Line #15 VideoGame/AeroFighters


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aero_fighters_2.png]]
2	A top-down [[VerticalScrollingShooter vertical scrolling]] ShootEmUp series by Video System, known as ''Sonic Wings'' in Japan (and sometimes in the rest of the world) (not to be confused with ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''). On the surface, ''Aero Fighters'' looks to be a standard military shoot 'em up video game, but what makes this series unique and charming is its own [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits variety of playable characters]], with a few examples being a [[SpiritedCompetitor spirited]] American {{cyborg}}, a {{ninja}}, a [[JapanesePopMusic J-pop]] IdolSinger, a rich girl and her tutor, an ''[[KidHero infant]]'', a ''[[HeroicDolphin dolphin]]'', and even some {{Crossover}} characters from other Video System games.
3
4	The series spans five games:
5	* ''Aero Fighters 1'', dedicated arcade hardware, later ported to the [[Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]].
6	* ''Aero Fighters 2'', Platform/NeoGeo arcade platform.
7	* ''Aero Fighters 3'', Neo Geo. UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era planes, instead of modern fighter jets like the others.
8	* ''Sonic Wings Limited'', Zinc arcade board. Later ported to the Platform/SegaSaturn and Platform/PlayStation as ''Sonic Wings Special''.
9	* ''Aero Fighters Assault'', exclusive to the Platform/Nintendo64. [[OddballInTheSeries Strayed from the formula]], being a halfway realistic 3D flight simulation (developed by Creator/ParadigmEntertainment) instead of a vertical shoot'em up.
10
11	The squared-off font used in the logo was famously [[JustForFun/IReadThatAs misread]] by Creator/JohnGreen as "Nerd Fighters", which later became the FanCommunityNickname of him and his brother Creator/{{Hank\|Green}}, known online as the WebVideo/VlogBrothers.
12
13	!!I never thought I'd be reading trope examples over a jungle:
14	* AllJustADream: Mao Mao's ending in the first ''Aero Fighters'', in which she seems to have [[FallingIntoTheCockpit accidentally gotten stuck]] in her fighter which is fighting on its own.
15	* AmbiguousGender:
16	** Angela, full bore. For starters, the character's called ''Steve'' in ''Aero Fighters 2''. Everywhere else (''Sonic Wings 2'' included), they're called Angela. All you have to do is figure out why the translators felt justified in that. Making matters more difficult is that different ending pictures depict them as male ''or'' female. ''And'', in Sonic Wings, Angela uses [[{{Bokukko}} male pronouns]]. The best example of the situation is to compare their endings with Hien and Ellen. Pay close attention to how [[GodivaHair their hair is falling in each one]]...
17	** In Keaton's ending with Angela, the latter was shown wearing a corset undergarment with a clearly feminine figure.
18	* AstralFinale: Every single game of the series, with the exception of ''2'' where the final stage is in an abnormally gigantic temple interior (referred to in ''Special'' as "Another World") and possible route in ''3'' where the branching path either leads to TheBermudaTriangle or ''Mars''.
19	* BattleshipRaid: A number of bosses follow this trope, being either true battleships or massive land-based moving fortresses.
20	* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: ''Aero Fighters 3'' starts with a surprise attack from WWII-era airplanes that destroys the modern jet fighters, which is why the players are piloting WWII-era aircraft themselves.
21	* BossGame: The third game as well as ''Assault''.
22	* BossWarningSiren:
23	** In ''Aero Fighters 2'', a loud siren with incoherent speech plays when approaching a boss.
24	** ''Aero Fighters 3'' actually incorporates this trope into the boss theme, which starts off with this GratuitousEnglish speech backed by a siren:
25	---> Hey you idiot! \
26	Make a move or you will be finished \
27	Show me what you've go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-t!!
28	* BlindIdiotTranslation: If it weren't for this and the zany cast of characters, most people would be dismissing this game as yet another generic vertical shooter.
29	* CoolPlane: Both the ones you can control and the enemy ones, especially the bosses that are far larger than their RealLife counterparts.
30	* DeathFromAbove: Among others the smart bomb of the Harrier (AV-8) in ''Aero Fighters'', that brings several Vulcan bombers to carpet bomb the screen.
31	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Crashing your plane in ''Aero Fighters Assault'' will only subtract a bit of your health.
32	* DemotedToDragon: Gorgonzula is bumped from one of two final bosses to penultimate boss before Lar or Tenukie in ''Aero Fighters 2''. Lar and Tenukie themselves end up joining him in ''Aero Fighters 3''.
33	* DifficultyByRegion: For some reason, ''Aero Fighters 3'' is locked to the hardest difficulty level when played on the European BIOS.
34	* DynamicDifficulty: Enemy bullets move faster at least in the first game once you've all power-ups.
35	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first game is a little more serious compared to the later games, despite having moments of comedy. It also uses a vertical monitor unlike the better-known Neo Geo games, although ''Special'' and ''Limited'' would return to a vertical orientation.
