Aero Fighters 3 / Sonic Wings 3

SNK Neo-Geo MVS cart. published 30 years ago:

Sonic Wings 3 (c) 1995 Video System.

The third game in this excellent series adheres to the solid shoot-em-up template set down by its predecessors. The player takes on the role of a Jet Fighter aircraft pilot whose mission is to combat world terrorism. The object of the game is to fly from country to country and destroy all opposition around the world, before flying into outer space to combat the menace responsible for the terrorism. Each pilot has his own storyline that ties in with the game.

One enemy shot destroys the player's plane and releases a special power-up that the plane may have been carrying. If the player's final ship is destroyed, all power-ups and extra bombs are released and can be collected if the player chooses the 'continue' option, or if a second player is still active. However, on the final mission in Outer Space, the player is forced to start again at the beginning of the space mission, unless 2 players are active.

Sonic Wings now features an array of 10 selectable pilots :
American Vought F4U Corsair piloted by Robo-Keaton.
American Northrop P-61 Black Widow piloted by the Blazers.
Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen piloted by Hien.
Japanese Aichi M6A1 Seiran piloted by Mao Mao.
Soviet Il-2 Stormovik piloted by Chaika and Pooshka.
Soviet Polikarpov I-16 piloted by Spanky.
German Dornier Do-335 Pfeil piloted by Malcolm ('Pfeil' is german for 'Arrow')
German Junkers Ju-87 Stuka piloted by Kowful and River.
British Westland Whirlwind piloted by Alex and Pictus.
British Fairy Swordfish piloted by Cindy and Ellen.

There are also 2 secret planes (see the TIPS AND TRICKS section for details) :
The Aka Usagi (Red Rabbit) piloted by Kotomi.
The Diabloon piloted by The Man.

Planes Spec. :
Vought F4U Corsair can have 3 power-ups and 5 bombs.
Northrop P-61 Black Widow can have 3 power-ups and 7 bombs.
Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen have 3 power-ups and 5 bombs.
Aichi M6A1 Seiran can have 2 power-ups and 5 bombs.
Il-2 Stormovik can have 2 power-ups and 7 bombs.
Polikarpov I-16 can have 4 power-ups and 6 bombs.
Dornier Do-335 Pfeil can have 3 power-ups and 4 bombs.
Junkers Ju-87 Stuka can have 4 power-ups and 7 bombs.
Westland Whirlwind can have 3 power-ups and 6 bombs.
Fairy Swordfish can have 1 power-up and 7 bombs.
Aka Usagi (Red Rabbit, see below) can have 2 power-ups and 4 bombs.
Diabloon (see below) can have 7 power-ups and 2 bombs.

- TECHNICAL -

Runs on the SNK "Neo-Geo MVS" hardware.
Game ID : NGM-097

Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 2
=> [A] Shot, [B] Special weapon

- TRIVIA -

Sonic Wings 3 was released in October 1995 in Japan.

This game is known outside Japan as "Aero Fighters 3".

This represent the latest game in the Sonic Wings series for the Neo-Geo MVS.

Malcolm from 1993's "Ta-o Taido" makes an appearance as a pilot. His plane has a special charged shot ability that is unique to him and Spanky (by holding Fire button).

The strange ship that appears at the end of each level and warps away after the boss is defeated first appeared in "Turbo Force" as a regular enemy during Stage 2.

There are four random last bosses in the game, two for the Sea stage and two for the Space stage. In the Sea level, the most common one is Bagarius, a large alien submarine. The rarer one is a Giant Squid, you can't attack it and it doesn't attack you. In the Space level, the most common one is Gurabura, a UFO. And the rarer one is Soh Takeko, a mahjong piece. You can get four bad endings if you let them escape.

There are a total of 23 endings in the game. Twelve are for the individual character endings, six are for the team endings, four are for the bad endings and one when you beat the 2nd loop.

The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed to 'HEY'.

Soundtrack album releases :
[JP] Sonic Wings 3 (PCCB-00193) (20/10/1995) [Pony Canyon/Scitron]

- UPDATES -

In the Japanese version of the game, Spanky is called Whity.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Choose your next stage:
After beating the stage boss of level 1, 4 and 7, a checkered plane will appear. Destroy the plane's left or right wing to determine your next stage.

* Play As Red Rabbit Kotomi (from "Rabio Lepus") :
1) Insert your coin(s)
2) Press and hold B+Start during all the following sequence. Now, at the character selection screen :
3) Press Down when the timer reaches 7 and when the nose of the plane points towards you.
4) Press Down when the timer reaches 5 and when the nose of the plane points towards you.
5) Press Down when the timer reaches 2 and when the nose of the plane points towards you.
6) Press Down when the timer reaches 0 and when the nose of the plane points towards you. Red Rabbit will appear.

* Play As Diabloon (from "Turbo Force") :
1) Insert your coin(s)
2) Press and hold B+Start during all the following sequence. Now, at the character selection screen :
3) Press Right.
4) Press Down when the timer reaches 7 and when the nose of the plane points towards you.
5) Press Down when the timer reaches 5 and when the nose of the plane points towards you.
6) Press Down when the timer reaches 2 and when the nose of the plane points towards you.
7) Press Down when the timer reaches 0 and when the nose of the plane points towards you. Diabloon will appear.

- SERIES -

1. Sonic Wings (1992, ARC)
2. Sonic Wings 2 [Model NGM-075] (1994, ARC)
3. Sonic Wings 3 [Model NGM-097] (1995, ARC)
4. Sonic Wings Limited (1996, ARC)
5. Sonic Wings Assault [Model NUS-NSAJ] (1997, N64)

- STAFF -

Planner : Count IKuei
Programmers : Aiz!, You-Chan, Sysyou
Designers : Armored Cruiser, Takasu, Akira, Manbow Yokoyama, T. Tateishi, K. Yamamotoya, A. Sakamura, A., Kaz, Hiki, T. Matsui, Oh! Kawara, M. Cats.I, Hil, T. Sakon
Sound : Q, P, Noise

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
SNK Neo-Geo CD (1995)

- CONTRIBUTE -

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