My intro to the Ace Combat series, this game was everything I wanted as a kid who grew up obsessed with fighter jets. What I didn't expect was the deeply personal story that this game tells parallel to the missions you undertake. Ace Combat is a franchise that has always excelled at storytelling through both cutscenes and in-game dialog, all for characters that are rarely, if ever, seen in person. The enduring legacy of this story and these characters in the fanbase is a testament to how well it undertakes that challenge. It does lack the bombast or themeing of its successors, and for me, it is weaker than the stories that follow, but that doesn't take away from the quality of it.

From a gameplay perspective, this game set the template for what Ace Combat games going forward would feel like, with intuitive and accessible flight controls, and a relatively simple game loop in using weapons, combined with a scoring system and ammo management that sees you prioritizing your shots and making sure your positioning will ensure a hit, a gameplay loop that is very fun despite the repetition. Choosing your aircraft and weapons before going into a mission is a skill that ensures you are paying attention and not just mindlessly engaging with the game, and the variety of planes to use is something any enthusiast for military aviation will enjoy.

Despite all this praise, the main thing that holds this game back for me is the mission design, with too many missions being relatively mindless score attack missions, where you just keep shooting away at targets until you hit a point threshold or time limit, with minimal narrative glue to tie it together with the rest of the game. These missions can be fun, but over time, they become rather forgettable. When this game does decide to ramp up the spectacle though, tying in the narrative to major events, the game truly becomes something special, and the thing that really elevates these moments is the absolutely stunning soundtrack, a staple throughout the series, with this game being one of the best in the whole franchise.

Time has not been kind to the relatively simple mission design of this game, with the less advanced AI opponents also leading to the game feeling a bit too easy and simple. Despite this, it set the bar for Ace Combat going forward, and the strength of the soundtrack, storytelling, and narrative, all with the engaging and endlessly fun gameplay, make it a fan favourite within the series. It will always have a special place in my heart as my introduction to Ace Combat, and the memory of playing it in my younger years is a deeply nostalgic one. This game marks the beginning of what fans dub the Holy Trinity of Ace Combat, and what a beginning it is.

Absolutely incredible game. I've heard about Ace Combat for a long time and mistakenly assumed it was just a generic war game about fighter jets. Every single thing about this blew me away. The story, the presentation, the commentary about the horrors of war, about human relationships, about forgiveness and moving on with your life.

I loved every single second of this game and it never slowed down for a single second. It was short and sweet, and the last mission made such an impact on me that I came out of it a changed woman.

They don't make em like this anymore........

My favorite of the PS2 era Ace Combat games. I just like how it gets down to business in terms of gameplay. I feel like it's just right in terms of mission amounts- not all of them are hits but the majority are good. The side-plot of the civilian boy is nice, and doesn't get in the way of the experience, which I felt that Unsung War and Fires of Liberation tripped up in to some extent.

It's probably also the easiest to pick up and play just one or two missions- a few of them are longer length but if you only have time for one that's probably fine. All in all, a good time

Ace combat 04 is the best game to start with in the series. While I love it, there also isnt a lot to say about it. Its gameplay is smooth and fun. Its narrative, although told through a simple form, is one of the best in the series. Its music is great as always.

The biggest flaw in ace combat 04 are its score attack missions, while only two (Tango Line and Safe Return) feel bad to play, the overwhelming amount of them and the length of the missions makes them feel boring at times and very repetitive.

Uma evolução muito boa do seu antecessor, apesar de não ter vários final igual o anterior, com várias rotas, o enredo aqui é muito bom, jogabilidade está ótima, com coisas novas como misseis especiais como arma secundaria, que você vai comprando ao longo do jogo e testando. Apesar de não ter uma variedade tão grande de missões, o jogo ainda assim diverte muito, tendo bons momentos, e ainda assim se destaca, e que jogo lindo, uma pena ser tão curto, essa franquia é uma pérola que deveria ser mais conhecida.

