Aerobiz: Supersonic - Running An Airline Can't Be This Much Fun
Written: Jul 07 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Addictive and superb gameplay
Cons: Steep learning curve, sim aspect may seem tedious to some
The Bottom Line: Aerobiz: Supersonic is one of the best simulation games on the Genesis.
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| flyboy101's Full Review: Aerobiz: Supersonic for Sega Genesis |
The first time I played Aerobiz: Supersonic I didn't know what to make of it. I was one of the first real "sim" games I ever played, and was completely different from anything I had seen up to that point. The idea that a game where the only goal is to successfully manage a commercial airline seemed so very...strange. But I quickly discovered that not only is Aerobiz an innovative game, it also supplies some of the most fun ever on the Genesis.
The Story
The idea is fairly simple. You're the CEO of a new airline, and it's up to you to ensure the survival and ultimate success of your company. Every aspect of your business is up to you. And it won't be easy, you'll be going up against 3 opponents (computer or human players) with competing airlines around the world.
The Graphics
Being a sim game, the visuals take a backseat to the gameplay. The main game screen is fairly simple, just a layout of the region. Your staff members are represented by a simple cartoon portrait. This goes along nicely with the feel of the game, which is based heavily on Japanese animation and early video games. Aside from the still pictures, there are a few animations in the game, but they're basically a handful of cartoon frames.
The Audio
There's not a whole lot of music, but most of the tunes are short and catchy. Your standard MIDI songs, there really isn't much to them. Each region has it's own theme music, as does each time period. While this can get a bit repetitive at times, it's nice to have some background music as you play. Again, the audio and visuals are simply a bonus to the sim aspect of the game.
The Gameplay
As I mentioned before, almost everything in the game is up to you. You can set up and maintain new travel routes, purchase various aircraft, browse and purchase businesses in any of the cities, you can even handle the budget for maintenance and advertising. There's a good deal of micromanagement involved. Oftentimes you'll spend a good portion of your turn simply adjusting existing routes to try and make them a little more efficient. Although you can play the game without doing too much detail work, it's just a little bit harder.
At the beginning of the game you can choose to play in one of four time periods: 1955-1975, 1970-1990, 1985-2005, and 2000-2020. The period you select will have a drastic effect on gameplay. For instance if you choose to play in the 50's and 60's, it's going to be much more difficult to expand to far off cities since jets couldn't travel as far back then. Also there are political consequences to choosing your time period. You have to bid for the opportunity to open a route to any city, and if you're home country is at odds with the country you want to negotiate with, bidding will take longer and be more difficult. So for example if you were located in New York, it would be a lot easier to negotiate with Moscow in the year 2000 than 1955.
You control all of this from a menu at the bottom of your screen. At the top you can see a continent and get a view of all the cities available to open a route to. North & South America, Oceana, Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East are available to view and work with. You can choose from several cities in each region to establish your home base, and from there expand out to the surrounding cities, and eventually create regional hubs in different continents. To help guide you through the entire game are your 4 staff members, and it would be wise to call a meeting to discuss your business at least every couple of turns.
Overall
Aerobiz: Supersonic is definitely not a game for everyone. It's slow paced, has a steep learning curve, and there's very little eye candy. With that said, its a sim fan's dream. Great micromanagement that feels more like an option than a chore, fairly intelligent AI, and an almost endless number of ways to play.
If the idea of an airline management sim sounds like fun to you, chances are you'll love Aerobiz.
Hints & Tips
- On your first turn, purchase any hotels in your home city. As you set up more flights these hotels will make more money.
- Quickly build several flights on your home continent. This will set up a quarterly profit large enough for you to work with, and you can worry about going global later on.
- Open a route to Tokyo as quickly as possible and use the largest planes available. This will most likely be your busiest and most profitable route.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
flyboy101
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Location: Chicago, Illinois
Reviews written: 249
Trusted by: 42 members
About Me:
I'm just your typical 20-something, idiotic male.
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