Jetfighter (series)

Jetfighter

Logo used for Jetfighter 2015.
Genres Combat flight simulator
Developers Velocity Development, Mission Studios, Interactive Vision, City Interactive
Publishers Velocity Development, Mission Studios, Interplay, TalonSoft, Global Star Software

Jetfighter is a series of 3D combat flight simulator computer games that was developed by started in 1988 by Velocity Development. The player would fly a combat jet aircraft in the skies against enemy forces. The game boasted 3D graphics that were cutting-edge at the time of the game's release, and used real-world terrain. The games seldom sold well because they occupied an uncomfortable middle ground of game design - too much flight simulator for action game fans, as they realistically emulated actual combat aircraft, but too simplistic for the hardcore sim fans, who always preferred games more along the lines of the Falcon series. The series ended after the commercial failure of Jetfighter 2015, which was a fully arcade-style jet shooter without even lip service to realism. The later games had support for 3dfx Voodoo cards to run natively in DOS.

Jetfighter II was produced before the winner of the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition was announced; the programmers chose to emulate the YF-23 "Black Widow II" as the winning aircraft rather than the eventual winner, the YF-22 (which entered service in 2004 as the F-22 Raptor).

Games

Title Details
Jetfighter

Original release date(s):
 Release years by system:
1988—DOS
Notes:
  • Developed and published by Bob Dinnerman and Moses Ma under the name of Velocity Development, Jetfighter: the Adventure is the IBM version of the Amiga game F/A-18 Interceptor.
  • Daniel Hockman of Computer Gaming World gave the game a positive review, saying it "has the smoothest, fastest, most pleasing graphics I have yet seen on a flight simulator".[1]


Jetfighter II

Original release date(s):[2]
 Release years by system:
1990—DOS[2]
Notes:
  • Developed and published by Velocity Development[2]
  • Computer Gaming World stated that the game was much more difficult than its predecessor, and concluded that for those who did not attend United States Naval Aviator flight training, "this will probably be the closest they will ever get to landing on a carrier in a high-performance jet ... [it] does a great job of simulating both the difficulty and exhiliration a pilot experiences once he finally places his jet on the carrier deck".[3] A 1992 survey in the magazine of wargames with modern settings gave the game three and a half stars out of five.[4]
Jetfighter II: Advanced Mission Disk

Original release date(s):
 Release years by system:
1992—DOS
Notes:
  • Developed and published by Velocity Development
  • It is an expansion to JetFighter II that adds 125 new missions and makes the Lockheed's F-22 Lightning Advanced Tactical Fighter flyable


Jetfighter III

Original release date(s):[5]
  • NA October 31, 1996
  • PAL February 19, 1998
 Release years by system:
1996—Windows[6]
Notes:
  • Developed and published by Mission Studios[6]
  • It was repackaged in 1997 with Jetfighter III: Enhanced Campaign CD under the title, Jetfighter III Platinum
  • An updated edition, entitled Jetfighter III Classic, was published in September 1999 by Take 2 Interactive. The update includes extra such as 30 new missions[6]
Jetfighter III: Enhanced Campaign CD

Original release date(s):[7]
  • NA April 30, 1997
 Release years by system:
1997—Windows[7]
Notes:
  • Developed and published by Mission Studios[7]
  • It is an expansion of Jetfighter III that adds 74 new missions, two new flyable regions and the ability to fly the F-14 Tomcat[8]
  • It was repackaged in 1997 with JetFighter III under the title, Jetfighter III Platinum


Jetfighter: Full Burn

Original release date(s):[9]
  • NA August 7, 1998
 Release years by system:
1998—Windows[9]
Notes:


Jetfighter IV: Fortress America

Original release date(s):[10]
  • NA November 8, 2000
 Release years by system:
2000—Windows[10]
Notes:


Jetfighter

Original release date(s):[11]
 Release years by system:
2001—Palm Organizer[11]
Notes:


Jetfighter V: Homeland Protector

Original release date(s):[12]
  • NA October 21, 2003
 Release years by system:
2003—Windows[12]
Notes:
  • Developed by Interactive Vision and published by Global Star Software[12]


Jetfighter 2015

Original release date(s):[13]
  • NA September 9, 2005
 Release years by system:
2005—Windows[13]
Notes:
  • Developed by City Interactive and published by Global Star Software[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hockman, Daniel (April 1989), "The Need for Speed", Computer Gaming World: 12
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "JetFighter II Release Information for PC". GameFAQs. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  3. ↑ Hoover, Jim (November 1991). "Soar on Drugs". Computer Gaming World. p. 96. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  4. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (June 1992). "The Modern Games: 1950 - 2000". Computer Gaming World. p. 120. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  5. ↑ "JetFighter III (Jetfighter 3)". IGN. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "JetFighter III". allgame. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "JetFighter III Enhanced Campaign CD for PC - Technical Information". GameSpot. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  8. ↑ McDonald, T. Liam. "JetFighter III Enhanced Campaign CD for PC Review". GameSpot. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "JetFighter: Full Burn". IGN. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "JetFighter IV: Fortress America for PC - Technical Information". GameSpot. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Jetfighter [Palm]". allgame. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "JetFighter V: Homeland Protector for PC". GameSpot. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "JetFighter 2015". IGN. Retrieved February 16, 2009.

External links