In order to be fair and concise, the game’s controls are pretty straight forward. They are fairly intuitive and the layout of all of the buttons works well for the frantic pacing of air combat. In fact, you must be careful in your constant barrel rolls and looping strikes to avoid flying into the ground or going straight up for too long and causing a mid air stall.
The game does a good job of maintaining the correct control physics of a propeller style plane and what it can and cannot do. I learned quite quickly that in order to get anything done, you need to keep the throttle engaged.
More importantly, as the leader of your own squadron, you need to use your skilled wingmen to the fullest and strategy is a must. If your plane takes to much damage, you can contact your mechanic Joe. Joe can give you instructions to perform midair repairs by instructing you to press the controller buttons in a specific pattern. Failing to complete the combo will mean your plane doesn’t get repaired. And since time is of the essence you really need to get those combos down in time or else.
Your other wingmen are Frank and Tom, two pilots more of the combat variety. When called into action, Tom will act as bait, taunting enemies into coming after him when they are chasing you. He also maintains a close proximaty to you and will protect you like a mother hen gunning down enemy fighters that try and shoot at you, sort of your own guardian angel.
Frank on the other hand is your team’s resident ace pilot. He hunts down the enemy with a steely determination. When his special attack is engaged, Frank becomes a rabid animal with his “Lightning” attack, dropping three or four enemies in a short time.
Your wingmen are always around but you are the one who controls them when you engage them using the D-pad, they can get shot down and rendered useless so you must be careful not to force them to stick their necks out to far. And when I say control them, it just means you press the correct command, it’s not rocket science, but it does open up a bit more gaming opportunities.
