Aero Fighters

By Joseph Luster

Known in Japan as Sonic Wings, the Aero Fighters series first kicked off way back in 1992. The original entry started out as an arcade game before making its way to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and now SUCCESS Corporation has its eyes set on a revival.

Upon its initial announcement—which was made during Hamster Corporation’s 502nd Arcade Archives Super Volley ‘91 Special broadcast—the exact details of that revival were pretty slim. Another presentation followed on November 8, with the second being held at Shinjuku, Tokyo’s EXBAR TOKYO venue. SUCCESS took the opportunity to reveal more about the new project, which will mark the first for the Aero Fighters series in 27 years.

A lot can happen in the better part of nearly three decades, but if the new Aero Fighters plays its cards right it will aim for that very specific type of nostalgia that classic shoot ‘em up fans crave. It’s an interesting series in that, from the beginning, it went out of its way to stand out from a relatively crowded genre. It introduced a large cast of characters, which wasn’t the norm for shoot ‘em ups, with each pair representing one of four featured nations.

Participating nations with fictional representatives included the United States, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Each had their own Player 1 and Player 2 characters, with Blaster Keaton and Keith Bishop representing the U.S.A. with the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet and Grumman F-14 Tomcat, respectively. Japan had Hien with the Mitsubishi FSX and Mao Mao with the Mitsubishi F-15 Eagle, while Sweden had Kohful the Viking with the Saab AJ-37 Viggen and Tee-Bee 10 with the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Rounding out the selection was the UK with Villiam Syd Pride and the McDonnell Douglas AV-8 Harrier II and Lord River N. White with the Panavia Tornado IDS.

If some of the names didn’t give it away, this isn’t exactly a trip through history, but that also wasn’t the point. Aero Fighters is pure arcade action, and the original 1992 release proved highly popular upon its debut in Japanese game centers. The Super Nintendo version left something to be desired in the tech department, but it still paved the way for sequels like Aero Fighters 2 (1994), Aero Fighters 3 (1995), Sonic Wings Special (1996), and Aero Fighters Assault (1997). The latter—which Paradigm Entertainment developed and Vic Tokai and Video System published for Nintendo 64—would be the first ever 3D entry in the series.

How much of that collective DNA will make its way to the new Aero Fighters remains to be seen, but we’re more than happy to jump back into the cockpit of this classic when it heads back to screens around the world.