If you want to buy Wings, think carefully about it. Then don't.
The games were simple to play, and not very deep… but this didn’t matter because they were beautiful. Gamers spent many a long hour looking at the luscious graphics and using their imaginations to fill in the blanks (remember last time you used your imagination to play? No? Didn’t think so…)
That was then. This is now. And Wings is proof that not everything in the golden age of gaming should be brought into the present.
The problem is this: the game looks average at best. The cutscenes were pretty 10 years ago but have no animation. Sometimes they’re just lots of text telling you what your next mission is about (summary: nothing important). And once the cutscenes end, all you have are the same three games that individually just aren’t very good… and they repeat over and over and over ad nauseum. A bit like a poor man’s Warioware.
The “simulation” section looks very pretty, because essentially you’re looking at the back of the pilot’s head. It’s a pretty head. It turns to look at the enemy’s plane. Which is good, because at least one of you should be able to see what he’s shooting at. You can get rid of the head… and then you’re left trying to actually fly the plane. This is much harder than it sounds. And if you do finally get the enemy plane in your sights, perhaps because its pilot has died of old age waiting for you to line the shot, your guns jam. Yes… they jam. A nod to realism in an arcade game… and it’s the wrong nod. So there you are, pounding away on your GBA, but at least you’re taking out your frustration with the game, and not at it… smart move, Cinemaware!
Should you, or your GBA, survive the “simulation” section, your commanding officer has three other challenges for you to endure. Will you have to fly around in an isometric view, trying to find a target and then trying harder to line it up in your sights? Will you be flying around in a top down view looking for a target, and timing the careful press of your button while avoiding the challenge of being shot down by, for example, falling asleep? Or will you desperately try to convince the shop assistant to take the game back, please, I don’t want it any more?
I recommend, really, that you take your money, buy a latte, and spend some time on www.newgrounds.com. You’ll have more fun, and frankly, you’ll get a better buzz.