The Best Flight Simulator Games of All Time
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- Microsoft Flight Simulator is a flight simulator developed by Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. It was released on August 18, 2020 for Microsoft Windows. It is the eleventh major entry in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, preceded by Flight Simulator X. Flight Simulator uses Asobo's in-house developed game engine, and leverage Bing Maps data, accessing over two petabytes of data from the cloud on demand.
- 2Nov 30 1998Jane's WWII Fighters is a World War II era European Theater of Operations Combat flight simulation video game set during the U.S. American termed "Battle of the Bulge" in 1944 and 1945. The game featured famous fighter aircraft from WWII. It also featured a virtual museum, where aircraft profiles, interviews with fighter pilots such as George Unwin, Gunther Rall and others could be viewed.
- 3Oct 10 2006Microsoft Flight Simulator X is a 2006 flight simulation computer game originally developed and published by Microsoft for Windows. It is the sequel to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 and the tenth and most current installment of the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, which was first released in 1982. It includes a graphics engine upgrade and was marketed by Microsoft as the most important technological milestone in the series to date. It is the first version in the flight simulator series to be released in October 2006 worldwide as a DVD. It is also the first version in the series to feature a new type of electronic distribution prevention using license keys, removing the need for the user to insert the game disc into their computer in order to run the software. In December 2012, over six years after its release, the FSX multiplayer matchmaking system over the GameSpy network was discontinued. On July 9, 2014, Dovetail Games, the developer of RailWorks Train Simulator, announced that it signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft and would be developing and producing new flight software for the series.
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Digital Combat Simulator: A-10C Warthog
Feb 21 2011 - 5Jan 01 2000Combat Flight Simulator 2: WW II Pacific Theater is a 2000 combat flight simulator video game by Microsoft. It's a sequel to Combat Flight Simulator WWII Europe Series. The game takes place in the Pacific War and includes campaigns loosely based on historic air battles, from the American and Japanese perspective.
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Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
Oct 21 2004Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War is a semi-realistic flight combat video game for the PlayStation 2. Like other titles in Namco's Ace Combat series, Ace Combat 5 features gameplay that is a mix between arcade flight and authentic flight simulation. The game was developed by Project Aces, an internal Namco group credited with the development of the Ace Combat series, and was published by Namco in October 2004. A limited number of the games were bundled with the Hori Flightstick 2 accessory. Ace Combat 5 features more than fifty licensed real-world jet aircraft. Nonetheless, the game's events and locations are set in a fictional world. The game's main campaign is set during a war between the fictitious nations of Osea and Yuktobania. The storyline revolves around the player character "Blaze," an Osean fighter pilot who leads a four-plane unit known as Wardog Squadron. The Unsung War follows this squadron's exploits as they attempt to ward off the Yuktobanian invasion of their homeland and uncover the truth about the war. Although a majority of the gameplay in Ace Combat 5 remains similar to that of its predecessor, Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, several notable additions were made. - 7May 24 2006Wings Over Europe is a PC game set during the Cold War era where the USSR has attacked NATO forces in West Germany and thus turned it into a ‘hot war’. The US release of the game is called Wings Over Europe: Cold War Gone Hot, however, the tag line is changed to Wings Over Europe: Soviet Invasion for the European market. The time period covered is 1962 to 1984. The game includes a wide variety of real jets and weapons from the era which can be employed in various mission types such as Combat Air Patrol, Interception, Close Air Support, Iron Hand, Wild Weasel, and Reconnaissance. The game is based on the Strike Fighters: Project 1 engine and was developed by Third Wire Productions. In 2009, an updated version for the Windows Vista platform called Strike Fighters 2 Europe was released. The original game, however, is still compatible with Vista and Windows 7.
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X-Plane 9
Apr 14 2008 - 9Jan 01 2005Falcon 4.0: Allied Force is an F-16 based combat flight simulator released by Lead Pursuit on 28 June 2005. The game is based around a realistic simulation of the Block 50/52 F-16 Fighting Falcon in a series of missions in the Balkans. The game engine is based on the source code of the original 1998 Falcon 4.0 from MicroProse, and consists largely of a collection of improvements from the official patches and extensive Falcon modding community. Allied Force also introduced several major new features and significant improvements in realism and stability.
