''F29 Retaliator'' is a

combat flight simulator Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and milit ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

developed by

Digital Image Design Digital Image Design (DID) was a British video game developer founded by Martin Kenwright and Phillip Allsopp in 1989. It was originally based in Runcorn, Cheshire in England. The company specialized in aircraft simulator games, mostly published ...

and published by

Ocean Software Ocean Software Ltd was a British software development company that became one of the biggest European video game developers and publishers of the 1980s and 1990s. The company was founded by David Ward and Jon Woods and was based in Manchester. ...

in 1989

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

and Atari ST, 1991 for the PC, and for the

FM Towns The is a Japanese personal computer, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. ...

and

NEC PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more ...

in 1992-1993. Its working title was just ''Retaliator''. The game was developed during the end of the Cold War, based mostly on speculations on then-future aircraft that were expected to be in use by the year 2002, in particular based on the design of the Lockheed Martin F-22 and the Grumman X-29A.

Gameplay

The graphics were detailed by the standards of the period, featuring cities, bridges, roads, islands, mountains and moving vehicles. The cockpit of either the F-22 or the X-29A has three

multi-function display A multifunction display (MFD) is a small-screen (CRT or LCD) surrounded by multiple soft keys (configurable buttons) that can be used to display information to the user in numerous configurable ways. MFDs originated in aviation, first in mili ...

s available to set up in a number of configurations. The fantastic "future" weapons to choose from include a fighter-carried

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Eur ...

cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhea ...

, rearward-firing

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prove ...

air-to-air missiles and a gigantic

cluster bomb A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehic ...

. The game includes four war scenarios (

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

desert test and training sites,

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

conflict,

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

conflict and the

World War III World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...

in Europe) each with several missions, with the total number of those adding up to 99. The last mission of the game can be any of three, and completion of each one leads to different game endings. The PC version allowed head-to head

dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every maj ...

ing using a

null modem Null modem is a communication method to directly connect two DTEs ( computer, terminal, printer, etc.) using an RS-232 serial cable. The name stems from the historical use of RS-232 cables to connect two teleprinter devices or two modems in ord ...

cable.

Reception

The game received 4 out of 5 stars in '' Dragon''. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...

'' described ''F29'' as a less-expensive alternative which "still offers a solid game-playing experience, with limitations". While noting limitations such as a small game environment, the magazine concluded that "despite its limitations, ''F-29'' is an enjoyable diversion" for those new to flight simulators. A 1992 survey in the magazine of wargames with modern settings gave the game three stars out of five, and a 1994 survey in the magazine gave it two stars out of five, describing it as "rather generic in nature". ''Retaliator'' was ranked the 36th best game of all time by ''

Amiga Power ''Amiga Power'' (''AP'') was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future plc, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996. Philosophy ''Amiga Power'' had several principles which comp ...

'' in 1991.

Reviews

*''

Zzap! ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazi ...

'' (Jan, 1990) *''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' (Jan, 1990) *''

The Games Machine ''The Games Machine'' is a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published '' CRASH'', '' Zzap!64'', '' Amtix!'' and other magazines. History The magazine ran head to head w ...

'' (Jan, 1990) *''

The One The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung ...

'' (Dec, 1989) *''

Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by multiplying digits to the left of 0 by the radix, usu ...

'' (Jan, 1990) *''

Amiga Format ''Amiga Format'' was a British computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future plc. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when, in the wake of selling '' ACE'' to EMAP, Future split the dual-format ...

'' (Jun, 1990) *''

ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) ''ACE'' (Advanced Computer Entertainment) was a multi-format computer and video game magazine first published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing and later acquired by EMAP. History ACE launched in October 1987, roughly the same time as ...

'' (Jun, 1990) *''Amiga Joker'' (May, 1990) *'' ST Format'' (Jan, 1994) *'' ST Format'' (Aug, 1990) *''

'' (Jun, 1991) *''

'' (CVG) (Aug, 1990)

Legacy

A "Special Mission" add-on was released with ''

ZERO 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by multiplying digits to the left of 0 by the radix, usu ...

'' magazine in 1990, featuring a battle against the alien spacecraft from the then-upcoming space combat game '' EPIC''. ''Retaliator 2'', announced in 1990 to be released in the first quarter of 1991,''

Advanced Computer Entertainment ''ACE'' (Advanced Computer Entertainment) was a multi-format computer and video game magazine first published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing and later acquired by EMAP. History ACE launched in October 1987, roughly the same time as ...

'' 37 (October 1990), p.22-23 was never released as the team concentrated on finishing ''EPIC'' (released in 1992 and using an improved engine of ''F29''). However, DID would later create three further, much more realistic F-22 simulators: '' TFX'' (1993), '' F-22: Air Dominance Fighter'' (1997), and ''

F-22 Total Air War ''F-22 Total Air War'', also known as Total Air War or by its acronym TAW, is a combat flight simulation video game developed by Digital Image Design and published by Infogrames United Kingdom in 1998. It simulates the F-22 Raptor fighter aircra ...

'' (1998).

References

External links

*{{MobyGames, /f29-retaliator 1989 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Cold War video games Combat flight simulators DOS games FM Towns games NEC PC-9801 games Ocean Software games Video games set in 2002 Video games set in Oceania War video games set in Europe World War III video games Digital Image Design games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom