I first played wings with my brother when I was about 10. I loved it. Its graphics, even then didn’t blow me away, but it did have huge gameplay. The idea of flying against the Germans was very appealing to me, I had a Grandfather who had told me stories of the war, and it captivated me.
In the game you take on the role as a pilot station in France as the RAF try to thwart Adolph’s run into Europe. My brother and I would take turns at the Dogfighting and I would do the bombing, he the strafing missions.
Maybe the storyline was what kept it going or the continual hunt to beat the red Barons score. I don’t know, all I know is that weaving left and right between the enemies was immense fun and I missed the game when our Amiga was sold to make way for the shiny PC my parents had bought.
The game back then appeared huge, with missions coming thick and fast. I loved the dogfighting and it was always fun to take out the enemy, without suffering losses to your own Sortie. The bombing missions were, in my opinion, the toughest ones, The flack always found a way to send me spiralling back to earth and diary entries were an interesting side story. Until then,
the games I played were very one dimensional, no real plot.. I cant say how historically correct the events are, nor do I care. The game has great longevity, unlike some games death doesn’t send you back to level one, just start a new pilot and get your wings, the war doesn’t stop for anyone.
My brother and I both loved this game and along with Pirates, soon became our two top games, many a rainy afternoon was spent trying to get 100 kills or to beat each others most recent escapades. In short, the game today still holds great fascination to me and will always have that little bit of magic about it. I don’t do ratings, but like Carlsberg, if I did, this might be the best game ever, probably.
