''F-22 Interceptor'' is a 1991

combat flight simulator Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and mili ...

created by

Ned Lerner Edward Lerner, or Ned Lerner, is a video game programmer and technology project leader in the video game industry. Career In 1983 he founded Lerner Research (a 3D simulation development company) which was responsible for '' Chuck Yeager's Advan ...

and Gene Kusmiak. It was released by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

and

Ingram Entertainment Ingram Entertainment Inc. is an American distributor of home entertainment products, like DVDs, audiobooks, video game software and hardware. Ingram Entertainment Inc, is the nation's largest distributor of DVD software. History The company has ...

for the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

. The player controls one aircraft, the F-22 Raptor, throughout the game. At that time, the prototype of the F-22, the Lockheed YF-22, had only first flown in 1990. Like ''

LHX Attack Chopper ''LHX Attack Chopper'' is a combat helicopter vehicle simulation game, simulation game published by Electronic Arts in 1990. Development was led by Brent Iverson who later designed ''Chuck Yeager's Air Combat''. The game was released for MS-DOS ...

'', another flight simulator by EA, the playable aircraft had not yet been developed.

Gameplay

The player has three skill levels to choose from: Cadet, Training, and Combat. The player must then pick one of four campaigns, called ' US', '

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

' (North Korea), '

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

', and '

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

' (Soviet Union). In each level, the player's F-22 is targeted by

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s, enemy aircraft, and

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

. The mission is to destroy the targets and complete the objectives using a wide range of missiles, from heat seeking missiles,

precision-guided bomb A guided bomb (also known as a smart bomb, guided bomb unit, or GBU) is a precision-guided munition designed to achieve a smaller circular error probable (CEP). The creation of precision-guided munitions resulted in the retroactive renaming of ...

s, and

chaff Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...

. The aircraft is also given two cannons for engaging enemy targets. At the end of each mission, the player is required to either land on a

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

or an

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

. Sometimes

in-flight refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

is needed to prevent the F-22 from crashing. As the game progresses, the player will be able to unlock an

Aces ACeS (PT Asia Cellular Satellite) was a regional satellite telecommunications company based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It offered GSM-like satellite telephony services to Asian market. The coverage area included Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Phili ...

campaign, where they will face off with advanced pilots from

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the four countries the player visits while playing through the first four campaigns. The game also had a rudimentary mission editor. Although there is not conventional multiplayer, two players can fly as pilot and copilot; a second controller allows a second player to target while the first player flies.

Reception

''MegaTech'' magazine said the game was "absolutely fantastic. The graphics, presentation and playability are all spot on".

Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Earth ...

placed the game at #30 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time.Mega magazine issue 1, page 76, Future Publishing, Oct 1992

References

External links

*{{moby game, id=/f-22-interceptor, name=''F-22 Interceptor'' 1991 video games Cold War video games Combat flight simulators Electronic Arts games MegaTech Hyper Game awards winners Sega Genesis games Sega Genesis-only games Video games set in Iraq Video games set in the Soviet Union Video games set in the United States Video games developed in the United States Video games set in North Korea