Aero Dancing 4 gets ported to North America as Aero Elite: Combat Academy- A 3/4 star, solid flight sim for NTSC PS2s'.
The control scheme works well, though the rudders don't seem to do much in way of adjusting and correcting your course, and the max roll rate seems reduced from real-life counter parts by at least 23%. The tougher bit seems to be the extreme sensitivities of the helicopter and harrier cyclic and vertical thrust controllers. Since the ground has less than favorable textures, trying to keep yourself flat and level, a task usually done by eye, becomes a concentration contest with your hud's pitch meter. Thankfully, there are autobalance features for particular kinds of craft, even torque reduction from the tail rotors. The Ai plays exceptionally well. Unlike Ace Combat 4 (NOT A SIM) , you won't find random craft flying upside down for now apparent reason. The enemy wants their wings as badly as you want yours. That said, the AI plays strictly by the same rules you do, save for the fact that they never pull more than the 'safe' amount of G's, meaning you can near-red out/black out your way into one-upping them. Enemy AI will also use maneuvers you go over in training. From scissors, yo-yos, immelmans, etc. Makes gun-dogfighting replays all the more enjoyable to watch, and save. A great selection of craft, new and old. You can even fly a sea plane and cargo plane which has working rear opening bay and parachute drop ((must tilt craft to angle for drop))- both also usable in the game's many missions.
The brunt of the gameplay is aerial training. You go over the maneuvers, qualify for the next set, and eventually unlock more sophisticated craft, as well as open up new air show contests, which if passed unlock even more craft. The game also features special craft painted in the colors of the Japan Air Self Defense Force's "Blue Impulse" Squadron. Complete with red smoke trails for stunt flying.
Needless to say the developers consider flight an art form, and gave it due respect. That's not something you see as often as we'd like in todays gaming world, so kudos to Sega-AM2.
Music is about as generic yet fulfilling as Airshow tunes usually are. Sans any vocal tracks. Also got some smooth jazz thrown in there for free-flight enthusiasts ((also includes a shoreside pier ferris wheel with fireworks going off at night)).
The edits- Aero Dancing 4 featured a few more craft, and a few zany ones (flying dolphin :o ), as well as online connectivity. So if you're wondering how the intro movie has so many flying formation shots, that was how. You won't be getting it per say. ;(
Hidden in each free flight map, somewhere in the skies, totally off radar are always a pair of craft flying CAP. If you start a map and see a shimmering dot in the distance, afterburn right for the sucker and you'll find the secret squadrons. At least you can save the replay. Other than that, the squad is pretty useless.
Outside of air training and stunt flying, are the game's random 'scramble' missions. Between selecting which air training and stunt flying mission to partake, a random alert will go off and you'll have the option of heading straight to the hangar (you set your 'standby craft' and payload as soon as you start the game, and can be changed when off-mission). It becomes a bit tricky when it comes to setting your craft. Considering the nature of a scramble mission, you never know if you'll need strictly air-to-air weaponry, air-to-ground, spare fuel tanks, etc. Skill however, makes up for a lot, and thankfully that's what the game's all about- honing your aerial combat skills, hence the name.
The basic setup of a scramble mission: You start in your craft while in the hangar. You taxi onto the runway while the flight controller tells you the heading, and altitude of the unidentified craft. You take off and head for that location, on the way getting constant speed/altitude updates on the bogey. Eventually your radar pics up their signal- if you followed the guides really well, and formed that mental image of the bogey's course layout and approach/turn trajectories, you'll end up smack dab in front of them. In more cases than not, they are heading towards your island base, hence the scramble. Onto Step 2- Identification. Once spotting the craft, you pull hard and get on its tail, moving closer and closer without over shooting. Be it day or night, you must then get close enough to take 3 photos from various angles of the craft. The images are relayed back to base and your are given orders. Lost passenger craft, incoming bomber, incoming fighter or attacker, and yes, You are given orders to escort, of fire a warning shot. In the case of warning shots, you must close within 100m distance, and fire a burst of cannon fire about 15-20 degrees above their cockpit. If they do not respond, you fire again. At this point, the bogey (fighter/attacker) can become hostile and change it's intended target (the base) to you - or they will dump their payload and turn back away from base, in which case you escort them far enough away and then return home. Other scrambles consist of emergency missions, where you'll find yourself in the cockpit of a helicopter, transport plane, or sea plane and are given orders to take out incoming tanks, drop medical supplies, or pick up a VIP at the lake near the volcano that created the island.
Completing these scrambles can reward you with particular craft, like the transports and certain enemy fighter models.
What's more, once you do about 8 or so scramble missions, you unlock 'scramble mode'- where you can refly scramble missions at will with whatever craft and payload available to you.
So all in all, the game doesn't have a plot going. There's no waring countries, no super weapons, no crazy natural disasters (meteors, etc). The game is strictly Air Combat Maneuvers at the core, just as the game's title states. It delivers where it promises, and the execution overall is definitely worthy of sim-gamer attention. An underappreciated game played by newbie sim gamers/flight enthusiasts. Keep in mind, this is not an arcade shoot 'em up, you won't have a payload of 50 missiles, and you can very well die in one missile hit. The third best flight sim on the Playstation 2- second to Taito's "Energy Airforce" and "Energy Airforce: Aimstrike!", available online in PAL territories and JAPAN.
Also note, Aero Elite is compatible with ALL versions of Hori's "Flight Stick II", which debuted alongside Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War in 2005.