Wing Commander.

Developed and published by Origin Systems in 1990 for MS-DOS PCs.

This is one of those legends of computer gaming that set the standard

for an entire subgenre, that being spaceship combat simulation.

Sure, there were plenty of space games and combat flight sims prior to this,

from Starflight's cosmic exploration and trading

to Microprose's real-world air combat excursions.

But it was Wing Commander and its particular blend of action-focused gameplay

and cinematic presentation that cemented

what this type of game would feel like for years to come.

This resulted in an array of sequels, spinoffs and competitors

that culminated in a market oversaturated with space combat games

that were arguably too complex for their own good,

with the genre reaching a plateau by the late '90s

and languishing until the 2010s.

In both cases, it was developer Chris Roberts

that tossed rocket fuel onto the space game flame

with him manning the helm on both Wing Commander

and its spiritual successor, Star Citizen.

Although, let's be fair,

he also directed the 1999 Wing Commander movie

with Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Hmm... On second thought, maybe THAT'S what killed space flight games back then.

Anyway, Wing Commander came in a pretty stellar package

with cover art precisely evoking the mood of the game.

Sci-fi stuff EXPLODING in front of YOU in a cockpit.

This is the so-called "Special Promotional Release" here.

Although the only thing "special" about it is...

that it was a secondary print run sold at stores like Costco.

There's also the blue box Deluxe Edition,

which is a compilation featuring both of the "Secret Missions" expansion packs.

In either case, though, you get a fantastic amount of old-school goodies inside,

starting with the game itself on either 5¼-inch or 3½-inch floppy disks.

And if you got the wrong kind, you could just send in this form to swap 'em out.

You also got a registration card,

an Origin product catalog with the expected crapload of Ultima games,

a couple reference sheets and manual addendums,

four generously sized spaceship blueprints that fold out into sweet freakin' posters,

and a 48-page instruction manual in the form of an in-universe Claw Marks magazine.

Even without the game, these things are worth the price of admission alone!

Ahh, how I miss the '90s.

At least in terms of all the cool crap you got with PC games and not like...

I dunno, bowl cuts.

There's also this amazing piece in my copy,

with revolver clip art and the DOS command for defragging the hard drive.

Or, my bad, "Def-Raging."

Yeah, someone was definitely raging when they printed this out,

if the gun is any indication.

Speaking of rage...

getting Wing Commander to run correctly can be a bit of an ordeal.

You'll need a moderately spec'd 386 with expanded memory

to access all the animations and get a decent frame rate,

but you can't go TOO fast or else the game just flips out.

I had to disable the cache on my 66 MHz 486 to get it running well.

And even on DOSBox it's still not perfect,

even when using finely tuned CPU cycles.

Although around three, three-and-a-half thousand seems to work pretty well.

But it's worth the hassle to get it sorted

because, man, Wing Commander really stands out among its peers from 1990,

starting with this intro.

[epic MIDI music and laser sounds]

Yeah, Wing Commander does not waste any time

letting you know it means business in the cinematic presentation department.

You begin by losing this arcade game/training sim–

a clever way to have you input your player name and call sign.

You then find yourself aboard a Terran Confederation Strike Carrier,

known as the Tiger's Claw.

In a bit of point-and-click adventure-iness,

you're free to talk to the bartender and any patrons in the room

to make some introductions and catch up on space gossip.

Or ignore them and wander around the ship, admiring the scenery.

These 27th-century luxury accommodations also act as the main menu

where you'll check your stats, exit to DOS,

start a scenario, or save and load your game.

I especially love the save system where you click these bunks to place a sleeping

pilot

and then you wake them up to load a game.

It's the little things, you know?

But the big stuff is where the game really begins,

like these animated briefings before each mission.

And while there's no voice acting in this version,

this intro sequence still absolutely psyches me up!

[intense MIDI music]

I'm READY to command some WINGS!

And what better way to do that...

than with the 1991 Thrustmaster Flight Control System,

which just feels right with a game like this.

With your stick firmly gripped,

you're given free reign with what to do next.

But there's a tutorial for the first mission

included in the box, if you need guidance.

The majority of the 40 missions begin with you and a wingman departing the Tiger's Claw,

and a set of navigation points to navigate to,

point by point.

