"Time to scramble pilot."

Gameplay 9 – I at the beginning had my doubts about this game, it looked like Konami tried to do too much for and honestly I believed they wouldn't deliver. But surprise, the game is actually fun. To give you a roundup of what to look for, the intro is very well done and set’s the story in which the game is developing. The game is set into missions as is the standard on arcade style flight games; it goes from dogfights to demolition, and such. The variety of planes is well balanced and the height simulation is top notch. You have a HUD on the GBA screen that simulates the HUD of fighting jets, the radar and the targeting system are automatic and activated as soon as the enemies enter visual range. The distribution of the screen go like this, on top left you have the speed display, under it is the missiles/bomb count, and at the bottom left we have a map of the mission area, on the right is the altimeter, which is essential when fighting enemies, although missiles chase enemies no matter how high they are, machine guns only damage enemies on your parallel, to the bottom of the right is the radar, which shows enemy planes and the missiles hurled at you, so you can try and avoid them, which is not that hard whatsoever.
Story 5 - What's it all about? Well, this game is about dogfights and following missions, that’s about it. The variety is balanced and there are some challenging missions to go trough.
Audio/Video 9 – The graphics as I already stated are top notch, and the sense of speed is very well achieved, the attention to detail is very meticulous and well thought. Sound is also a decent part of the game, all the effects are nailed right, machine guns and missiles sound ok, explosions are a little weird, but get the job done and the sound of the engines is as realistic as they come. The music is fast paced and very adequate.
Replayability 5 – After you beat the game it won’t have too much to come back for except to better your times, a multiplayer mode would be a plus, but it seems Konami forgot all about that. But in the other hand, the game is really fun, so you might want to play it over and over.
To buy or to rent? – Well, you like flying games, you will like this one, the action is fast and intense, and the fact that you have a limited time on most of the missions makes it even hard sometimes. If you decide to pick this one up, I doubt you will be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/23/02, Updated 09/23/02