36	* EldritchAbomination: The Hildroid bosses Pandora (a floating golden skull with a spinal cord body), Lar (cycloptic metal sphere that can spawn weapons from anywhere on its body), Mars-Vesta (egg-shaped cycloptic stone that can shapeshift into various forms), Bagarius (cycloptic tentacled monster that fuses with a submarine), and [[TomTheDarkLord Barbie]] (a pulsing pink orb).
37	* ExcusePlot: A terrorist organization called Fata Morgana is trying to TakeOverTheWorld with the help of some otherworldly creatures known as the Hildroids. The protagonists are part of an international peacekeeping force called "Project Blue" trying to stop them. Project Blue and the terrorists were only mentioned in the manuals for ''Special'' and ''Assault'', whereas the Hildroids are mentioned a grand total of ''once'' during "The Man"'s solo ending in ''Aero Fighters 3''. The first two games? Didn't explain whoever the bad guys are ''at all''.
38	* FlatCharacter: William Sid Pride in the first game.
39	* FlyingCar: The guest character from ''[[http://www.arcadeflyers.com/flyers_video/vsystem/151480201.jpg Turbo Force]]'' is a jet-propelled sport car.
40	* FlyingSaucer:
41	** The boss of the Hawaii stage in ''Aero Fighters 2'' is a chakram-shaped craft labled the X-68 ([[SixIsNine or 89-X depending on how you look at it]]).
42	** Later games have a more traditional-looking saucer called the Spinning Rose ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which spins]]). It is a potential final boss in every game except ''Special''.
43	* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The alternate final bosses: Gorgonzula the KillerSpaceMonkey in ''1'', Tenukie the BedsheetGhost in ''2'', and Soh-Takeko the Mahjongg-Tile girl in ''3''.
44	* GuideDangIt: Unlocking the bonus levels in ''Assault'' and the TrueFinalBoss. To get the first one, you have to gain a very high score in the first 2 levels. To get the second one, you have to clear all of the levels before reaching the fortress very fast. The third bonus level is available if you cleared the first 2 bonus stages. Getting to the TrueFinalBoss requires completing all of the levels.
45	* HellIsThatNoise: Lar's "roar" in ''Assault''.
46	* HeroicDolphin: Spanky, a dolphin ''fighter jet pilot'' able to communicate in human languages.
47	* InconsistentDub:
48	** Many characters who get a DubNameChange revert to their original names in later games, including the characters Steve (Angela), Cindy (Cincia), Kohful (Kowful) and the bosses Amadan (Bazeel) and Deathskull (Pandora), though it helps that until ''Assault'' with the exception of the main characters, are [[AllThereInTheManual almost all confined in the manual or non in game materials]].
49	** Hien for some reason has a hyphen in his name in ''Aero Fighters 2''.
50	** Spanky reverted to his Japanese name (Whity) in ''Aero Fighters Special'', but was changed back to Spanky in ''Aero Fighters Assault''.
51	** The villainous organization the heroes fight against is called Fata Morgana in ''Aero Fighters Special'' and Phutta Morgana in ''Aero Fighters Assault''.
52	** The "special" Final Boss in ''Aero Fighters'' is called "Gorgonzula" in the manual but "Mohetu Saru Bomb" (Super Monkey Bomb) in-game (though indirectly, on the screen of a movie theatre in one of the endings). Incidentally, the Japanese versions aren't consistent with his name either, alternating between "Super Monkey Bomb" and simply "Monkey".
53	** Some copies of the third and fourth games retain the ''Sonic Wings'' title in the English version.
54	** Given the ''very'' limited English release ''Special'' had, many of the above are likely the result of a rushed translation.
55	* JustPlaneWrong: Besides some planes that appear as bosses like the Vulcan and the B-2 in ''Aero Fighters'' and ''Aero Fighters 2'' respectively being ''way'' larger than real-world equivalents, the Paris stage boss in the latter is a pair of militarized Concorde airliners.
56	* MacrossMissileMassacre: The smart bomb of the F-14 in ''Aero Fighters'' consists in a salvo of Tomahawk cruise missiles.
57	* MightyGlacier: The Harrier (AV-8) in ''Aero Fighters'' and the A-10 in ''Aero Fighters 2''. Both are less maneuverable than other planes, but have both high firepower and powerful smart bombs.
58	* MoodDissonance: On one hand, the gameplay looks like a run-of-the-mill vertical shooter of the 90's. On the other hand, you have [[BunnyEarsLawyer eccentric pilots of all stripes]] such as ninjas, dolphins, and babies exchanging silly one-liners between stages.
59	* MultipleEndings: All pilots have them, regardless of whether you're flying solo or with someone else, and whether or not you successfully defeat the final boss. In the rest of the series except for ''Assault'', there's even endings for each possible pair of characters.
60	%%* NintendoHard
61	* RedOniBlueOni: Chaika and Pooshika, the Russian twins in the third game of the series. Chaika is the blue one.