- 10Jan 01 1991Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe is a World War II air-combat flight simulation video game released in August 1991 and expanded in 1992 by LucasFilm Games. It is a MS-DOS game for IBM PC compatibles. It was the last of a trilogy of World War II titles by LucasFilm Games, the others being Battlehawks 1942 and Their Finest Hour. It enabled the player to fly aircraft of the USAAF Eighth Air Force and the German Luftwaffe, including some experimental aircraft that did not see operational service during World War II. The game was initially released with a codewheel and a 225-page manual, detailing the air war over Western Europe between 1943 and 1945. The game also featured a campaign mode, similar to that found in "Their Finest Hour", where the player had to make the strategic decisions on which targets were to be attacked or defended. Some gameplay elements included, such as the historic missions section, are evident in later Lawrence Holland games including X-Wing.
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Digital Combat Simulator
Digital Combat Simulator World is a free-to-play digital military aircraft battlefield simulation developed by Eagle Dynamics. It includes a free Sukhoi Su-25T attack aircraft and TF-51D Mustang, and is extensible through additional DCS modules as well as user-made add-ons and mods. DCS World features a large area of the Caucasus region that encompasses much of Georgia - the location of the Russo-Georgian war in 2008, as well as additional locations such as Nevada, Iran, UAE, Oman and period specific Normandy 1944 which are all scheduled to release in 2015. Additionally, DCS World includes: mission and campaign editors, online multiplayer, large inventory of air, land and sea combat units and weapons, advanced AI, mission generator, dynamic weather and seasons, training missions, mission replay system, and pilot log book. This all allows the creation of real-world combat missions. DCS World allows both realistic game play and more simplified game play to suit the player. DCS modules that can plug into DCS World include aircraft, maps and ground units. Modules for DCS World include modules developed internally by Eagle Dynamics, as well as those by certified third party developers. - 12
Jane's Combat Simulations: Advanced Tactical Fighters
May 31 1996 - 13Jan 01 19941942: The Pacific Air War is a DOS-based combat flight simulation developed and released by MicroProse in 1994. It is based on the U.S. and Japanese Pacific War conflict from 1942 to 1945. The popularity of this game influenced the creation of European Air War, a sequel.
- 14Oct 23 2001Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies is a semi-realistic flight simulation developed by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first in the Ace Combat series to be released for the PlayStation 2.
- 15Feb 18 2008Wings Over Israel is a PC game covering the three major Middle Eastern conflicts Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War and Lebanon War. The game includes a wide variety of real jets and weapons from the era, which can be employed in various mission types such as Combat Air Patrol, Interception, Close Air Support, Escort, Defense Suppression, and Reconnaissance. The game is based on the Strike Fighters engine and was developed by Third Wire Productions.
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WWII Aces
Mar 21 2008WWII Aces is a Flight Simulator video game set in World War II for the Wii. - 17Oct 18 1998Enemy Engaged: Apache vs Havoc is a helicopter flight simulator game by Razorworks. It was followed by Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs Hokum, which was interconnectable with Apache vs Havoc. It also has a sequel called Enemy Engaged 2. The game features two fully simulated combat helicopter: the US AH64D Apache Longbow and Russian Mil-28N Havoc B It has been released on GOG.com.
- 18May 27 1999Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere is a semi-realistic flight simulation game made by Namco for the PlayStation game console. The third installment in the Ace Combat series of console flight-simulation games, Electrosphere takes off the contemporary setting of the first two games into a story set in the mid-21st century, involving a war between multinational corporations.
19X-Plane 11
- 20Jan 01 2004Wings Over Vietnam is a PC game set during the Vietnam War over South East Asia and covers the time period between 1964 to 1973. The game includes a wide variety of jets and weapons which can be employed in various mission types such as MIG-CAP, strike, air support, Iron Hand, and reconnaissance. The game is based on the Strike Fighters: Project 1 engine and was developed by Third Wire Productions. In 2009, a vastly enhanced and rewritten version for the Vista platform called Strike Fighters 2: Vietnam was released.
