HIIIIIIGHWAY

TOOOOO THE

DANGER ZONE

Ultimately I think Pilotwings 64 is better, both in controls, variety, and fairness, but I think this is pretty fun. I think the use of Mode 7 in this game is still impressive, there were times it managed to trick me into thinking it was actual 3D, but no vehicle besides the light plane and helicopter ever feel completely right. I have no idea how to stop drifting in the rocketbelt, and both skydiving and hand gliding are fine until the arduous process of landing begins. One thing that I thought I was gonna hate was having to do all of the missions in a row for each lesson, but I actually think the idea works, since missions are short and it encourages getting really good at each one. Would still prefer the ability to retry any mission over and over like in 64, but I thought this game's loop was neat. If you like Pilotwings 64, you will enjoy this, but you'll also see how much that game improves on this one. Also, the last mission is bullshit, but the last missions in 64 were also kind of bullshit so I guess it's just series tradition.

I can appreciate the idea behind Pilotwings, but the execution is a bit shit. The game feels more like it was designed to showcase the graphical capabilities of the SNES than to actually be all that fun, but like, F-Zero does a great job at the fake 3D thing while being a ton of fun. A lot of the issue comes with depth, because everything is still 2D regardless of how it looks, so it feels a bit inconsistent. There are five categories of flight to work with and they all feel a bit like a minigame. None feel that bad, but none feel all that great. I'm sure this was cool shit in 1991, but it's nearly 30 years old at this point, and it's painfully obvious. 2/6

The mission of the gaming tech demo is to convince the anticipative player of the next-gen hardware’s capabilities; a proof of concept, if you will. With how often the term’s lobbed as a dismissive pejorative, I find this descriptor something of a disservice to the Pilotwings games, what with how all three games still endure in players’ memories. In the case of the original, it’s not hard to see why: the Super Nintendo’s Mode 7 innovation is the perfect playground for aviation, as rotating maps masterfully craft the illusion of three-dimensional movement in our planes and hang gliders swirling around overwhelming landmasses and oceans. The stitched 16-bit steams have long since eroded with the industry’s evolution, but even now, as the sky-diver’s helicopter slowly ascends aloft over their landing grounds – anticipation funneling chills down our spines at the shrinking, pixelated earth below, awaiting our latest aerial stunt -- does the wistful enchantment of "how did they do that?” still escape our lips.

This isn’t to play revisionist history and depict Pilotwings as a visionary title inventing a new form of play -- flight sims were well already a thing in the 80’s, not the least in the ever-popular Microsoft Flight Simulator – yet it’s the application of Nintendo’s Golden Rule that makes it soar: anyone can gravitate towards its visuals and concept, but everyone will conform to Pilotwings’ demands of knifepoint precision. The pressure of achieving a good landing is as stressful as it is addictive, for woe is the player that undoes all their hard work with a crash landing. (Those revisiting it via Nintendo Switch Online will thank their lucky stars for the rewind feature)

Even so, Pilotwings is careful not to betray its serene nature. Yes, not every vehicle is intuitive -- impressive as it may be, I still can’t figure out the flux and motion behind skydiving – but the game’s scoring system allows enough wiggle worm for players to focus on their respective strengths; a subtle, innate form of encouragement symbolic of the treasured flexibility in Nintendo’s best offerings.

(It helps that Nintendo laced a fun layer of character beating beneath Pilotwings’ threadbare context – the exaggerated exasperations of your flight instructors are a hard-won achievement, yet the non-sequitur absurdity of the post-mission mini-games are as delightful as they are befuddling.)

Flown to the tune of Soyo Oka’s soundtrack – some of her finest during her Nintendo tenure, what with its combination of airy nostalgia and groovy jazz (as Smash Bros. has proven, the Light Plane theme is an underrated masterpiece) – and you have a launch game that earns its stripes. This progenitor may lack the freedom of its successors, but as players watch our planes take off into the wild blue rotary yonder, we realize we’re witnessing the maiden flight of Nintendo’s most legendary console.

While the tech presented in this game isn’t exactly impressive anymore, I still had a pretty fun time. The game feels surprisingly satisfying to control, and the five different modes of transportation feel great to perfect. I really wish the game was longer, and the structure was a bit different. I really wanted a whole list of Light Plant courses, and a whole list of Rocket Pack Missions. I could’ve done without the paraglider and skydiving, but they were still fun in their own regards. Helicopters felt underutilized and gimmicky, and the turrets were not fun to deal with. Also the scenes felt out of place, although I honestly might not say that if I had know this was a war game going in. I thought it was just a flight sim, and it definitely exceeded my expectations

Conquest

Dictatorship

Gets boring

What's wrong with me?

I need to find something to do, that's fascinating, guaranteed

Camping? No

Fishing? No

Not as much fun as total tyranny

Bah, what else could there be?

What do I need?

Good for a first game and good for a launch title to show off the system's capabilities, but sadly not too much more. I thought it was pretty charming and fun indeed, but there was quite a lot more trial and error than I'd hoped for. That's likely because the game is extremely short, so it uses its repetitive nature as a way to lengthen itself. It took a bit to get used to the flight controls, but I thought they were decently intuitive, especially for a flight sim on an early-90s console. Fun game, but hopefully its sequel is better. Having played the third game first, it's still cool to see where a lot of its ideas came from (e.g. the vehicles and general controls). The music's fucking great too, but that's to be expected from Nintendo.