

An early 3D flight simulator game, released by Sega in 1970. It was an electro-mechanical arcade game, using video projection to display a 3D game world on screen. It features free-roaming, first-person flight shooting gameplay, making it the first primitive example of a flight simulator game, first-person shooter, and open world.

Shooter / Role-playing (RPG) / Simulator / Action / Science fiction
An early first-person role-playing shooter released by Arysis Software for the PC-88 and PC-98 in 1988, and later ported to the Sharp X68000 and Mega Drive/Genesis. Ahead of its time, it had 3D polygon graphics, FPS gameplay, strafing controls, open-world space exploration, and an epic sci-fi space opera plot.

Shooter / Simulator / Action / Science fiction
Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere is a combat flight simulation video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation. The third game in the Ace Combat franchise, it was released in Japan in 1999. Players control an aircraft and must complete various mission objectives, such as destroying squadrons of enemies or protecting a base from enemy fire. Electrosphere carries a more futuristic science fiction-inspired landscape and world compared to the modern-day theme of its predecessors. The japanese version of Ace Combat 3 differs significantly from the international release: its campaign features 52 missions split among different paths depending on in-mission decisions. The story centers around the "Intercorporate War" in 2040 between Neucom Incorporated and the General Group.

Shooter / Simulator / Action / Warfare
Ace Combat 2 serves as the follow-up to Namco's Air Combat, a combat flight simulator for the PlayStation. In this sequel, the player steps into the shoes of a mercenary pilot, determined to thwart a global terrorist conspiracy. With 30 challenging missions ahead, your triumphs will enable you to acquire weapon upgrades, parts, and various enhancements, mirroring the mechanics of the original game. Enhanced with crisper visuals and more immersive audio, Ace Combat 2 also boasts an expanded array of planes and customisable options. Additionally, it introduces dual shock support, along with the inclusion of analogue joystick support, enriching the overall gaming experience.

The first arcade-style flight combat title exclusively for the PSP system, combining intensive air combat with a multitude of explosions that allow gamers to relive the experience of the classic After Burner arcade game. In addition to the in-depth customization of 19 officially licensed military planes, gamers can compete against friends via ad-hoc in a variety of multiplayer modes, and for the first time ever, fly solo in a story-rich single-player campaign.

Shooter / Simulator / Action / Stealth
Slice through the dark and own the night in your Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft to utilize stealth technology in its design. This isn’t your typical attack fighter, you’ll be flying sorties under the cover of night, avoiding detection by enemy radar and striking high-value targets with precision weaponry. You’ll want to haunt the battlefield like a ghost, menacing the enemy with earth-shattering ordnance before vanishing in your airborne apparition as suddenly as you appeared. With a hardcore devotion to authenticity, F-117A brings you unprecedented night combat action. You’ll go through every phase of mission planning, from requesting a specific assignment during briefing to choosing your own munitions during armament, before then climbing into your cockpit and experiencing the thrill of dropping 1,000 lbs. of laser-guided destruction on enemy troops, tanks and bunkers. This is your chance to fly one of the most technologically impressive warplanes ever made.

Shooter / Simulator / Strategy / Action
Joint Assault retains the basic gameplay from its predecessor, but with significant additions and alterations. Aerial combat adopts a visual system called "Enhanced Combat View" to alter the perspective of enemy aircraft close to the player, altering their size to make them appear much closer as a precursor to Dogfight Mode from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon.

Top Gun: The Second Mission, known as Top Gun: Duel Fighters in Japan, is a combat flight game developed and published by Konami and released on NES platforms on 1989. It is a sequel to the NES version of Top Gun.