When it came to vertically-scrolling airplane shooter games in the 90s, there was clearly one king of the sky, Aero Fighters, released in 1992 by Video Systems. Players took the flight controls and fought valiantly to keep the globe safe from a variety of enthusiastic international enemies in this fast-paced, visually appealing shooter game.

Players started by choosing one of four fighters, each with its own pilot from a different country and each with its own set of unique weapons. Once the decision was made, it was time to take to the skies, and take a bite out of international terrorism. With a multitude of targets, big and small, each had to be destroyed swiftly before they could wreak havoc on your mission. Eight different missions were available, taking place in such exotic locales as Japan, Moscow, Iraq and the Mediterranean Sea and each posed their own unique set of threats.

Quite often, the battle escalated to a level where success seemed insurmountable. This was a perfect time to employ the use of smart bombs, which had the miraculous ability to clear the skies of all threats, thanks to the arrival of a squadron of fierce bombers that appeared just in the nick of time. One could also utilize the various “power-up” triggers, which temporarily increased the abilities of your aircraft. Each mission concluded with a final and ferocious target, which might be a battleship or a huge menacing gorilla. Once each of these final targets was destroyed, you started back at the first mission – this time with more numerous and formidable opponents seeking to ground your aircraft for good.

With the notable success of Aero Fighters, it was only a matter of time before the sequels arrived, in the form of Aero Fighters 2 and Aero Fighters 3. While these offshoots continued to in the tradition of overhead, vertical-scroll shooting, the video monitors were re-oriented from vertical to horizontal. This allowed the game’s owner to simply plug the sequels, via a cartridge, into the popular NEO*GEO arcade game system. And although the monitor’s position may have changed, the quest of the pilot remained consistent – take out each and every target before they take you out. The sequels introduced new pilots, new fighters (such as a fighting dolphin) and an assortment of new locales, such as Central America, Australia and a Brazilian rain forest. And with the completion of each set of missions, the player was treated to a little animated film, showing the eventual fate of their fearless pilot.

While certainly not the most advanced of air combat simulations, there was still plenty of fun to be had with the Aero Fighters game series - where an ordinary Joe could do his civic duty and keep the skies safe from an onslaught of enemies all across the globe. That’s the stuff that heroes are made of.