Game 30: Spitfire Attack

There's no title, as such, I have put nothing here.

Name:30
Number:Spitfire Attack
Year:1983
Publisher:Milton Bradley
Developer:Milton Bradley
Genre:Flight Sim
Difficulty:2/5
Time:10 Minutes

I have a little spreadsheet that I use to keep track of what's what in these shooters I play. You know, name, company, number I gave, genre, whether I won it. This game, and a few others with Spitfire in the title, prompted me to add theme. This is the sixth WWII game I've played, and I'm already sick of WWII planes. I'm sick of complaining about it too, because I know that there's going to be a LOT of these games going into the future. Sci-fi still beats out WWII, and probably always will, but even the guy with as little imagination as to make a laser version of WWII weapons is going to be more interesting in theory than another WWII game. Its 1983. The guns could be anything, the planes could be anything. Its just "Shoot these generic guys down with your generic weaponry, get points". There's like another year before that isn't that.

Playing through the game for a few moments, I am struck by it being...bland, for its time. Planes duck and wave like a boxer, an attempt at realism. Not the worst, but it feels weird. AA guns and ammo depots scroll by on an infinitely looping plane. If it was a space shooter, I would have already rejected it. I think I have rejected one exactly like this. Even those Star Wars Trench Run ripoffs have better movement than this.

Sometimes I am struck wordless by how there's nothing much to mention. The gameplay of Spitfire Attack consists of the player switching between shooting ground targets and trying to hit planes. That's it. Very arcadey. Unlimited ammo, but one press of the fire button fires one salvo and holding it does nothing. Go for the high score if you dare.

I'm not going to bother with putting in an actual score for something this light anymore. Consider it a 2. Sound, enemies, get 1. Is it enjoyable for what it is? I dunno, I wasn't in the mood for it.