(Takes around 3 hours to complete)
AC 4 has the least amount of content and the shortest completion time out of all main titles of the franchise, except for the first two, but it makes up for it with one of the best stories I've seen in a video game.
Story
Don't play this game if you expect a typical Call of Duty-esque storyline. It is split into two parts – the gameplay and the cutscenes. During the gameplay, you play as Mobius 1 – an elite pilot for the ISAF, which is currently at war with Erusea. You take part in dangerous operations and by the end of the game you are called by most a hero. The cutscenes are a narration of a man's childhood during the war, told through beautiful hand drawn panels. His family had been killed by a crashing plane, shot down by an enemy pilot. After Erusian forces occupy his town, he meets that enemy pilot – Yellow 13. Between them, a very interesting dynamic develops – Yellow killed his family and is part of the enemy, but there is no one else who he can rely on. Eventually, this leads to Yellow turning into a sort of surrogate father for the kid. During the cutscenes, Mobius 1 serves the role of an antagonist, as there is no one else who can match Yellow in skill.
Gameplay
It has the standard for the series of arcade flight mechanics. Unfortunately, there is a low number of aircraft, and you can't change the SP weapons like in the later games. It has great mission pacing with one of the best final levels in the franchise. One criticism I can bring up is the lack of checkpoints. This becomes especially apparent in some 20+ minute long missions.
Graphics and artstyle
The cutscenes are all hand drawn and as such they have aged very well. The same can't be said for the gameplay part. Just don't look at the ground too hard and you will be fine.
Atmosphere
The cutscenes are melancholic and nostalgic, while the gameplay makes you feel like a hero who can get the job done, not matter the odds.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is good and fits pretty well. “Megalith Agnus Dei” stands out as the best for me.
Final Thoughts
“Stand back I am about to Mob” - Mobius 1

A disappointing step down from Electrosphere. The removal of branching narratives and the complete lack of any unique wingmen really strips the game down to an experience that felt pretty hollow until its finale. But man, what a finale.

Though very brief, the story is engaging enough to give the mostly repetitive missions some semblance of emotional weight. Yellow Squadron gets a great build-up as rival aces, but without getting into spoilers, I found them to be very underwhelming by the end. A non-story related reason for that was the enemy AI in this game.

Every enemy fights the same, maneuvers the same, and shoots the same comically slow missiles. By the end it felt like there were only two types of enemies for the whole game; Yellow Squadron and regular fighters. Both of which barely put up any fight at all while the dozens of AA guns in most missions do the actual work in trying to shoot you down. And boy do you have to deal with a lot of them.

The biggest problem with the game lies in the sheer lack of variety and creativity in its brisk 18 missions. Nearly every mission plays out the same; do laps around the enemy base while peppering ground targets as a countdown timer in the corner of the screen solely exists to remind you not to fall asleep. There's also a dozen or so fighters buzzing around the sky in each mission, but for how little they contribute to your final mission score, dogfighting is often a waste of your time compared to ground targets. Baffling in a game that's supposed to be about planes shooting other planes.

It's extra frustrating that the missions were designed this way when the gameplay is as good as it is. The evolution from the rather barebones gameplay of Electrosphere into the PS2 era can be felt from the second you enter the cockpit. In fact, I enjoyed how the flying felt so much that when the actual objectives became too monotonous, I had to make my own fun by stunting on the air-to-ground targets that make up the bulk of the gameplay. Fighting dozens of tanks and SAMs grew to be so mind-numbing that the only thing to kill me in this whole game ended up being the ground.

All that being said, I do think it's a 'fine' game. Most of the missions suck, but the core gameplay and easy-to-follow story manages to keep it engaging for just enough time before you're hit with an incredibly memorable finale that blows the rest of the game out of the water. I won't spoil any specifics, but if you've been on the internet for any reasonable period of time you'll have at least heard part of why it's so memorable, even if you might not realize it. The sheer spectacle nearly lives up to some of the set-pieces in Electrosphere.

