Pilotwings

aka: Dragonfly
Moby ID: 6632
SNES Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/23 6:29 AM )

Description official descriptions

Fly a selection of aircraft (including training vehicles, fighter planes and helicopters) through a range of training programs and missions. The more training you complete, the better the chance that you will complete the even bigger missions. Try your hand at landing, taking off, party tricks, fly through bad weather and shoot down targets.

Spellings

  • パイロットウイングス - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (SNES version)

10 People

Executive Producer
Producer
Director
Programmer
Graphic Designer
Sound Composer

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 30 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 58 ratings with 4 reviews)

A lot of fun

The Good
A lot different than any other game I've ever played. The jetpack, the parachute, the fun flying challenges. It was challenging but not impossible to learn in my opinion.

The Bad
I got stuck for awhile at one of the licensing levels, but played it a lot and finally got past that level. I liked the airplane and the parachute, but I wasn't very good at the jetpack.

The Bottom Line
Terrific graphics, a great sense of flying and being in the air, just a lot of fun!

SNES · by r h (13) · 2007

What other game at the time (or to date?) can you skydive??!

The Good
This game got to show off the new high-tech capabilities the SNES had. I think it was the 2nd game released for the SNES where I lived, so I had to buy it. It was definitely different than any game I had previously played. Beside from the fact that its kind of a crazy extreme sports obstacle course kinda game, the SNES was new and this game showed off the new abilities such as scaling that the NES couldn't do. The jetpack areas were pretty fun.

The Bad
If you weren't good enough to get a better class license, you couldn't advance to anything new. I wasn't that good so it took quite awhile to finally get to do something else...which wasn't fun.



The Bottom Line
A good game for it's time. Different kind of simulator most others.

SNES · by OlSkool_Gamer (88) · 2004

A novel approach to flight games that is both realistic and fun

The Good
When released in 1990, Pilotwings was a novelty. The game showed what kind of graphical tricks the SNES could produce by making extensive use of Mode 7 scaling effects. Moreover I think it also introduced some new styles of gameplay. Pilotwings is a "sim-lite" that simulates piloting a hangglider, a rocketbelt, free-falling & parachuting and finally the more traditional bi-plane. With these aircrafts you'll have to perform stunts to complete missions. There are not many games like Pilotwings. The only games that come to (my) mind are the sequel Pilotwings 64, Aerowings and Sky Odyssey; but the last two focus only on aeroplanes. Pilotwings let me do stuff I had not done before in almost twenty years of playing computer games, which made the game interesting for me.

The gameplay in Pilotwings is more realistic than I expected it to be. All the aircraft have a certain amount of momentum, when you're flying in one direction you can't just turn on a dime and go in another direction. Both the strength and direction of the wind are also huge factors to take into account when controlling the aircraft. Thus it takes a while and a fair amount of practice before the controls become second nature and you've learned to counter the influences of wind and gravity. It was fun to pilot five completely different types of airplanes (hangglider, light plane, rocketbelt, parachute and the attack chopper in the bonus missions).

Pilotwings doesn't deafen the player with a bombardment of tunes and bleeps. It has calm and relaxing music that somewhat neutralizes the inevitable frustration that arises from the difficult mission objectives. The game's sound effects are excellent; hearing the wind blow past me while free-falling was impressive. The graphics department is decent, Pilotwings looks good for a first generation SNES title. Mode 7 effects are used to convincingly represent different altitudes.

The Bad
Pilotwings is a rather short game, if you'd do everything perfect on your first try you could probably finish it within 45 minutes. But because the game is rather difficult you'll have to train and replay a lot and you'll get many more hours out of Pilotwings. In fact I don't think there ever was a game in which I had to replay missions over and over again as much as with this one. This is mostly due to the fact that you can't save your game after a mission within a lesson. If you've scored very well on hanggliding, skydiving and the rocketbelt, you can still ruin your score with a bad performance with the light plane. This makes Pilotwings frustrating in it's later stages when you need to score a lot of points to advance to the next level / lesson.

It would have been nice if there was some sort of free-form / sandbox mode. After you've completed the eight regular lessons and the two bonus missions there's really no replay value.

The Bottom Line
A good first-generation flight game that strikes the right balance between simulation and fun. Miyamoto manages to turn the usually very serious flight-sim genre into something fun and playable.

SNES · by Roedie (5239) · 2003

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The SNES version of Pilotwings appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development history

The working title of the game, in 1988, was Dragonfly, when Nintendo showed images of in many Japanese magazines at the time. This was well was before the official release of the Super Famicom (SNES). When the game was released, the name had been changed to Pilotwings, and the graphics and game structure was significantly different from the images shown previously.

Game Center CX

Pilotwings has been featured on the Japanese television show Game Center CX on three separate occasions. It was originally chosen as the challenge game for Season 9, Episode 9 (Feb. 16, 2010) but host Shinya Arino was unable to complete the game.

Arino challenged the game a second time for a special live broadcast celebrating his 40th birthday, which aired from 8 PM, Feb. 24 2012 until 6 AM the following day. After ten hours, he finally ran out of time, unable to complete the final stage, and had to give up again. This was the first time he'd failed to complete a game during a live broadcast.

Not wanting to disappoint his fans, Arino challenged the game for a third time at a live event in Iwate Prefecture before a live audience of hundreds of fans. With help from the ADs and several fans, he managed to clear the final stage just as the two-hour event was coming to an end. This event was the focus of Season 16, Episode 7 (July 5, 2012).

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 6632
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kartanym.

Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. New Nintendo 3DS added by Harmony♡. Wii added by samsam12.

Additional contributors: gamewarrior, j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】, Joao Pinheiro, FatherJack, firefang9212.

Game added June 14, 2002. Last modified February 12, 2024.