AirForce Delta Storm [GBA]

Airforce Delta Storm originally shipped for the Xbox as a 3D flight combat action title. Don't expect the same game on the Game Boy Advance, though. Mobile 21, Konami's internal development studio, went in a completely different direction in bringing this combat series to the handheld. The game is technically and visually impressive with a neat take on arcade mission combat, but the problems really spawn from it being both very simplistic and highly complex at the same time. Still, there's nothing quite like it on the Game Boy Advance...and it is a good change of pace from the normal GBA fare.

Features

• More than a dozen different missions
• Nine different craft
• Cartridge save (three slots)
• Only for Game Boy Advance

Airforce Delta Storm is mission-based, putting players in the cockpits of nine different craft set out to wipe out the various airborne and land-based threats. The game is more arcade than simulation, so there's no stalling during a climb or slow pursuit...and players can almost hover their craft in one spot. Even though it's action-based, Airforce Delta Storm requires a lot of control on the craft between its airspeed and altitude, as well as getting the craft to the next waypoint on the map. Missions range from simply taking out the various bogies zipping along the skies, to targeting damaged submarines with cluster bombs as they surface. There are even missions where players have to maneuver their plane through tight quarters within canyons or even inside a gigantic fortress...and luckily in these missions, you don't need to keep tabs on your altitude.

The camera sits at a fixed point that hovers above your plane, looking down at the action. The designers worked a really slick high-resolution graphics engine that utilizes at least two background "platters" that scale and rotate as your plane flows across the terrain. One background image is used for the ground, which is well-rendered in nearly every mission...the artwork is high-resolution and drawn with good shadowing, that on the LCD screen it even gives off a nice 3D effect. The second layer is used for a cloud cover that really offers a good feeling of speed and depth, since it moves at a completely different pace hovering a couple thousand feet above the land. It's even transparent, becoming thicker and less see-through as the camera rises higher above the cloud cover.

Because the viewpoint is obviously limited to what the LCD screen can display in all directions, and because the top-down view makes it nearly impossible to judge altitude between your craft and the enemy's, the AI targets are generally and intentionally stupid. It would be downright unfair if they could pull off Maverick-esque maneuvers beyond the "slam on the breaks and watch them fly right past" technique, so they'll remain on the same height path throughout their life in the mission. They will try to outfly your craft by weaving and dodging and slowing down, so it is important to work with the controls that are given to you: the game definitely encourages players to hit a much higher altitude so that they can see the enemies at a wider range...then when you're all lined up with their straight-flying path, slowly close the height gap and tailgate 'em with a little machine gun action. Or, let loose with a missile or two when the target lock beeps. It's not a hundred percent accurate, but it's a bit quicker than lining up the guns for a decent shot. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use the guns; in some missions, you don't have the luxury of missiles.

As different as it is, the game's overhead viewpoint obviously has its other downsides beyond the limited gameplay. You can only see so far ahead, behind and to the sides of your craft, so it definitely gives a cramped, claustrophobic feeling throughout the game's missions. Because the game's not quite the usual offering for an air combat title, it's a good thing that there's an optional training mission to plunk through...but it would have been better had the game forced players to complete it the first time they start a game. Most players will jump right into the missions and have no idea what's going on. And we're not surprised that this game doesn't feature link cable play...how fun would it be just zipping around each other at different altitudes? There's a huge reason why the computer opponents have limited maneuverability...without this limitation, the game would be next to impossible to play.

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