I still remember when I was a kid, I saved up my breakfast money for a week, ran to the video game store, stared at the rows of colorful cassettes in the glass cabinet, and my heart beat faster than bullets fired from an airplane. At that time, there was no genuine or pirated version. The boss said, "This is Super Mario 4-in-1," so we believed it. We plugged in the Famicom when we got home, and when we turned it on, we found that it contained "Contra + Tank Battle + Tetris + an unknown airplane game," but we still played the game without sleep or food.
Later, with the GBA, pirated cassettes became even more powerful. A game of 128 in 1. In fact, it only consists of eight games over and over again, but I am familiar with each one. Especially those flying shooting games, like "Thunder" and "1945". After practicing to complete the level in one life, you can even know which bullet to dodge in which level with your eyes closed. That kind of pure operating pleasure makes my hands itch just thinking about it now.
So when I saw "National Aircraft Combat", my eyes really lit up. As soon as I started playing this game, that familiar smell came back! It's still the same refreshing rhythm of dodging bullets, eating props, increasing firepower and then clearing the screen gorgeously, but the screen has changed into a super fresh cartoon style, the bullets are more than ten times more gorgeous than before, and the fighter planes can be combined! When I first got together, all I had in my mind was the fantasy I had when I was little, "It would be great if my little plane could turn into a big plane." But now it has actually come true, and my true youth has returned.
Compared with the crude airplanes in the pirated cassettes of the past, this game has much richer levels, and the boss at the end of each level has several lives. When the barrage filled the screen, I actually regained the feeling I had when I was lying in front of the TV, my palms all sweaty. Moreover, you can play on your mobile phone at any time, unlike before when you had to secretly take out the game console from under your parents' pillows and carefully connect it to the TV, fearing that there would be any electric sound.
But to be honest, even though we now have high-definition, infinite level continuation, and online battles, I still miss those pirated cassettes with "distorted screens" from time to time, and I miss the days of replaying for three hours after the battery is dead and the save is lost. It was a bitter romance. The more fun I play "National Air Combat", the more grateful I am for being able to enjoy myself all day just for a game cartridge.
If you are also someone who has come from the era of GBA, Little Overlord, and various "learning machines", I really highly recommend giving this one a try. It's not just an airplane game, it's more like a love letter to veteran players. I have regarded it as a new generation of "yellow card" on my mobile phone, and I am ready to practice every level until the barrage shows up and my face does not turn red and my heart does not beat, hahaha.
Is anyone willing to tell me about the most deceptive "fake" game you ever played on a pirated cassette? Welcome to reminisce together! ✈️💥