You can either fly there manually or lock onto

them using the nav computer and use autopilot,

which acts a fast-travel mode and gives you this sweet 3D fly-by.

Well, as 3D as it can manage anyway,

since the whole game uses 2D imagery and scaling to simulate depth.

Before long, you'll run into some kind of resistance,

often things like asteroids, minefields or enemy ships.

The main enemy in the game are known as the Kilrathi,

a species of bipedal feline alien warriors

that could really use some catnip or something because they're pissed.

There are a variety of vessels you'll come up against,

each of which will often fight to the death,

regardless of their own equipment or size.

Sometimes it’s just you and your partner you’ll have to keep up with and provide

orders to, other times you’ll have weaponless transport vessels to defend. Either way man,

when it’s time to throw down, it gets intense; especially when you consider its contemporaries.

Just compare the experience to something like Lightspeed, which released the same year...

[understated Adlib sound effects]

And then comes Wing Commander, with its theatrical flair and grandiose George Sanger soundtrack

that sounds great on the Adlib and MT-32 alike!

[intense Adlib music and laser sounds!]

[triumphant music!]

Granted, these are two very different space games at their core, but the point I’m trying to make is that

Wing Commander was truly ahead of the curve overall.

Seeing as this predates the Star Wars X-Wing and Tie Fighter games by several years

I think it's safe to say that Wing Commander was a landmark in space combat.

It might be a bit primitive now with its weird scaling sprites

inelegantly rotating in your face,

but that doesn't stop the adrenaline rush from kicking in

when you've locked onto one of those hairballs and

fired a heat-seeking missile up their butt.

And it really doubles down on those moments

with a control scheme that's very playable

with a simple two-button joystick or mouse.

Most of the ship's controls are delegated to the keyboard, of course, but...

even those are pretty minimal compared to later space combat sims.

There aren't even any loadouts or upgrades or

anything like that to worry about

since the game takes care of that stuff for you

by providing different ships for different missions.

It's still effective in making you feel like an amazing space pilot,

but the actual combat and space flight stuff

is a bit rudimentary when it comes down to it.

In fact, it's the stuff in between the action

that keeps me engaged the most.

Once you've fulfilled your objectives and make it back to base,

you relay the outcome of your mission to your superior

and then are given a speech by them

about how you performed and what to do next.

Sometimes you'll be sent back to your quarters,

sometimes you'll be reassigned.

Other times you'll be given a promotion or a medal

in recognition of your performance.

There's even a set of events that unfold if you eject and lose your ship,

with the missions and storylines shifting its narrative

as the result of each of these actions.

In terms of helping you feel like you're actually making a mark on this universe,

Wing Commander does a lot for a game of this time.

It does its best to make sure it doesn't feel like a series

of loosely connected skirmishes,

but instead you're a guy rising through the ranks

while making a difference one way or another.

Characters are growing, conflicting and dying

and not following orders all along the way.

And combined with the ever-changing technology you're encountering,

it does a bang-up job of keeping the story moving forward.

And it's not always easy, either.

In the later missions, and especially the Secret Missions,

death is a pretty constant possibility.

For me, it tends to reach a point of frustration later on,

and I quickly tire of replaying the same mission over and over,

just to die at the same point 20 minutes in.

A lot of that is due to my own lack of time these days,

but when Wing Commander was a new and fresh experience

that kind of difficulty wall might have been more forgivable.

It was certainly forgivable enough for Wing Commander

to receive a number of ports and updates over the years,

on systems like the Commodore Amiga,

Super Nintendo

and Sega CD.

Then there was Super Wing Commander,

a 1994 remake that featured a substantial audio-visual update of the game

for the 3DO and Macintosh systems.

Pretty awesome stuff in a way, but I dunno.

It's still kinda weird to me that they completely changed the characteristics

of so many of the ships and characters.

Still, Wing Commander in all its various forms

is something that's a lot of fun to go back to from time to time

and cherish its high points and its quirks alike.

It may not be the most advanced combat space thing of its kind,

but it's a trendsetter that remains rather timeless, in my opinion.

It's also currently sold digitally on services like GOG and Origin.

So if shooting evil space cats with lasers sounds like a good time,

then why not grab your stick...

and dive into Wing Commander and have some fun!

[jazzy MIDI music]

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