Ace Combat

Ace Combat launched in 1995 on PlayStation as Air Combat outside Japan, pushing against the strict flight simulators that dominated the genre at the time. Namco (now Bandai Namco) bet on arcade-style controls, where radar, targeting and damage work intuitively so players focus on spectacular dogfights rather than cockpit checklists. Most entries take place in the fictional universe of Strangereal, with its own nations, conflicts and ace pilots, and missions are carried by radio chatter and an orchestral score that turn battles into cinematic storytelling.

The direct sequel Ace Combat 2 (1997), on the same console, mostly cemented the first game's formula. Only with the third entry, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (1999), did the series show it could experiment — setting its story in a corporate-run cyberpunk future — though its dialogue-heavy design meant the full version stayed largely confined to Japan. The real shift came with Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies and Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War on PlayStation 2, which leaned harder into story and the moral weight of war. The prequel Zero: The Belkan War added a rating system weighing mercenary brutality against knightly restraint and is considered by many fans the series' peak for its tension between military discipline and personal revenge. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation remained an Xbox 360 exclusive and expanded the battlefield with allied ground units.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (2011) stepped out of Strangereal into the real world and added close-range action dogfighting inspired by movie aerial sequences, splitting the fan base. A return to tradition came with Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, which added VR support and rebuilt its story around Strangereal conflicts and old rivalries from earlier entries.

Alongside the main line came a string of spin-offs that kept the brand alive between major releases — the handheld Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception and Joint Assault on PSP, 3D Cross Rumble on 3DS, and the free-to-play Ace Combat Infinity on PlayStation 3. Ace Combat remains one of the few arcade flight-combat series to hold onto its own identity for decades in a genre otherwise dominated by realistic simulators.