4/4/2007 8:58PM PDT
Ace Combat's Glorious History, a DiggingTheWeb Special
Introduction to the Ace combat series to new fans who were born too
late to remember:
Ace Combat, a very old IP dating back to the days of
PlayStation 1 by Namco, has traditionally been on the PlayStation
platform. However,
there is something about the devil’s number 6 with Namco’s recent
releases that
has been everything ‘Xbox’. Ridge Race 6 from before and now Ace Combat
6. Millions
of Sony fanboys’ hearts sank when it was annouced as Xbox exclusive.
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Before we talk about the possibility of
Ace Combat going
back to the PlayStation 3 on its next iteration; let’s marvel at the
series’
history (I will be using IGN’s reviews as standard, because they are
well
respected for their unbiased journalism in videogame community):
ACE COMBAT (aka
Air Combat) (Nov 1996)
IGN
Score 7/10
First attempt at 3D graphics on the
PlayStation 1 back in
1995 (JPN) - 1996. This level of freedom to roam the sky and details
was
considered high standard back in the days..or not?
IGN “Air Combat falters
only when it comes to its graphics.
The flickery images and bland colors do nothing to showcase the
PlayStation's
graphics prowess. However, the gameplay more than makes up for the
shoddy
presentation.”
ACE COMBAT 2
(Aug
1997)
IGN Score 9/10
Just
within a year, the Namco Ace Combat team has made
tremendous improvement on the PS 1; check out the difference in
graphics and
the development cycle was one year. This second game earned a 9 from
IGN and
really put the series’ popularity up in the sky.
IGN, “Ace
Combat 2 possesses some of the cleanest polygons ever to grace the
PlayStation. This game possesses fully rendered levels ranging from
submarine
infested oceans, to anti-aircraft plastered canyon trenches.
Now we all know
how famous Namco is for making its games look nice, but how
does it play? Surprisingly, this game plays exceptionally well. Fight
physics
are true to the sky and the enemy AI has been tuned to a new a level.”
ACE COMBAT 3: Electrosphere (March
2000)
IGN Score 9
Another job
well done by Namco, another 9 by IGN. Look at the graphical
enhancement, however this took two and half years to get to the fans.
You may think
this graphic is shitty by today’s standard, but believe me,
the PS1 was sweating this one back in the days…Sam Bishop of IGN wrote,
“The
sense of detail is simply amazing. Sunlight glints off the water, while
the
same light splays across the wings of your plane. There's definitely
draw-in,
but it's not usually a case of popup, it's a gradual fade in of horizon
details”
ACE
COMBAT 4 (PS2 October 2001)
IGN
Score 9.1
Just
when you thought Namco has squeezed enough juice out of
the Ace Combat series, here is another stellar performance! 9.1 is not
easy to
get back in 2001 on the PS2, and I personally do not remember a lot of
games
that got this kind of rating so early into the PS2’s cycle.
David
Smith of IGN said, “The best air combat simulation on
a console. Also very nearly the only one, but I can fairly comfortably
recommend this over the Xbox's Air Force Delta, and it's a very long
jump ahead
of any of the PlayStation AC games. Ace Combat 4 comes very close to
doing
perfectly what it sets out to do”
ACE
COMBAT 5: UNSUNG WAR (Oct 2004)
IGN
Score 9.3
The
Ace Combat series refuse to die! This is the fifth title
and it is still getting a 9+ on IGN and many other gamesites. Notice
the 3 year
development cycle and the new step up in graphics.
Ivan
Sulvic of IGN wrote, “Ace Combat 5 features a
remarkably polished, solid, smooth, and flicker free graphics engine
that
renders vast, detailed landscapes with foliage that naturally blends in
and out
of the terrain. The environmental texture detail has also been upped
considerably. While it still lacks the quality seen in the latest PC
and Xbox
titles, Namco is definitely pushing the little PS2 way beyond its
previously
perceived limitations.”
ACE
COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR (Apr. 2006)
IGN
Score 8.8
Just
when you thought you have received the maximum
potential of the PS2, Namco stuns you again with this un-number
installment of
Ace Combat. Even though it’s lost the charm of 9+; 8.8 is still enough
to sell
plenty of copies worldwide.
Juan
Castro of IGN wrote, “It’s downright exciting squaring
off against a band of killers. These aces show up when you least expect
it, and
usually it makes you damn nervous.”
ACE
COMBAT 6: FIRE OF LIBERATION (XBOX 360)
Coming
Soon
The
evolution continues, hopefully this is a 9+ once again. Note:
There are two more titles that are spinoffs on the PSP and GBA that I
didn’t
mention.
With all that
being said, I think there
is still a very good chance that Namco Bandai will bring the Ace Combat
series
to PlayStation 3; the series is anything but Xbox exclusive. Let’s not
forget
that the development cycle of a new IP is about 2-3 years on the
current
generation, and old IPs like Ace Combat takes at least 1-2 years to
develop.
That means
with the delay of the PlayStation 3, it makes logical sense that Namco
chooses
to keep Ace Combat 6 on the Xbox 360. Much like how they chose to keep
Ridge
Racer 6 exclusive on the Xbox 360. I strongly believe that there will
be a
chance that Ace Combat 7, a re-make of Ace Combat 6 will hit the PS3
within the
next year and half much like RR7 hit PS3 as a launch title.
Namco has traditionally
been tightly knitted with Sony in the Japanese market with the
exclusiveness of
the Tekken series thus far, the formation of Cellius, the PS3/Gundam
Musou
Bundle Package, Kaz Hirai’s famous E3 quote “It’s riiiiiidge racer!”,
and of
course Ken Kutaragi’s son is a manager at Namco Bandai. With all these
connection is hard for anybody not to see a future Ace Combat could be
possible
for the Sony platform. However, staying neutral to both side, I must
say that only time will truely tell.
Various Quotes and Review Scores: IGN