- 21Jan 01 2000B-17 Flying Fortress or B-17 Flying Fortress World War II Bombers in Action is a flight simulation/role-playing video game released in 1992 for DOS on the IBM PC compatible personal computer by MicroProse. Commodore Amiga and Atari ST versions were released a year later. The game simulates training, combat missions and sorties in a tour of duty in the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces in the European Theater of Operations aboard a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber during World War II.
- 22Aug 31 1999AeroWings, known in Japan as Aero Dancing featuring Blue Impulse, is a flight simulator for Sega's Dreamcast video game console. The player could train with squads, learn the ropes of handling the aircraft, and doing tricks after mastering the different stunts. The difference between the Japanese and other versions outside the country was, as the Japanese version was only licenced by Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Blue Impulse aerobatic display team, it featured liveries that of the team.
- 23Jan 01 1991Birds of Prey is a 1992 flight simulator for the Amiga and IBM PC by Argonaut Games. It features a wide variety of NATO and Warsaw Pact aircraft and their respective ordnance as well as 12 different mission profiles. The entire game environment takes place on a vast dynamic map that consists of several land areas separated by the sea. The game plot revolves around a military conflict between two sides that have three air bases and one aircraft carrier each.
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Jane's IAF: Israeli Air Force
Jan 01 1998Jane's IAF: Israeli Air Force is a military jet aircraft Combat flight simulation video game released in 1998. The simulation was created by the Israeli software developers Pixel Multimedia and was released under the Jane's Combat Simulators line from Electronic Arts. The game which is set in the Middle East featured a single campaign mode which included several missions and a Massively Multiplayer Online Arena. There were two type of campaigns; the first type of campaigns featured recreations of several historic operations of the IAF such as the 1967 Six-Day War, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the 1982 Lebanon War. The second types of campaigns featured several fictional futuristic operations with Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. - 25
SGI Dogfight
Dogfight is a demonstration program initially written by Gary Tarolli at Silicon Graphics, Inc. It represents landmarks in two key areas of Internet development: games and multicasting, and notable advancement in creating rendered virtual environments. Dogfight might more properly be referred to as three programs, flight, dog, and shadow. Flight is a flight simulator, dog is an air combat game in which multiple people use the flight interface to control their aircraft, and shadow is an observation program that allows a user to see what a user of either dog or flight sees. The following planes were available: Cessna P-38 Lightning Boeing 747 F-16 F-15 F-14D Later versions added: different F-16 geometry F-18 Boeing 727 - 261987After Burner is a 1987 combat flight simulator arcade game by Sega AM2. It is one of the first games designed by Yu Suzuki. The player flew an F-14 using a specialized joystick, and the game spawned several sequels.More After Burner
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- 27Jan 01 1995Air Combat 22 is an arcade game released by Namco in 1995 and the arcade sequel to Air Combat in the Ace Combat series. It was named Air Combat "22" because it runs on Namco's Super System 22 hardware. Air Combat 22 was the second game that Namco made in the Ace Combat series. The first Ace Combat game was also an Arcade game, called 'Air Combat', in 1992. All Namco's subsequent additions to the series have been console games.
- 28Jan 01 1992After Burner III is a video game released for the FM-Towns home computer in Japan and later ported to the Sega Mega-CD in Japan, Europe and North America. It is the third game in the After Burner series, and a port of Strike Fighter, a game released for Japanese arcades, itself a sequel to G-LOC: Air Battle. The game again has the player flying the F-14 Tomcat, with the same weapons as before. Headquarters has informed you that "the enemy" is reported to be building airfields and bases throughout the desert. Your mission is to take out those bases, and if you get rid of a few enemy planes in the process, "so much the better". After Burner III differs from After Burner II significantly. Several new cinematic sequences are featured in the game. The "rolling mode" in the game is now optional. Also, two selectable in-game views are available from the main menu. The first view is the game's default, which is "cockpit". This gives you a view similar to that of common flight simulators. The second type of view available is "back", which is similar to the After Burner II arcade game.
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Harrier Combat Simulator
Jan 01 1986Harrier Combat Simulator is a computer game developed by Mindscape for the Atari ST in 1987 along with the MS-DOS PC and the Commodore 64. - 30Jan 01 1992
