B Tomcat (agressor colors)
Grumman F-14B Tomcat (VX-4 (?) test squadron colors – black)
General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon (current USAF colors)
General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon (agressor colors)
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet (current USN colors)
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet (agressor colors)
McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II (original USMC colors)
McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II (current USMC colors)
Vought A-7E Corsair II (USN colors)
Vought A-7E Corsair II (based on USAF A-7D colors)
Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II (USAF green colors)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed (alternate colors)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum (alternate colors)
Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot
Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker (current RuAF colors)
Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker (Su-37 demonstrator colors)
Mirage 2000C (current FAF colors)
Mirage 2000C (desert colors)
Tornado ADV (current RAF colors)
Tornado IDS (green German Air Force colors)
Kawasaki C-1 (JASDF colors)
Shin-Maywa US-1A (JMSDF colors)
Hughes OH-6D Cayuse (JGSDF colors)
Hughes OH-6D Cayuse (winterized JGSDF colors)
Bell AH-1S Cobra (JGSDF colors)
Bell AH-1S Cobra (winterized JGSDF colors)
McDonnell Douglas AH-64D Apache Longbow (US Army colors)

NOTES: All in all in my opinion a very good and interesting collection of aircraft and helicopters. Take note that there are carrier operations, as well as full V/STOL capabilities for the Harrier and all helicopters. The US-1 is also capable of landing on the water or runways using its landing gear. The C-1 is capable of air dropping cargo packages. The three Blue Impulse aircraft and the T-3 in the special paint scheme can all release thick white “airshow” smoke. The game features a great replay option and a huge variety (around 30) of various camera angles. You can even save replay movies to watch again later so in essence you can make your own air shows. In addition you have what’s called an alert hangar and you pick any of the fighters or attack aircraft…….basically anything with weapons that’s not a helicopter…..and arm it however you want. There is an option you can set called the DEFCON level and it determines how often a screen will pop up that says scramble. When that screen pops up (and it can be anytime) you have a certain amount of time to accept or reject the scramble. If you take it you are sent to the hangar where you find your jet ready to go and you must take off and follow the controller’s orders. Sometimes you must take photographs of an intruding aircraft to ID it and sometimes you must shoot an intruding aircraft down and sometimes you must fire a warning shot from your gun to force the aircraft away from your airspace. All in all it’s a very engaging game and people like me who are buffs for realism…….will really enjoy this game. I just though I’d pass this along to you guys in case anyone here has a PS2 that they play every now and again.