Back in the 90s, there was a series of popular 2D vertically scrolling shooters called Sonic Wings in Japan.  When they were brought to the US, they were renamed Aero Fighters, so since that’s what I know them as, that’s what I’m going to be calling them from here on out.  Anyway, Aero Fighters had three main arcade games, two of which were on the NEO GEO.  They had some home ports on the SNES and PlayStation, and finally a 3D game called Aero Fighters Assault on the N64, which was more like Ace Combat.  And now, nearly 30 years later, there’s a brand new game in the series with Sonic Wings Reunion.  It returns to its 2D roots, and just like the others, I really like this one, too.  It may seem fairly normal, as you pilot real life fighter jets over real world locations.  But it has hidden aspects of goofiness, too.  For instance, the pilots in these games include characters like a Japanese idol pop singer, a baby, and even a dolphin!  Anyway, Sonic Wings Reunion is available on Switch, PlayStation consoles, and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

If you’ve ever played a 2D horizontally scrolling shooter from the 90s, you’ll know what to expect here.  Move with the L stick and fire with the button.  Another button deploys a limited screen clearing bomb.  Each character has his or her own types of shots and bombs.  Two can play at the same time.  But if you are in single player, you can choose another as your wingman and use their bombs, too.  Gather power-ups as you play to increase your shot power, number of bombs, and money symbols for points.  You can play Arcade Mode with four different types of difficulty and continue as often as you like.  Training mode unlocks after you beat the game once and lets you practice each stage separately.  You can also view online leader boards and toggle options.  Some of the options are cool like tiling your screen to be full vertical (‘tate’ mode for arcade enthusiasts), and you can also change the title screen to say Aero Fighter Reunion instead of Sonic Wings Reunion!

And just like the other Aero Fighters games, your selection of characters is pretty silly.  You have characters from the other games in the series like that Japanese pop idol singer and the dolphin.  I wish the baby was in here but he’s not.  You can unlock characters from other games made by this company, too.  Just like the other games, it’s fun to see the corny bits of mistranslated dialogue you get after beating missions with certain combinations of characters.  While the stages are new, fans of the old games will recognize some of the bosses and silly themes.  It may not seem very special or original, but I dunno, I still really liked this one.  It retains the fun and themes of the original games.

Kid Factor:

Sonic Wings Reunion is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, and Suggestive Themes.  You shoot planes and mechs that explode when shot.  I didn’t notice any bad language in the text, so it must be used sparingly.  Some of the female characters wear slightly skimpy outfits but that’s all I found.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, but not necessary just to play.  Different difficulty selections mean players of all skill levels can enjoy this one.

Tags: Game Reviews