Ace Combat is an arcade-style combat flight simulation video game series by Project Aces, an internal development team of Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco.
Debuting in 1995 with Air Combat for the PlayStation, the series includes eight mainline installments, multiple spin-offs, and other forms of media, such as novels, model kits, and soundtrack albums. Since 2012, the series has been developed primarily by Bandai Namco Studios through its internal development group, Project Aces.
Ace Combat | |
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Genre(s) | Combat flight simulator |
Developer(s) | |
Publisher(s) | |
Platform(s) | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Mobile phone, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PC, iOS, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 |
First release | Air Combat June 30, 1995 |
Latest release | Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown January 18, 2019 |
The Ace Combat franchise emphasizes fast-paced action and dramatic plots with semi-realistic gameplay; for example, aircraft have flight dynamics controls and can stall, but are also able to carry dozens of missiles in hammerspace. One of the main selling points of the series is the ability to pilot a range of aircraft that include accurate or slightly modified representations of modern military aircraft, prototypes that were never adopted (or even built) in real life, and fictional boss-type superweapons. The main series of games is set in "Strangereal", a fictional universe loosely based on the real world, featuring similar events and entities but with an entirely different history largely centering around advanced technology and the effects of an asteroid impact event in the 1990s; however, certain games are set in fictional renditions of the real world.
As of 2023, the Ace Combat franchise has shipped over 19 million copies worldwide, and has established itself as one of the longest running arcade flight action franchises.
Most installments in the Ace Combat series are set in Strangereal, the series' fictional universe. Strangereal's Earth features entirely different nations, geography, continents, and history compared to the real world, though some nations, locations, and events are loosely based on those from real life, and most aircraft in the series are real models with few alterations.
Though Strangereal is very similar to the real modern world, technology is shown to be significantly more advanced than it is in real life, allowing for the development of superweapons and theoretical devices such as aerial warships, laser weapons, railguns, submarine and airborne aircraft carriers, orbital weapons, mass drivers, lethal autonomous weapons, nearly-sentient artificial intelligence, and advanced experimental aircraft. Nuclear weapons exist, but international agreements and nuclear terrorism are implied to have inhibited their development and use, resulting in a lack of nuclear deterrence and a greater focus on conventional weapons in arms races. This makes interstate warfare common, and many nations field large militaries with diverse equipment, develop superweapons, train elite special forces-esque "ace" fighter squadrons, or hire mercenaries to augment their forces.
Most Ace Combat games are set after the 1999 "Ulysses incident", an impact event that occurred after the asteroid Ulysses 1994XF04, discovered to be on a collision course with Earth, was destroyed using anti-asteroid weaponry, only to split into smaller fragments that struck the planet anyway, causing widespread destruction and global crises. The international tensions caused by the Ulysses incident and its aftermath play a large role in the development of the conflicts depicted in the series, and many of the game's superweapons are described as originating from anti-Ulysses devices. Another major event in the series' continuity is the 1995 "Belkan War", a World War II-esque conflict wherein Belka, a highly-technological nation, attempted to invade neighboring countries during an internal crisis, was repelled by an international coalition, and used nuclear weapons in their own territory in a last-ditch scorched earth tactic, causing their defeat and earning them global condemnation and scorn; Belkan nationalists seeking revenge for their defeat play major roles in most of the series.
As shown in Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, the nations of Strangereal shown in most of the series are eventually superseded by sovereign megacorporations. Strangereal was later established as part of Bandai Namco's United Galaxy Space Force shared universe, representing the earliest period in its timeline, in which the nations of Strangereal unite to form a world government around 2090.
Ace Combat: Joint Assault, Assault Horizon, and Infinity are not set in Strangereal, and are instead set in their own fictionalized versions of the real world.
1995 | Air Combat |
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1996 | |
1997 | Ace Combat 2 |
1998 | |
1999 | Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere |
2000 | |
2001 | Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies |
2002 | |
2003 | |
2004 | Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War |
2005 | Ace Combat Advance |
2006 | Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War |
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception | |
2007 | Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation |
2008 | |
2009 | Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion |
2010 | Ace Combat: Joint Assault |
Ace Combat Assault Horizon: Trigger Finger | |
2011 | Ace Combat: Assault Horizon |
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy | |
Ace Combat: Northern Wings | |
2012 | |
2013 | |
2014 | Ace Combat Infinity |
2015 | Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy+ |
2016 | |
2017 | |
2018 | |
2019 | Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown |
Some Ace Combat games have differences in their title, depending on the region (NTSC or PAL) the game was sold in:
With the release of Assault Horizon in 2011, Project Aces created Aces at War: A History, a special artbook detailing the content from Ace Combat 04, 5, and Zero from an in-universe perspective, as well as production commentary. This was packaged with the special editions of Assault Horizon released in Japan. Aces at War: A History would later be updated and rereleased as part of a special edition of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
In March 2012, ASCII Media Works released Ace Combat: Ikaros in the Sky. A tie-in novel for Assault Horizon, Ikaros tells a story of series character Kei Nagase as she participates in the JASDF's ASF-X Shinden II fighter program.
Game | Units sold | Metacritic |
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Air Combat | 2.23 million shipped | - |
Ace Combat 2 | 1.092 million shipped | 83/100 |
Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere | 1.164 million shipped | - |
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies | 2.64 million shipped | 89/100 |
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War | 1.802 million shipped | 84/100 |
Ace Combat Advance | 100,000 shipped | 56/100 |
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War | 792,000 shipped | 75/100 |
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception | 476,000 shipped | 75/100 |
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation | 700,000 | 80/100 |
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon | 1.07 million | 78/100 |
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown | 5 million shipped | 80/100 |
Ace Combat has been a consistent commercial success, with most mainline installments reaching over one million units shipped. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the most successful title with over 3 million copies shipped by 2021, followed by Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies and Air Combat. The games have sold well predominantly in North America and Japan, where over 75% of all revenue was generated from the series by 2008. In total, the Ace Combat franchise has shipped over 19 million copies.
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