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An okay game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 15 / 19
Date: July 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Top Gun: Combat Zones is a game that, on the back cover, claims to allow you to master the Navy's top 5 planes, which I disagree with. First, four of the planes available aren't in the Navy. The MV-22 and AV-8 are Marine aircraft. The F-22 Raptor is Air Force, and the YF-23 lost the contract to the F-22, and isn't in any branch of the military. Second, This game only seems to focus on fighter/attack roles. Combat Zones failed horribly in capturing different aspects of Naval aviation. A good selection of Navy aircraft would probably include the F-14D, F/A-18C, E-2C Hawkeye, S-3B Viking, EA-6B Prowler, HH-60H Seahawk, and P-3C Orion. This would've allowed mission variety, including air to air combat, special forces insertion, anti-surface and anti-sub roles, AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System), and the ever-popular air-to-air combat. But, unfortuneately, the designers made a game that gets old after a while because the only thing different in each mission is the scenery.
I loved the control setup for this game, though. That is, I loved the Expert controls. Expert controls allow you to control the airplanes with realistic three-axis movement (pitch, roll, and yaw). One big flaw, though, was throttle controls. The throttle controls really stunk.
While the control setup was near-perfect, the way the aircraft handled was very unrealistic. I mean, paint dries faster than the time it takes for you to roll completely around one time. Another complaint I have is that you can't really dive inless you roll on your back and pull up. Nothing like real aircraft.
Sound effects were okay, although the explosions sound muted. My favorite sound in this game was your 20mm cannon. The gun in the game almost sounds like the gun in real life (believe me, the real life guns sound a lot different than in the movies.
I did appreciate the graphics. The planes were very detailed, right down to the markings. Everything was in the right spot.
One thing is, I like to play flight sims from a cockpit view that actually looks like a cockpit, and I also like to be able to take off and land. This game didn't have any of that. Half the challenge of flying is taking off and landing, especially for a Navy pilot. IT's been said over and over that it is incredibly unnerving to have to land a 50,000 pound jet on a floating airfield moving away at 30 knots, no matter how experienced you are. This game failed terribly in even giving you an inkling of what flying in the Navy feels like. Anyone can just slap together a "fly in and blow everything up" game. Tsk, tsk.
Overall, this was an okay game. You have to give it a lot of credit because it is the only semi-realistic flight sim for GameCube (hint, hint, Nintendo bigwigs), but I really felt that it didn't do naval aviators justice.
Only buy it if you really truly want a flight sim for GameCube. Otherwise, rent it or wait for a realistic sim to come out.

This is gonna rock!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 27
Date: July 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

As soon as I saw Top Gun: Combat Zones I thought to myself "I have to get it". I used to enjoy playing the Top Gun game for the original NES, and this game looks fifty times more fun. You can fly eight different planes, from the classic F-14 Tomcat to the exotic V-22 Osprey, to the old-but-true F-4 Phantom. You can fly in various campaigns from the Arctic from the Gulf (you know which one) to South East Asia. Unfortunately, this game has no two-player mode as far as I could find. Half the fun of combat flight games is dogfighting human opponents (Incase you were wondering, the other half is a mixture of good graphics and fun gameplay). If it were not for this minor fault, I would've rated it five stars. Otherwise, it looks like this game is gonna ROCK! Definitely something gamers should buy.

