Lost In Translation/Aero Fighters 3

This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
For an example of preferred content and layout please refer to Out Run or The Ninja Warriors.

Aero Fighters 3
Manufacturer	Video System Co.
Released	1995
Control Method	8-way Joystick 4 Button(s)
Main CPU	Neo-Geo 68000 (@ 12.000 MHz) Z80 (@ 4.000 MHz)
Sound CPU	Stereo YM2610 (@ 8.000 MHz)
Video Details	Raster (Horizontal) 320 x 224 pixels 59.19 Hz 4,096 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	20 ROMs 22,609,920 bytes (21.56 MiB)
MAME ID	sonicwi3

About The Game

Aero Fighters 3 is a vertically scrolling arcade video game shoot-em-up.

The 3rd game in this excellent series adheres to the solid 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.

Aero Fighters 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 Fairey 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.

Additional Technical Information

Players : 2

Control : 8-way joystick

Buttons : 2

=> [A] Shot, [B] Special weapon

Trivia

Released in October 1995.

This game is known in Japan as "Sonic Wings 3".

This represent the latest game in the "Aero Fighters" 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.

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

Updates

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

Tips and tricks

Plane Armoury

• 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

Play As Red Rabbit Kotomi (from "Rabio Lepus")

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

Series

1. Aero Fighters / Sonic Wings (1992)
2. Aero Fighters 2 / Sonic Wings 2 (1994)
3. Aero Fighters 3 / Sonic Wings 3 (1995)
4. Sonic Wings Limited (1996)
5. Aero Fighters Assault (1997, Nintendo 64)

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

Cabinet and Artwork

• 

  Neo-Geo arcade cabinet.

• 

  Aero Fighters 3 marquee.

Ports

Consoles

SNK Neo-Geo CD (1995)

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
Sonic Wings 3	PCCB-00193	1995-10-20	Pony Canyon, Scitron Label

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.