Air Combat is a relatively solid game, marred by a small number of problems.
Story and plot development are not among Air Combat's strong points. Put simply, the player assumes the role of a mercenary fighter pilot who's squadron has contracted to assist with the liberation of a country that has fallen victim to a coup d'état. Outside of mission briefings and a brief intro sequence explaining the above, the story is never truly fleshed out, and indeed receives very little exposure. You're simply told that the enemy has a base here, that they've dispatched several wings of bombers to some location of strategic importance or that enemy fighters are violating friendly airspace, and that your job is to do something about that.
The gameplay itself sees the player taking on a series of missions primarily consisting of typical run-of-the-mill objectives such as intercepting enemy transport aircraft or bombing enemy facilities. After the opening few missions are over, you'll be able to hire on a wingman to accompany you on your next sortie before assigning them orders before take-off, though doing so will cost you some credits. Failing a mission by being shot down or crashing will cause you to lose whatever aircraft you were piloting during that mission. Running out of aircraft altogether will result in a Game Over.
The enemy AI is fairly good. Enemy aircraft will make every effort to get on and stay on your tail while simultaneously making sure you don't have the opportunity to do the same to them. They'll take appropriate evasive manoeuvres when fired upon and do their best to keep themselves out of your sights. On the whole the enemy pilots fight competently enough to give the average player a run for their money.
Your wingmen carry out their orders well and never seem to run into trouble as long as you take out your fair share of the enemy's forces, though it is indeed possible to lose them during a mission should you fail to pull your own weight.
Between missions you can buy and sell new or existing aircraft in exchange for the credits acquired during missions, as well as choose your next mission from a map offering a geographical overview of the entire theatre. Not every mission has to be completed, and there are indeed quite a few that can be skipped, although more often than not is it the case that you'll want to take every opportunity you can get to earn more credits and purchase new aircraft for use. There are plenty of aircraft available for purchase ranging from nimble and agile fighters to slow-moving and durable attackers. The sheer number of aircraft on offer here is impressive alone, though it might have been nice to have the option of receiving a more conventional/practical paint scheme for your aircraft as an alternative to the decidedly lavish white, purple and red one that adorns the surface of every one of your airplanes.
Air Combat's most obvious flaw is its lack of graphical fidelity. While all of the aircraft are perfectly identifiable, all of the aircraft models have a blocky appearance to them. Terrain features such as mountains, tree clusters or small islands sport that same blocky look, though the textures themselves aren't too bad. Regardless of which aircraft is chosen, rounds fired from the aircraft's gun always appear on the left side, which is odd to say the least.
Another problem that Air Combat suffers from can be found in its mission design. Anyone who doesn't have a thorough appreciation for the type of gameplay involved here is more than likely to find the missions repetitive and dull. There are a few missions that offer something new and interesting, such as flying through a canyon at low altitude to strike at a hidden enemy base, or taking on a flying fortress, but the vast majority boil down to the same thing, which is repeated over and over again. Those who take a liking for the simple nature of Air Combat's mission structure however should find themselves pleased with what's on offer here. There's plenty of fun to be had if you enjoy chasing down enemy bombers and strafing enemy positions at low altitude. The pleasure that comes from pulling off the above on the Hard difficulty setting without taking any hits is unforgettable.
Aside from the above, most of the aircraft are sluggish and difficult to manoeuvre, even those that the game indicates have high mobility. This can often make it lot harder than it really should be to evade incoming missiles, or in other cases, the ground.
In terms of sound direction, Air Combat has a good array of audio effects that adequately serve their purpose in representing engine sounds, missiles and explosions. They aren't particularly spectacular, but they get the job done nonetheless. The soundtrack on the other hand is another story altogether. Most of the BGM tracks do a fantastic job of creating an appropriate atmosphere for each mission in the game. Of particular note is the fourth mission's BGM track 'Night and Day'.
Overall Air Combat is a game that will be best appreciated by those who have already taken a liking to arcade flight games and therefore have developed an appreciation for the universal, core gameplay mechanics shared between games within the genre, as opposed to those who are looking for something new. Those who enjoy the genre however will undoubtedly get a great deal of enjoyment out of Air Combat for a long time to come.