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By Lonnie on November 16th, 2001
Introduction I’m sure there are many jet jocks out there other than myself who remember that 80’s cult hit Top Gun. Titus has gained the license from Top Gun and aimed high when production began for what at the time would be the best looking jet fighter game on the Playstation 2. However Namco began working on their own flight sim game Ace Combat 04 which soon put Top Gun to shame in the graphics department. With that said Top Gun Combat Zones is still one of the best console flight games I have seen in awhile. Presentation From the moment you turn on your ps2 and put Top Gun into the tray you will notice that the graphics are all based on glamour. The menu’s are fluidly animated and well laid out. Loading times are insane. There is no reason this game should have been put on a CD, I’m certain the use of DVD disks would have greatly improved upon this.Graphics & Sound Actual in game graphics fail to compare to those of Ace Combat 04. However the replays are far superior to the strangely smooth and overall fake feeling camera angles in Ace Combat 04. Camera angles are rough and seem as if filmed from the cockpit of a wing mate. Another thing about the in game graphics is the HUD. Nothing fancy on that screen just your cross hairs. Textures are average however pale in comparasent to the photo detailed textures in Namco’s game. The blur effect when accelerating is one of a kind and really adds an adrenaline boost to the game. The music is very annoying and comes defaulted turned off (Possible the developers knew before us that it sucked this bad) Its techno beats that rarely pump you up for the action that Top Gun should be. The engine sounds while not realistic are well done. Giving the sense that you are actually flying something.Gameplay While Top Gun lacks the realism and ingrossing story line you would expect to find in Ace Combat, it is far superior as an Arcade type game. Top Gun really is more of an arcade experience than an actual simulation. No real HUD’s or physics here. Speed is the main emphasis. With several levels of play beginning in flight school and ending in conflict Top Gun offers several modes of play, on top of which you can just start an instant battle for quick action.Lasting Appeal Top Gun would normally seem to appeal just to fans of the movie, however, that isn’t the case here. The game actually has little or nothing to do with the movie license other than the top scores are held by maverick. The casual gamer who could care less about the realism of their flight games would rather focus on blowing things up with super large light beams that appear to be from a star wars film instead of practicing those minute detailed maneuvers.Conclusion While the concept behind Top Gun is great. The execution is flawed. Without the movie license this game would probably be passed off as just another average flight-sim game. However Titus really could of pushed the license and given us something to remember. | 
