STATIC
Mind Games
MAY
PEACE
BE WITH YOU
AND
ALSO
WITH
ME
All those years of playing fighter pilot video
games finally paid off when I recently flew a light
attack fighter in aerial combat over the Pacific.
The plane was a Marchetti SF
290, a two-seat, single-prop air-
craft that is currently in service
with thirty NATO countries. The
place was Air Combat USA, an
operation out of the Fullerton,
CA, airport that allows anyone,
regardless of their age or fly.
ing experience, to participate in
a laser tag dogfight for $700 an
hour. This flight was paid for by my friends at
Sega, who wanted me to compare real dogfights
to their interactive CD-Rom aerial battle called
Tomcat Alley. A gripping gambit packed with
incredible video segments of the twin-engined,
swing-wing F-14 Tomcat in action against its vari
ous Soviet counterparts, Tomcat Alley takes the
player on a jet ride through the skies in search of
enemy targets. Instead of sitting up front in the
pilot position, the player takes the role of the
Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), the cat who sits
back and fires when ready, Griddley. This includes
dialing in the waypoint, locking on target, and
communicating with your wingman, an enchant
ing young firecracker named Rachel "Ratchet"
Reynolds, portrayed by Jolie Jackunas. She's
nice to look at, just don't mess with her. Due to
the use of actual video, the explosions in Tomcat
Alley are some of the most intense bangs ever
seen in a gaming environment. I was chasing a
flight of MIGs when the base commander called
me in for a briefing. It was time to put down the
game and step up to the real thing.
The pre-flight briefing was an informative.
meeting with Dennis "Dooley" Jackson, who
tutored the assembled rookies on the finer points
of aerial combat. The most important point is the
fighter pilot's code: Look good at all costs. This
means keeping all those zippers zipped and hairs
combed. Yeah, he said, Tom Cruise has the look,
but they brought him to Air Combat USA and the
sucker refused to go up. Poser. Anyway, the sec
ond rule of air combat is just as important: Lose
sight, lose the fight. Take your eyes off the other
SEGA CD
plane and rest assured he's going to smoke your
ass. Another key that's helped me in countless
video games since is the angle of deflection.
Imagine a vertical line extend-
ing up through the center of
the cockpit, this is the angle of
deflection. If you keep this line
pointed at your adversary, you
will always turn in his direction.
If your angle is off then some-
thing else is acting as your axis
and you're probably turning
right into his gunsights.
Out on the tarmac, my partner, Captain Mark
"Sheik" Hessian, who flew F16s during the Gulf
War, explained how to bail out, something he
said would not be necessary: Just open the cock-
pit, jump off the wing and don't hit the tail.
After a brief systems check, the tower gave us
clearance and we were off into the wild blue yon-
der. The Marchetti took to the sky quick and sure.
Once up, Sheik let me take the stick and I soon
discovered the plane had remarkable acrobatic
abilities. The slightest nudge would cause a sud-
den reaction and any turns had to be made with
a steady hand. Flying behind us on the way to the
staging area was another plane containing syn-
dicated communist Chip Carter as well as Steve
"Barrel" Collins, a retired Navy Commander who
flew A7s, F5s, F14s and F16s. We passed Seal
Beach and found ourselves over open ocean.
The planes approached head-on to pass on the
left. After this, the dogfight would commence.
My bogey was coming in at speed and I, likewise,
had the pedal to the metal. We passed and I
threw it into a tight bottom turn. My opponent
was slower to react and I brought my guns to
bear. "Tracking," announced Hessian, signalling
that Chip would soon be dead meat if he didn't
do something quick. It was too late, I had him in
my sights and a plume of white smoke signalled
his mock destruction. One down, two to go.
The second fight I got beat. 'Nuff said.
Third and last fight: Time to get serious. We
came at each other fast and furious and I guided
my plane in a smooth carving turn. "You ever
done this before?" asked Hessian.
"Only on the Mac," I said, referring to my val-
ued hours playing Chuck Yeager's Air Combat.
Chip tried a few parries, but I was on it like
Blue Bonnet and the smoke soon poured from his
plane. Good had overcome evil and the world
was safe again for democracy.
We returned to base and I took another look at
Tomcat Alley. With its realistic video and incredi
ble explosions, the game comes as close to actu-
al dogfighting as modern technology will allow
with your feet on the ground. -Brian Brannon
For a pinball game, Virtual Pinball for
Sega Genesis isn't bad. It lets the silverball
wizard choose from crazy game layouts,
my favorite being the Blood and Guts
Game Board, which has squirting and
screaming bloody skulls. Killer! Another
great feature is that you can create your
own pinball game, using different board.
bumpers, boards, skill levels and crazy
music with cool screams, moans, and splat
noises. I found that you have to play this
game on the fastest speed possible, and
it still seemed a little slow. However, being
able to design your own game and the
killer sounds make this the best video pin-
ball I have ever played. If you're looking for
a Sega pinball game, look no further...
From the intro, you get the idea that Aero
The Acrobat for Super Nintendo has good
graphics. You also sense a bit of a Sonic
rip-off, but what else is new? But even
though the graphics are good, the charac-
ters are too small and there is too much
blank space left open on the screen all
the time. It's not too hard to learn how to i
control Aero the Acrobat, but he really
doesn't have very many acrobatic moves.
As far as secret doors or prizes, they are
there, but only a few. The emptiness of the
screens don't give the makers any places
to hide anything. As long as you keep
chugging along, this game is cool, just
don't stay in one area too long or you'll be
burnt-out by repetition... Winter Extreme
Skiing and Snowboarding for the Super
Nintendo is fast as hell, that's for sure. It's
obviously on the cutting edge of speedy
games. As a snowboarder or skier, you
bomb a curvy, mogully downhill run at
about 1000 mph. It's cool how you can do
backflip after backflip without slowing
down one bit, but it's kind of harsh that
you can't leave the groomed road and rock
jump or something. The pastel and neon
outfit that the snowboarder and skier wear
sucks! Do they think people still wear that
shit? The backgrounds are digitized and
look incredibly real, but that doesn't make
up for the monotonous theme. After five
minutes, if you look away from the screen,
you see blurred lines everywhere. Winter
Extreme blows doors on the older downhill
race games, and it's cool to play for a lit-
tle while, but that's it. -Noah Peacock
PO BOX 2067 FREEDUM
CA 95019
MARK GONZALES
1999
(408) 728-5382
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