It's hard not to recommend the game. For such a short experience (3-4 hours) and a finale ending on the highest possible note, it's absolutely worth checking out.

If the missions didn't all play the same and go on way too long, this could be a perfect dogfighting game. And I'm sure the future Ace Combat games solved this issue from the looks of things, but man oh man does it sour the initial campaign experience.

On one hand, the reliance on air to ground combat and missions that last 20 minutes with no checkpoints is straight up exhausting. It's by no means hard on Normal difficulty, which makes it all the worse when you fuck up 30 seconds from completion and have to do the same repetitive pillbox bombing to see more story. It doesn't help that 90% of missions have the same structure and lack exciting setpieces. On the other hand, it looks great, controls super well and has an amazing story that is more or less completely disconnected from the actual missions. (You can split hairs about this)

My recommendation? Pick up Ace Combat 5 or 7 and watch this games cutscenes on Youtube. Or at the very least, start with a later entry and come back to this if you get obsessed, because its still solid fun.

Ace Combat 04 sets the foundation of what I'd expected from the series coming into this marathon, as someone who'd only played AC7. This ticks all the boxes of what you'd want from the series, yet plays things a touch too safe and ends up a high quality yet largely unmemorable entry.

What works here is the story. We get illustrated vignettes with voiceover that show us a tiny piece of the conflict, from the perspective of a young lad whose family died when the enemy attacked. Initially, this paints these people in an explicitly negative light, and we get a primary threat: Yellow Thirteen. It's not long before we find out more about this mysterious figure, who ends up being a seemigly decent person, a talented pilot who respects strong opponents and acts as an intriguing window into the enemy's army. He isn't cruel; he treats the people of the town they've overtaken very well, even so far as to help them out of a bind even when they're plotting his downfall. It's a very human tale, and muddies the waters somewhat. Are you definitely playing as the good guys? It certainly appears that way, and maybe that is the case, but there are good people on each side, and the circumstances of their birth has determined their fate long before this fight ever initiated. The conclusion to your rivalry with Yellow Thirteen is somewhat underwhelming, but the journey there had me hooked.

Witnessing the jump from PS1 to PS2 is always quite exciting, and that's the case here too. Graphics are not only more detailed, the environments are far more multi-layered, with many of them being set in hills or cities. Tightly navigating through terrain is very effective due to the better controls, curtesy of the left analog stick. It's the best the series has ever played, and I finally found myself able to shoot down enemies with the machine fun, which was quite the struggle previously. Missions are longer and full of radio chatter which brings the war to life. Late into the game, you get access to the iconic SU-37, which is absurd in terms of speed and turning ability. It's a fantastic late game plane and made me consider doing New Game+ just so I'd have more time in its cockpit.

Where I must ultimately reach with this review is the missions themselves. Things start off as basic as usual, with some dogfights and bombing missions filling the early game. A short time in, you'll come across the first 'score attack' objective. One of my favourite missions in Ace Combat 7 was the nail-biting, utter decimation of a canyon's army base, and this evoked the same feeling (though admittedly a lot easier). What soon sank in was that this was the bulk of the game, with most back-to-back missions being score attacks. There was diversity in locations, but I couldn't help but feel it was all a tad monotonous. It didn't help that most were incredibly easy to not only beat, but to achive S Ranks on. I didn't have to optimise my pathing, I could just drift lazily through the sky, firing on targets that struggle to fight back. As a break from dogfighting, these missions can be effective, but I feel it only caused the game's identity to blur. There just aren't many standout missions here, though the finale is insane in the best possible way.

So for as much as I enjoyed the technical upgrade that is Ace Combat 04 (why is there a zero there?), it falls into the same trappings as its predecessor, with objectives that seem to loop as you work your way towards a stunning finale.