The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
A prequel air combat game set in an alternate history.
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces is a 2008 air combat arcade game for the Wii, developed by Project Aces in collaboration with Access Games. It serves as a tie-in prequel to the anime film adaptation of Hiroshi Mori's novel series The Sky Crawlers. The game was released in Japan by Namco Bandai Games on 16 October 2008, with later releases in North America, Europe, and Australia.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Project Aces; Access Games
- Publisher
- Namco Bandai Games; NA: Xseed Games
- Director
- Nobuo Tomita
- Producer
- Kuniaki Kakuwa; Shigeru Yoshida
- Programmer
- Hitoshi Ueda; Satoshi Suzuki
- Artist
- Taichi Wada
- Writer
- Yuta Hamanaka
- Yutaka Toyama
- Yosuke Kano
- Composer
- Kazuhiro Nakamura
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Unlike most Wii games, the player holds the Nunchuk in the dominant hand as a flight control stick and the Wii Remote in the other hand as a throttle lever. Tilting the Nunchuk controls pitch, roll, and yaw, while tilting the Wii Remote up or down adjusts speed. The Classic Controller and GameCube controller are also supported. The Tactical Maneuver Command system allows automatic acrobatics to position for attack. Players unlock planes and customize them in seven areas, including color, weapons, and armor, by defeating special enemies and completing missions. A second player can join in co-op mode using an additional Wii Remote.
Plot
Set in an alternate history, the game follows young fighter pilots in World War II-esque propeller planes. Private corporations stage aerial combat for show across central Europe. The player controls Lynx, a rookie pilot joining the Rostock ace air force team, the Cougar Squad, which includes Captain Mutsuga Yamazaki and Masami Kaida, managed by Colonel Kayaba. After destroying enemy jamming aircraft for rival corporation Lautern, the squad is deployed to Ubasama to meet new recruits: kildren, artificial human clones who stay young indefinitely. Among them are Maumi Orishina, who becomes obsessed with fighting Lynx, and Ko Ukumori, an elitist pilot. Later, Cougar Squad defends the production site of a flying battleship, Wolfram, in Kiriki, losing several pilots. Captain Yamasaki sacrifices himself to defend Ukumori over the Yaura river. Lynx is then made captain of the renamed Cheetah Squad by Tochika Mozume, while Kayaba is reassigned.
Development and release
Full-motion videos between missions were animated by Production I.G, who also animated the 2008 film. Film director Mamoru Oshii and author Hiroshi Mori served as special consultants, playing and testing a pre-release version. The development team incorporated gameplay elements from the Ace Combat series. For the North American localization, Xseed Games directly translated the script, using common English phrases. An option for Japanese voices was considered but removed. The game was first released in Japan on October 16, 2008, shortly after the film's theatrical run. The North American release was delayed from the 2009 holiday season to January 2010.
Reception
NGamer gave the Japanese version 88%. Nintendo Power scored it 7 out of 10, and IGN gave 8.0. Hardcore Gamer Magazine awarded 3.5/5, stating players will likely enjoy the story and feel like a badass pilot. James Jones of Nintendo World Report gave 9 out of 10, praising graphics, audio, and controls while criticizing the lack of competitive splitscreen multiplayer. Brett Todd of GameSpot found default controls unwieldy and recommended pad controls, scoring 7.5 out of 10. The Australian show Good Game gave more negative reviews of 3.5/10 and 4/10, contending the game was problematic beyond its controls.
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