Red Baron (1990 video game)

Not to be confused with Red Baron (1980 video game).
Red Baron

Developer(s) Dynamix
Publisher(s) Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online
Platform(s) Amiga, DOS, Mac OS
Release date(s) 1990
Genre(s) Combat flight simulator
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer (via ImagiNation)
Distribution Floppy disks

Red Baron is a critically acclaimed video game for the PC, created by Damon Slye at Dynamix and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was released in 1990.

As the name suggests, the game is a flying simulation set on the Western Front of World War I. The player can engage in single missions or career mode, flying for either the German Air Service or the Royal Flying Corps. In the course of the game the player might find himself either flying in the Red Baron's squadron Jasta 11, or encountering him as an enemy above the front.

A port of the game for the Nintendo 64 was announced,[1] but never released.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

Many of the famous German, British, and French combat aircraft of World War I are available to fly including the Fokker E.I Eindecker, the Fokker Dr.I Triplane, the Sopwith Camel, and the SPAD XIII. The game features somewhat unrealistic physics as it was mainly intended as an entertainment game instead of a true flight simulator, although the unique flying characteristics of some of the aircraft were implemented such as the gyroscopic effect created by the Sopwith Camel's rotary engine and the Albatroses' upper wings shearing at high negative G loads. The player also has to deal with problems the real fighter pilots of World War I faced, such as gun jams, flak, engine damage, and possibly bleeding to death if they were wounded and could not land at an aerodrome in time.

There are several types of missions in the game: dogfight; scramble; patrol; balloon busting/protection; reconnaissance escort; and bomber escort/interception; and Zeppelin hunt. There were also recreations of historical missions. The majority of the missions are carried out with one to three wingmen for the player, although the player may choose to fly missions solo if appointed as the flight leader.

The player can select any mission to fly on either the German or Allied sides. Location, aircraft type, wingmen, and famous aces can also be chosen for the mission.

A career in either the German Air Service or British Royal Flying Corps runs from December 1915 to January 1918, just before the Armistice. As time progresses, the player is transferred to various historical aerodromes in France and in England. The Front also shifts as it did during the War and battles such as Verdun are noted. More advanced aircraft are also introduced in the proper time periods. The player's number of aerial kills is kept track of and he is promoted in rank and awarded medals as he progresses, and he can eventually customize the colors of his aircraft. If the player is wounded in combat and is able to land/crash land in friendly territory, they spend several months recuperating from their wounds, but if they end up in enemy territory, they spend several months in a prisoner-of-war camp until they escape back to their side. The timeline continues during the recovery/imprisonment periods, so it is possible that the player will return to duty at a different aerodrome flying newer aircraft.

Depending on how well the player does, they can be assigned to an aerodrome that has a famous ace and can fly missions with them, and depending on the time period and the location of the aerodrome, the player can encounter the famous enemy aces that were in the area during that time period.

A multiplayer version of the game was available on The Sierra Network. Two to four pilots competed in games lasting for ten minutes or three deaths.[2]

Reception

Computer Gaming World approved of Red Baron '​s accurate history and realistic flight models and combat, and option to record missions. The magazine concluded that the game "is a well thought-out, quality flight combat simulator".[3] In a 1991 survey of World War I flight simulations, Computer Gaming World described Red Baron as less realistic than MicroProse's Knights of the Sky, but with excellent graphics and gameplay.[4] A survey of strategy and war games that year, however, gave it five stars out of five and stated that it was superior to Knights of the Sky.[5] A 1993 review of the Sierra Network multiplayer version called it "a real pleasure ... One of the best on-line gaming values yet".[2] The game got 5 out of 5 stars Dragon.[6]

Red Baron won Computer Gaming World's 1991 Simulation of the Year award,[7] and in 1993 the magazine named the game to its Hall of Fame, stating that it "still stands as the high watermark of realistic air combat for many gamers".[8] That year the magazine told a reader asking for "the most enjoyable flight simulation game" that "most of us still opt for Red Baron".[9] In 1996, the magazine named Red Baron as #4 on its list of the best PC games of all time, positively comparing it to Spectrum HoloByte's Falcon 3.0.[10]

Freeware release

In 1997, Sierra officially released the 16-color version of Red Baron as a free download on their website as a promotion.[11]

Complete series

Remake

On October 22, 2013, a Kickstarter campaign was started to fund a re-release of Red Baron.[12]

References

  1. "Ultra 64 'Dream Team'". GamePro (IDG) (70): 138. May 1995.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Trimble, Timothy L. (1993-02). "Red Baron on TSN". Computer Gaming World. p. 136. Retrieved 6 July 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. Trimble, Timothy (April 1991). "Blue Skies, White Clouds, Red Baron". Computer Gaming World. p. 56. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  4. Weksler, Mike (June 1991). "Dogfight at the PC Corral / WWI Air Combat Simulations in Review". Computer Gaming World. p. 31. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  5. Brooks, M. Evan (December 1991). "Computer Strategy and Wargames: The 1900-1950 Epoch / Part II (M-Z) of an Annotated Paiktography". Computer Gaming World. p. 126. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  6. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (December 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (188): 57–64.
  7. Staff (November 1991). "Computer Gaming World's 1991 Games of the Year Awards". Computer Gaming World (Golden Empire Publications, Inc) (88): 3840, 58.
  8. "Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame". Computer Gaming World. 1993-05. p. 141. Retrieved 7 July 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. "Letters from Paradise". Computer Gaming World. 1993-09. p. 72. Retrieved 30 July 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. The Red Baron's Plane of Existence
  11. Red Baron (16-colour version) official game files 10-Feb-1997 (public free release) (Note: Betrayal at Krondor 16-color version was also released at the same time)
  12. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/madottergames/red-baron

External links