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Review: Captain Skyhawk

Nintendo NES,

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DH110985
07-11-13 07:13 PM

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07-14-13 02:26 PM

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Captain Skyhawk

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9.5

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07-11-13 07:13 PM

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Captain Skyhawk Review

When I first got my hands on an NES controller, Captain Skyhawk was one of the games I happened to enjoy the most as a kid. The game revolves around an alien invasion and your objective in this game is to eliminate that alien invasion. To do so, you fly a jet(modeled after a F-14 Tomcat no less), and you go into each mission guns, missiles and bombs blazing. Having played it as a kid, I decided to give it a go here on Vizzed and noticed it had no review. Hence, here's my review of Captain Skyhawk.

Overall: 9.5. I can't give a game an overall rating of a 10 unless ALL of my individual ratings also happen to be a 10. At the time this game came out though, it was the first one in which I felt I was in a 3D environment(even though it was only 2D). The game had little to no story line, but excelled in other areas, particularly with the sound. As a kid I was NEVER able to beat this, and even now as an adult I still can't. However, with time and practice, I am sure I could get the hang of it and manage to beat this for once.

Graphics: 9. For an NES game, this combat simulator game had some pretty good graphics. Good adaptation of the F-14 Tomcat(swept wing aircraft you fly) that apparently has the ability to go into space(unrealistic I know but this is a game(reality doesn't apply)). Enemies range from a variety of things: Tanks, Boats, and Aircraft for starters to a giant alien station at the end. If I had one thing to knock the developers on was the lack of creativity in developing alien targets since I doubt aliens would invade using stuff similar to what we have here on Earth.

Sound: 10. One of the few times I give a game a 10 for Sound. The game theme is decent but after awhile gets annoying, but that isn't what made the game. The in-game sounds of missile locks and missiles being unleashed(not to mention the Vulcan main cannon being fired) are just superb. What really blew me away and to this day is my fondest memory of this game is the re-armament theme. So ahead of its time and for a 16-bit NES game was just unheard of. I could literally sit there for 5 minutes listening to the re-arm theme and never get tired of it.

Addictiveness: 10. I could play this game over and over again. Who doesn't enjoy flying an aircraft and blowing up everything in sight? Being that there is no unique way to play a level(example: always stay right on one level or stay left, etc.), the replay feature of this game is excellent. You can even try playing this game using nothing but the main cannon(which is much harder but can be done).

Story: N/A. There really isn't a story to this game. You're simply fighting an alien invasion so therefore I decided to leave this score blank.

Depth: 8. The game has 8 primary missions, 8 secondary air-air combat missions and 8 docking procedures(can't tell you how many times I've lost a life docking with the space station). The primary missions consist of destroying an enemy base, delivering supplies or rescuing a scientist. After all these missions are completed, you face the final boss(which is the most challenging part of the game hands down). The order in which these are done remains constant and the game, with the right pilot, can be completed in under 30 minutes, hence why I can't justify giving a 10 here.

Difficulty: 6. This game can be challenging for beginners, but if you practice and learn to utilize your secondary weapons wisely, you can blaze through this game with ease. I always found the air-air combat phases to be the hardest, since mid-late game you have to start avoiding enemy missiles(including the rear) and that can be quite challenging if you intend to shoot down most, if not all, of the enemy fighters.

To conclude, Captain Skyhawk was a NES game that, to me, stood out from other similar combat simulator games. If you enjoy destroying everything in sight then this is the game for you.

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07-11-13 09:11 PM

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The game is pretty cool, if I say so myself. I wasn't aware of the game for the longest time. Then again, I didn't grow up a NES guy.

Also, great review, DH. You should do more of these reviews more often.

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