Here's my review:

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: September 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am fourteen years old and I absoulutely LOVE this game. There are eight different planes( actually, one of them is a helicopter, and I haven't unlocked that yet), all with great piloting. There are four different piloting controls, #3 being most like flying a REAL plane. The graphics are VERY realistic. If you get close enough to the ground and fire, you can hear your rounds pinging off the ground. GREAT graphics; on some levels with water you can see ripples in the water when you fire. I don't know if this is with EVERY game, but somehow my game has gotten erased twice. When I got on, it told me the data was corrupt. I'm pretty sure it was just my memory card, though. Many other reviewers told everyone to rent it, but I strongly suggest that you don't. You will not have enough time to unlock all of the extras, and what fun is that? There is also a QUICKSTART option, where you can choose air2air or air2ground, etc. You choose how many opponents, and what map you will play, and PRESTO! You've designed your own war. Overall a GREAT game, and I strongly suggest to anyone that liked Rouge Squadron or X-wing alliance (PC) to buy it. Thanx! <><

Top Gun Flies High and Shots Down All Other Flight Games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 31
Date: June 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

With 36 missions, 5 different planes to fly, changing weather conditions, and 5 different areas to fly over this game is a great title. The controls are easy to master and fun to play. It has challenge and captures the flying experience perfectly. This a great title for everyone. To say what I think of this game I say, SWEEEEEEET!!!!

Good game with some bad design features.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: December 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I really like flying games and this is a good one, but there are a few annoying items.
I've crashed several times because when messages come in, control of the aircraft is stopped and returned at the end of the message. This is OK most of the time but for others it means a crash. A message window in a corner would be much better.
The heads up display differs depending on the display option selected (plane in the picture or not). There is no heads up display in quickstart free flight.

Afterburner or lower thrust means near-instant speed changes.

Nick-seasoned gamer

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: January 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I tell ya, this was one sweet game, but waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy too easy. The controls are great and graphics are superb, but it almost seemed that the further i got into the game, the easier it got and before I knew it, I beat the game. And another bad part is there is no multipleyer (which they could have easily made for it) and hardly andy replay value. There are some bonus planes to unlock, so that should take you a little longer, but like I said, it was tooooo easy. I strongly suggest renting, not buying this game

top gun combat zones

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Well I gotta say I seen this getting compared to Ace Combat 4 I have them both and I'll give it to you straight. Ace Combat has more missions,where as Top Gun has five. Some missions in Top Gun have un-guided missles which make more of a challenge. Personally I love how the plane tilts in Top Gun it seems far more realistic than the much quicker tilt of Ace Combat.Also the replay of Top Gun has much better graphics and far more entertaining than Ace Combat 4. So it does't have anything to do with the movie, who needs it. Top Gun deserves more credit.

Husband and Son are both hooked on this game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: January 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I got this game for my husband for Christmas and it has been in constant play ever since. The graphics are great, and the game is very entertaining (we even caught Grandpa at the controls!). My 7-year-old son finds it challenging and it is not too overly violent for him. All in all it is a fun and exciting game that probably won't be set aside any time soon! Have FUN!

Excellent Flight Fight

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

"Top Gun: Combat Zones," which is what it is really called, is a game which has devoted nearly its full potential to providing an arcade experience to those who do not want to spend tons of quarters actually in the arcade. You are a pilot, whether one for the NAVY is to be considered and debated, and your primary goal is to complete the mulitiple primary goals to survive the missions. Life is a tough one in "Combat Zones," to the point where afterburner conservation is a major element to success or failure.

You begin in an F-14 Tomcat with the most realistic capabilities for a game where 20 missiles are not uncommon, and start your training to hell and back again with astonishing level of tension. To unlock more modes and planes, you must complete "Eras" that have both a "Academy" (Which is a major downfall, you can't skip the academy, although it is still extremely fun), and a "Warzone." For you Flight Simulator fans, it is extremely realistic and you can see flaps, ailerons, and elevators to the finest details. The F-22, which you unlock as soon as you get to the 3rd Era, even has vectoring thrust.

The game graphics are nearly superb, but some smoke effects would have been nice. If you destroy a target, it will just vanish, with no smoke or something. Ground objects are good, but not perfect, and there are no "invisible barriers" that you would magically crash into.

The gameplay was around 6-12 hours.

Overall, a good game.

This is a GREAT game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: November 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is a GREAT game! Quite challenging and fun. If you want an action-packed challenge, I highly recommend!

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