Red Baron

Moby ID: 1766
DOS Specs
Add-on (official) Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

Red Baron puts you in the pilot's seat of actual World War I fighter aircraft. This game features 28 different aircraft from both the Allied and the German sides presented in actual 3D graphics. Start a career as a pilot and rise through the ranks to become the most feared ace in the skies, or participate in a variety of single missions including simple fighter sweeps, balloon-busting, zeppelin hunting, or take on an actual WWI ace in one-on-one combat. If you're good enough, you may even be able to take on the infamous Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron himself.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

40 People (34 developers, 6 thanks) · View all

Directed and Designed by
Lead Programmer
Shell programmed by
Additional simulation programming and mission recorder by
Flight model programmed by
Technical Assistance
Historical Missions
Art Director
3D Graphic Artist
Casting and costuming by
Director of Image Production
Off-line maps by
16-color artwork by
Audio Director
Sound effects and music editing by
Music score by
  • Cayanie Music
Quality Assurance
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 73% (based on 15 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 61 ratings with 5 reviews)

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

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

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

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Trivia

256 color version

Players who owned the 16-color version of the game were a couple of months later invited to send away to Dynamix with proof of purchase to obtain free diskettes containing the 256-color version.

Extras

The box came with maps and a very big manual with information about the Red Baron, WOI, photo's, aircraft specifications, the lot.

Freeware release

This 16 color version was made available as freeware to promote and make amends for the late release of Red Baron II.

Multiplayer

Sierra's on-line community known as the ImagiNation Network (INN) featured, among many other games, a multiplayer version of Red Baron. The multiplayer version was popular and attracted quite a following until the network was unfortunately shutdown in 1996. The Red Baron community supported many squardons (some of which still exist today in other on-line flight simulators), inter-squadron wars, and a player-run "SkyWars Council."

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1991 (Issue #88) – Simulation of the Year
    • May 1993 (Issue #106) - Introduced into the Hall of Fame
    • November 1996 (15th anniverary issue) - #4 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #92 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking

Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Imajica, Kasey Chang and WildKard

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

The Red Baron
Released 1986 on DOS
Red Baron II
Released 1997 on Windows
Red Baron: Arcade
Released 2008 on Windows, 2009 on PlayStation 3
The Red Baron
Released 1985 on VIC-20
Red Baron Pack
Released 2009 on Windows
Red Baron / Panzer Attack
Released 1978 on Bally Astrocade
Red Baron: Mission Builder
Released 1992 on DOS
Curse You! Red Baron
Released 1999 on Windows
Red Baron 3-D
Released 1998 on Windows

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1766
  • [ 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 Ghost.

Amiga added by Martin Smith. Macintosh added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Patrick Bregger, Victor Vance.

Game added June 26, 2000. Last modified January 29, 2024.