Review

Ace Combat Advance

By Rice Burner
February 17, 2005 19:27 PM PST
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Ace Combat Advance is offering something that no other handheld shooter has as of yet--free-roaming dual-plane environments.

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The Ace Combat franchise enters the handheld top-down arcade-shooter fray with a surprising shot of originality in Ace Combat Advance. In a genre dominated by classic arcade-shooter clones, AC Advance brings a bit of ingenuity by offering something that no other handheld shooter has as of yet--free-roaming dual-plane environments. AC Advance's gameplay may look like that of the ordinary run-of-the-mill arcade shooter, but it isn't. The duel-plane environments let you dogfight high in the stratosphere or dive down to tree-top level to bomb ground targets at your leisure.

No, Boys, There Are Two "Os" in Goose
In AC Advance, you assume the role of an elite ace pilot in the United Air Defense (UAD) forces who is single-handedly charged with black-ops missions against the UAD's mortal foe, the Air Strike Force. You can choose from 10 fictitious strike craft--nine of which must be unlocked by achieving primary and secondary mission objectives. In addition to the strike craft's default missiles and guns, you have an assortment of six special weapons to choose from--although you'll find that in over 90 percent of the missions, you'll select the Tactical Air-to-Surface Missiles as your bread-and-butter weapon. Mission objectives and strategies mirror those in the previous home console Ace Combat titles. Objectives include nav point reconnaissance, search and destroy, and scramble missions. The basic strategy, which is predominant in all Ace Combat titles, is to strike as many targets as possible while conserving your ammo and you hull's integrity in the finite time allotted for a successful mission.

Chappy Sinclair Would Be Proud
AC Advance's gameplay initially has a high learning curve. It's difficult to juggle toggling and selecting weapons, maintaining proper speed, and dodging surface-to-air missiles at the same time. You'll find yourself constantly calling for refueling, reacquiring targets because you flew over them too fast, or being blown into tiny pieces by pursuing fighter craft. But once you get the hang of the game engine and acquire better strike craft, the game becomes a very pleasurable experience. Ace Combat Advance is the perfect stopgap between an air-combat sim and an arcade top-down shooter.