62	** Mao Mao and Hien can also fit, with Mao Mao being young and enthusiastic while Hien is much more stoic and reserved.
63	** Also Keaton and Keith, the former being more straight and serious than the latter.
64	* SapientCetaceans: Spanky is a dolphin who pilots a frickin' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YF-23 YF-23 fighter jet]] and other experimental aircraft. He [[MemeticMutation fries over jungles]].
65	* SapientShip: Rabio, a secret character in the SNES ''Aero Fighters'' alongside Lepus, as well as ''Aero Fighters 3'' and ''Special'' (where he's "piloted" by Kotomi). Of course, this would be completely lost on anyone who didn't play his home series, since he has no lines in any ''Aero Fighters'' appearance.
66	* SchrodingersPlayerCharacter: Beat the game as "The Man" solo and he is revealed to be Captain Waffle from ''Spinal Breakers''. Beat the game in co-op and he's revealed to be... ''just some guy''.
67	* SharedUniverse: ''Aero Fighters'' acts a "Hub" franchise for a number of other Video System games, including ''Rabio Lepus'', ''Lethal Crash Race'', ''Tao Taido'', ''Karate Blazers'', ''Spinal Breakers'', ''Turbo Force'' and even ''Super Volleyball'' (TB A-10 looks exactly like the robot referee of the Hyper mode in this game).
68	* ShoutOut:
69	** The first boss of ''Aero Fighters 2'' is heavily based on the gigantic spider tank from ''VideoGame/RaidenII'', down to the way it explodes.
70	** The {{Superboss}} of ''Aero Fighters 3''[='=]s final stage is preceded with a black ball that displays the following text:
71	--> WELCOME TO MARS. [[VideoGame/{{Darius}} WARNING! A HUGE BATTLESHIP "SOH-TAKEKO" IS APPROACHING FAST.]]
72	** In ''Assault'', Volk says "[[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} Say hello to my little friend!]]" when using his special.
73	** In ''Aero Fighters'', when playing as Hien (FSX):
74	--> [[Film/UnderSiege BOMB THE TERRORISTS' BATTLESHIP]][[note]]U.S. stage[[/note]]
75	--> STOP THE TAKEOVER CAUSED BY THE MILITARY[[note]]Russian stage. Very likely a reference to the RealLife [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_coup 1991 August coup]] [[/note]]
76	** The boss of the Russian stage in ''Aero Fighters'' is the MIG-31 from ''Film/{{Firefox}}'', or rather the two prototypes had not [[spoiler: Gant stolen one]]. The ending credits when playing as Hien and Mao Mao mention it as one of the "actors".
77	* SillySimian: The joke final boss in the first game was a monkey, which has since appeared in other games combined or attacking with the last stage's mid boss.
78	* SkippableBoss:
79	** ''Aero Fighters'': The capsule that releases one of two Final Bosses can be destroyed before it does so, and the game's ending will change to reflect this.
80	** ''Aero Fighters 2'': The final stage of the Mexico boss has randomized health, sometimes it'll only last a few seconds before exploding, sometimes it'll skip straight from the penultimate stage to the explosion.
81	** ''Aero Fighters Assault'': The FinalBoss has three stages, but they operate on a timer rather than health.
82	* SmartBomb: In ''3'', known as a special attack which varies based on the plane, the most common being a screen clear, invincibility, and a strong short-range attack. Of these, Chaika and Pooshika's IL-2 Stormovick has russian dolls hunt around the screen and provide limited invincibility while in effect, and Alex's Whirlwind has a short delay in invincibility before clearing bullets or doing the full screen attack.
83	* TimeStandsStill: Mao Mao's smart bomb.
84	* TokyoTower: In ''3'', it's been either transformed into an assault mecha or replaced by a mecha impostor. On the second loop, said Tokyo Tower mecha falls backwards into a lake.
85	* TotallyRadical: Hawk in ''Assault'' uses stereotypical surfer slang. "Bummer", "Gnarly", and "Bogus" just to name a few. Just [[https://sonicwings.fandom.com/wiki/Hawk listen to his voice samples]] for yourself.
86	* TrueFinalBoss: In ''Assault'', Pandora and the level itself. See GuideDangIt above.
87	* VideoGame3DLeap: ''Assault'' is a ''Franchise/StarFox''-ish flight sim as opposed to a top-down shoot-em-up.
88	* TheWallsHaveEyes: Lar is a giant, disembodied, floating eye.
89	* WeaponizedLandmark: Running out of time on Mission 1 of ''Aero Fighters Assault'' will not result in a game over. Instead, the Tokyo Towers will turn into a pair of laser cannons that will instantly destroy the boss [[BreatherLevel and let you go to the next mission]]. A Tokyo Tower was previously an enemy in ''Aero Fighters 3''.
90	----
91	-> Hey, you idiot! Make a move, or you will be finished! Show me what you've ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8toaCZbnz0 gooooooooootttttttttttttttt!!]]''

Context VideoGame / AeroFighters