Zero Fighter: Dogfight Simulator

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Pilot classic planes from the past, fly freely through the skies, and aim to become the king of ace pilots!

JP release: 6th March 2003
NA release: N/A
EU release: N/A
Developer: Global A Entertainment
Publisher: Global A Entertainment
NGC Magazine Score: N/A
AKA Rei Fighter Gekitsui Senki
Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

A Japanese WWII fighter game, with the Mitsubishi A6M Zero getting the focus in the game’s name and imagery. While the missions are supposedly based on real missions, the descriptions and objectives are very basic, with no actual history context provided. It’s clear the developers just wanted a flight combat win with WWII era planes without making any kind of remark or stance on the war.

And it’s actually a really good flight combat game. While there’s no lock on or auto targeting, it’s still not too difficult to line up your shots. For bombing targets, there’s a reticule showing where the bomb will land. You have a cockpit view (which is slightly transparent so you can look around) and you can adjust the camera for the external view. Whenever you destroy another aircraft or launch a bomb, you get treated to a fancy view or the action, although don’t mistake it for a cutscene, I accidentally flew into the ground during one of these as you still have control.

It looks quite nice, too. While the ground looks blurry up-close, fights from the air look great, with nicely detailed planes and some nice views. It’s not just Japanese planes that get this attention, either, as you can also unlock and use planes from other countries.

I did encounter one huge difficulty spike in the second set of missions, which was when I had to fight a squadron of Spitfires. With two agile planes facing off, there’s a lot of spinning around to try and get them in your sights. What doesn’t help is that each mission has a timer in the form of your fuel gauge, so you have to kill everything quickly. That said, I’m quite happy that it’s the Spitfire that halted my progression in the game.

Fun

Oh, yeah. The model is impressive, isn’t it? It’s a torpedo or a real thing. The air battle is good, but I can’t recommend Pearl Harbor on the mission. Excuse me. Actually, I got out of an aircraft carrier that does not come out, and I thought that the battleship was too small for the plane. That was a shock… Excuse me. I’m not going to get out of here. A little bit would be appreciated if it was helpful.
xkamix, Amazon JP (Translated)

Remake or remaster?

I can definitely understand why this will be exclusive to Japan.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Zero Fighter: Dogfight Simulator.