F29 Retaliator

F29 Retaliator is a combat flight simulator video game developed by Digital Image Design and published by Ocean Software in 1989 for the PC, for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990, and the FM Towns and NEC PC-9801 in 1992-1993. Its working title was just Retaliator.

The game was developed during the end of the Cold War, based mostly on speculations on then-future aircraft that were expected to be in use by the year 2002, in particular based on the design of the Lockheed Martin F-22 and the Grumman X-29A.

Gameplay

The graphics were detailed by the standards of the period, featuring cities, bridges, roads, islands, mountains and moving vehicles. The plane's cockpit had three multi-function displays available to set up in a number of configurations. The fantastic "future" weapons to choose from include a fighter-carried Tomahawk cruise missile, rearward-firing AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a gigantic cluster bomb.^[1]

The PC version allowed head-to head dogfighting using a null modem cable. This game is regarded as being severely bugged (for example, since the game allows the airplane to be controlled even after the pilot ejects, it is possible for players to hit themselves with their own plane).

The game includes four war scenarios (Arizona desert test and training sites, Pacific conflict, Middle East conflict and the World War III in Europe) each with several missions, with the total number of those adding up to 99. The last mission of the game can be any of three, and completion of each one leads to different game endings.

A "Special Mission" add-on was released with ZERO magazine in 1990, featuring a battle against the alien spacecraft from the then-upcoming space combat game EPIC.^[2]

Reception

The game received 4 out of 5 stars in Dragon.^[3] Computer Gaming World described F29 as a less-expensive alternative which "still offers a solid game-playing experience, with limitations". While noting limitations such as a small game environment, the magazine concluded that "despite its limitations, F-29 is an enjoyable diversion" for those new to flight simulators.^[4] A 1992 survey in the magazine of wargames with modern settings gave the game three stars out of five.^[5] It was ranked the 36th best game of all time by Amiga Power in 1991.^[6]

Legacy

Retaliator 2, announced in 1990 to be released in the first quarter of 1991,^[7] was never released as the team concentrated on finishing EPIC (released in 1992 and using an improved engine of F29), but DID would later create three further, much more realistic F-22 simulators: TFX (1993), F-22: Air Dominance Fighter (1997) and F-22 Total Air War (1998).

References