Red Baron

Moby ID: 1766

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Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 77% (based on 12 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 48 ratings with 5 reviews)

Probably the most fun flight sim ever

The Good
I'm a fight sim junkie, I try them all. Technically this one isn't the best; the physics are only so-so, there isn't a lot in the world other than the planes, and the missions are all canned. And being on a PC in '91 you get lousy graphics and sound too (compared to the Mac of the same era). Normally this would result in me trashing the game, but I can't, it's probably the best one I've ever flown.

That's because of the way the game draws you in. The campaign system is flawlessly executed and follows you through the war, offering promotions, movement to "expert" squadrons, even personal challenges from pilots on the other side. I had two of these, in one a French pilot challenged me and I won after having to hide out in some clouds for a while. In another I showed up and he brought his entire squad with him - but I was flying a Triplane so they didn't last long.

An example of the depth is the way your plane is handled. Once you've done well enough you are allowed to start requesting the newest models from the factories, and even get to paint them the way you like in an editor. I haven't seen that anywhere else.

As to the rest it's all "good enough". There's enough planes in the air at once, enough types of them, enough types of missions, enough AI, enough of a flight model etc. They did just enough to make the engine work, and when combined with the campaign system the whole thing just lit up.

The Bad
I think the only real flaw was the rather poor "world" outside the planes. Basically there wasn't one. Dipping below 10000ft put you in this netherworld where nothing happened.

Perhaps more annoying is that the missions are completely hard-wired with absolutely no randomness at all. This gets distracting when you re-play them, which you will. Hellcats had this one beat.

Also the AI was good for it's day, but didn't show enough variance for different famous pilots. For instance in one mission the Red Baron (I was now a member of the flying circus) got killed by flying directly onto the nose gun of a British bomber. I was stunned so I tried it again,and the same thing happened. That's somewhat annoying considering that the Baron was famous for "hanging out" way above the fight and then coming down when planes attempted to leave combat. I suppose this isn't a trivial issue considering the machines of the day, but I did find it distracting.

The Bottom Line
If you get the chance, play this game.

DOS · by Maury Markowitz (266) · 2001

Wonderful, colorful air combat!

The Good
God, I loved this game! Where else could you get the multi-colored glory of those early fighters, and a chance to affect the Great War from the air? The plane models fly very differently, and you feel the differences in dogfights. Just like the real pilots back then, you really don't want to meet an enemy riding something hotter than the machine you're in. And what a sense of accomplishment when you score a victory!

The Bad
Just the old DOS problems of getting a stable setup that ran well with the game. In those days, there were only drivers for two or three video cards, and you soldiered on with the nearest emulation you had, if you didn't have the supported ones. So on some machines, you couldn't run the game. On a machine that would run it, I never found anything not to like!

The Bottom Line
This was the best air combat sim of its day... and for many days after. Dynamix made its reputation on this baby. Even it couldn't meet that standard when it set out to remake the game several years later. Only with the patched version of Red Baron 3D did they again reach this high plateau of gameplay.

DOS · by Professor (105) · 2002

Legendary Air Combat

The Good
This game has a lot of variety. There are 28 planes to choose from (though not all are available if you play Career mode, which makes sense), each plane with its own characteristics. There are many different types of missions you can play such as zeppelin hunting, balloon popping, and simple patrols and dogfighting. The game also contains a large list of famous aces, both German and Allied, that you can fight in one-on-one combat.

At the time of this game's release, the graphics were top-of-the-line. All objects were well rendered and easily recognizable. It did not take much imagination to feel that you were actually flying over the front engaging a squadron of German fighters. Mind you, this is a few years before the discovery of the "textured polygon."

The flight model allowed the player to choose exactly what features he/she wanted in the experience. You could choose to have an easy-to-fly flight model or a more difficult, more realistic flight model. You could also turn off and on specific features such as black/red-outs, limited ammunition, sun blinding, or you even fancy yourself a god and turn off the vulnerability. Great fun.

Along with the disks, the box contained a well-written and detailed instruction manual explaining not only basic controls, but advanced tactics and manuevers. The manual contained a section with histories, biographies, and anecdotes about the WWI air war and its pilots. Lots of fun to read if you were interested in the real history of the war. There were also several maps showing the regions modeled in the game (very handy when you got seperated from your squadron and had to find your own way back home) and a smaller instruction book useful for quick reference on flying the plane and basic manuevers.

The Bad
While quite good for the time period, the AI of enemy pilots was easily outsmarted. Should an enemy get on your tail, all you had to do to shake him was pull a simple vertical manuever like a split-S or an Immelmann turn. AI, however, was a pretty new science at this time.

The flight models were quite a bit more nimble than the actual planes would have been. It isn't very realistic, but still fun.

The Bottom Line
This game represents a ground-breaking achievement in computer air combat simulation. Definitely one of the great games of its day.

DOS · by Ghost (120) · 2000

THE pure dogfighting simulation

The Good
"Red Baron" is the best dogfighting game the PC has ever seen, bar none. The gameplay is smooth, fast, furious, and historically accurate. Air battles are incredibly exciting turning fights. Ten years later, Red Baron STILL beats most flight sims for sheer excitement and adrenaline. It's easy to play, easy to navigate, bug-free, avoids tedious aircraft management or "no-combat" flight and has a shallow learning curve.

The Bad
There's nothing not to like. "Red Baron" is one of the ten best PC games of all time.

Be careful, though, not to get Red Baron II, a horrible product.

The Bottom Line
Terrific second-generation dogfighting simulation; a PC gaming classic.

DOS · by Rick Jones (96) · 2001

AN UNDERRATED GEM!!!

The Good
Darn, this is one of my all time favourites. Definitely the best flight sim game ever. I don't need no Freespace or Descent when I have RED BARON. It makes all the other flight sims look like horse dung. I keep seeing people rate it badly sometimes, though... bad people. lol. Maybe it's because not many people out there still enjoy good flight sims... that's all.

The Bad
Nothing.

The Bottom Line
One of the greatest games of all time.

DOS · by Mr. Crap (3) · 2004

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Patrick Bregger, chirinea, Tomas Pettersson, Jo ST, Terok Nor, Wizo, Mr Creosote, ti00rki, Alsy.