Ace Combat 2 (PS) (1995, 1996)
Developer: Namco

Review by Faididi and Co.


A second sortie to outdo the first


Story: Average

Another fictional country suffers from an evil military coup. The Scarface team, which apparently has no more than three pilots, must take to the skies again to save the day.


Gameplay: Above Average

Namco's Ace Combat 2 is a flight simulator and a console-oriented sequel to the original Ace Combat (Air Combat). For each of the 21 missions, the hero picks a plane and then shoots his way through hostile forces as he pursues his objectives. Without sacrificing the friendly arcade feel, this sequel cuts out the pointless versus stuff while featuring a heftier single-Player experience.

A big part of the fun comes from the large selection of playable craft. The hero earns credits as he completes missions, and he can use this money to purchase new planes. He also has the handy option to sell unwanted warbirds, so he isn't forced to keep replaying missions to earn enough credits again after making a regretful purchase.

The level and enemy designs are pretty decent. While the hostile fighters can be beaten with similar tactics, no matter if they're low-level goons or so-called aces, the missions themselves offer plenty of variation not just in terrain but in special challenges. Besides the standard elimination jobs, there are missions where the hero needs to protect downed allies from approaching bad guys, stay within dangerously narrow ravines in order to dodge radar detection, battle swarms of bad guys who are using jamming devices, risk stalling while chasing mysterious planes at very high altitudes, and so forth. There are alternate mission paths at certain points, too, keeping things more interesting.

Of course, the game has its flaws. The machineguns' ranges are too short even by arcade standards, limiting their usefulness against targets as simple as stationary ground enemies. The landing challenges appear only at the end of two or three missions, instead of consistently at the end of every mission. The computer-controlled wingmen never aggressively attack enemies, and only one of them can be brought along at a time, making them nearly useless. Luckily, the hero's own missiles are more than adequate against the bad guys, so these issues aren't serious enough to ruin the fun.


Controls: Excellent

The ships handle responsively, thanks to the smooth and mostly customizable controls. The only buttons that can't be reassigned are those for the throttle.


Graphics: Excellent

Ace Combat 2 scores high in terms of graphics. Exploding planes break apart into a hail of metal shards, and thick smoke billows up into the air from burning wrecks. The environmental detail looks just as impressive, and we're not merely talking about the richly textured, natural-looking landscapes. Among the most memorable scenes are the high-altitude mission that comes with exceptional lighting and cloud-fogging effects, the dogfight within a storm that showcases more of the game's weather effects, and the nighttime city raid that features clusters of skyscrapers and freeways that are gorgeously illuminated.


Audio: Above Average

Loud and forceful describe the gunfire and the explosions, while the friendly radio chatter warning of incoming danger adds more flavor. The music isn't memorable on the whole, but the tunes help pump up things for every mission.


Overall: Above Average

Ace Combat 2 is a very solid flight simulator with many playable craft, great mission variety, responsive controls, and awesome graphics. Fans of the first game or of Namco's other arcade classics will enjoy this sequel a lot.


This site's content created by Faididi and Co.