Edge Revisits Super Wing Commander (January 8, 2014)

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Gaming website, Edge, recently went back in time to review Super Wing Commander for the 3DO. In a positively glowing appraisal, the reviewer finds a lot to love in the effort Origin put in to re-dress the original game in the series. You can read the entire review here.

Wing Commander has enjoyed considerable success on a variety of formats, but this 3DO version is without doubt the best of the lot. Developers Origin could have chosen the easy option and simply ported the already excellent PC version, but that?s not their style. Instead, they?ve isolated the rougher aspects ? including the scaling of the in-game fighters and the substandard Star Cruisers ? and smoothed them out, while leaving the rest of the game intact...

...To describe Super Wing Commander as satisfying to play would be a grotesque understatement. Pursuing the enemy at close range, letting ?em have it right up their exhaust port with your missiles and then watching them explode in a shower of twisted metal is disturbingly gratifying stuff...

...Once Super Wing Commander gets a grip of your senses, you?ll have to prise it off with a crowbar. So far, most 3DO software has been completely unworthy of attention; happily, Super Wing Commander avoids falling into the same category.





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Original update published on January 8, 2014
 
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I just got through playing it a few weeks back. Was doing a play through of SWC's version of SM2, which takes sort of a different turn. Some have referenced it as a SM1.5 but I find this a gross misconception. There are familiar plot points that mesh completely with the PC version; Bossman's fate, Spirit's bad news, Ralgha's defection, etc. It's just that there is no Firekka (species and system) or Corsair system. You even fly Dralthi missions in similar fashion.

It's simply a different experience and one worth trying out. SWC is also the only game that shows a flightsuited Kilrathi. You only see the back but better then WC2's copied terran flightsuits.

SM2 is retconed a bit but the Vega and Thor's Hammer campaigns are accurately ported onto the 3DO.

I still plan on releasing my SWC SM2 playthrough but the laptop HDD it was on has failed. Cheap ass Toshiba drives. Either I'll pluck it out or start up a new one.

I do have to say that some of the voice-casting is a bit deplorable, but it does feel a little refreshing from the text chat in battles. All-in-all a solid play experience and a bit of a challenge fighting with a D-Pad, but gamer skills from the past don't rust easy. :cool:

Happy hunting!
 
One stipulation...the reviewer needs to re-read his article before posting.

One such ouch:

As in every other version of Wing Commander, you play the part of a rookie wingman, enlisted to help in the Confederation’s battle against the evil Dralthi.
 
I doubt the reviewer even still works with Edge, Whistler - the review is from 1994 :).

I did find it interesting to read, because I find that SWC's visual style has aged very badly indeed (of course, this is a hugely subjective thing). I still like the visual atmosphere of WC1 after all these years, but not SWC - the cutscenes are like some weird variation on 1990s anime, and the ships are just a grab-bag, with not even a colour-scheme distinction between the Kilrathi and the Confederation. But that's the way it looks to me now, and in this regard, it's nice to be reminded that back in 1994, SWC was fresh and people were just plain excited about the higher-detail graphics.
 
One stipulation...the reviewer needs to re-read his article before posting.

One such ouch:

I *think* the reviewer was talking about all the other console ports of WC1.... that was my take but I agree he didn't make it clear.
 
It's because it was written in '94 (back when the game was new) that I expected better accuracy.

Some of the mistakes are forgivable but how do you confuse Dralthi fighters with our famous bi-pedal tigers?
 
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I wrote an extensive walkthrough for Super Wing Commander for Mac back in 1996 or thereabouts. Trying to figure out how to donate this to wcnews -- Ben is so busy with RSI these days! It's a pdf scan of the original printout. Anyone know who I should talk to? swc-gaijin.jpg
 
Yeah, if you email it to news@wcnews.com all the staff will see it. Anything you come across that's even slightly WC related feel free to send in. We're always looking for stuff to put up on the front page.
 
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