Aero Fighters 3

Aero Fighters 3, also known as Sonic Wings 3 (ソニックウイングス３), is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up game released in 1995 by Video System for the Neo Geo and Neo Geo CD.

Story
One night, three months after the previous fight....

In the city of M in western America, the skies' darkness was torn to pieces by a strange, speeding flash. And at that moment, many gigantic aircraft arrived. When the townspeople looked up at the outmoded fuselages, they didn't see that something was scattered from the airplane....

Then everyone saw, falling with parachutes, many soldiers and combat vehicles who consequently gained complete control of the town.

Similar incidents happened worldwide in every country. One country received a battleship's gun fire on the open sea; another was devastated by a tank unit that suddenly appeared in the forest. Strangely, each invasion used a weapon like those from World War II.

Even the base of the secret rescue team who protected world peace in shadow was attacked by the mysterious flying corps. The team's fighter planes flew away and were burned up promptly, one after another. The base was immediately devastated. Hardly any of the most powerful and technologically-advanced machines were left, the electronics did not work completely, and the anti-artillery systems were completely broken. The enemy used inferior, outdated reciprocating engine aircraft. Furthermore, even the experimental fighting bombers were included.

Commanding officer Lord River received the report and, after a moment of silence, gave his decision. "Strike, making use of all active weapons. You also have permission to use the old weapons in the underground storage hangar."

Gameplay
Aero Fighters 3 utilizes the same gameplay from the previous title, with ten selectable fighters from the start and two more which can be unlocked via a secret code. This game now features a branching path system, with the route forking after specific bosses and leading to completely different stages, ending with three different final stages and thus adding more replayability.

Critical Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Aero Fighters 3 on their December 1, 1995 issue as being the twentieth most-popular arcade game at the time. Aero Fighters 3 was met with mixed reception from critics. Electronic Gaming Monthly 's four reviewers criticized the visual presentation and difficulty but commended the ability to select between multiple planes, which added more replay value. Reviewing the Neo Geo AES version, GamePro 's Major Mike said the game has intense action and audio, but lacks fresh gameplay and is not as fun as Aero Fighters 2. Mike particularly noted that Aero Fighters 3 has shorter stages than 2 and removes the ability to mix-and-match pilots of different nationalities in two-player mode.

MAN!AC 's Andreas Knauf heavily criticized the graphics for their lack of care and strange music, regarding it as a "loveless shooting game with messed up backgrounds, annoying giant opponents and ultra-short levels". In contrast, Nintendo Life 's Dave Frear commended the character roster, multiple paths, visual design, vocal music tracks and replay value. VideoGames ' Frank O'Connor compared the game visually with 1941: Counter Attack but criticized the bosses for being uninspired.