Snoopy Flying Ace review + Free Game Give Away

When I was lucky enough to attend PAX East back in March there was one game that immediate caught my attention. Amidst AAA games like Crackdown 2 and unique titles like Limbo and Joe Danger, I was elated to see Snoopy Flying Ace on display.  As a fan of Snoopy and especially arcade flying games it was a double dose of awesome to see the game in action and to play it.  And now nearly three months later Snoopy Flying Ace is finally available for Xbox 360 owners to enjoy.  With a combination of an endearing presentation and highly entertaining gameplay, Snoopy Flying Ace is easily one of the best experiences to hit Xbox Live Arcade as it offers everything one would want out of an arcade flight game.

It needs to be said that any pre-conceived notions you may have probably need to be thrown out the window right now.  Unlike other games based on popular kid friendly franchises Snoopy Flying Ace isn’t a chump.  This is a game where the gameplay is deep, entertaining and sometimes rather harsh if you’re not careful.  Snoopy Flying Ace doesn’t feature inane humor, fart jokes, mini-games or simplistic gameplay mechanics that are suitable for a six-year-old child.  This is a game that’s best suited for older kids and adult gamers who love arcade flight games.

At the core of Snoopy Flying Ace is obviously the flying mechanics. As the name implies Snoopy is hopping into a small fighter plane to cause some trouble in the sky.  Set during a fictional WWI period in which dogs and kids are fighter pilots, Snoopy Flying Ace manages to meld two vastly different things and combine them in a package that is simply amazing.  You may not think the Peanuts franchise and WWI aerial combat would work but it does and in some cases it surpasses what we’ve gotten in the past from the genre.  It isn’t just the gameplay which is so good but the visuals as well. Seeing the various creations of Charles Schulz pilot planes in cartoony worlds is actually nice to look. Everything in the game whether it’s the planes or the mountains and buildings you fly around all have a crispness and detail to them which not only honors what Mr. Schulze created but establishes its own identity and character.

Ok so you got the cute, highly lovable and always devious Snoopy who it turns out is a badass pilot. Well I’m overselling it a bit as it’s the mechanics and controls of the game which are so badass and enjoyable. Badass isn’t exactly the phrase you would expect to be associated with a game featuring Snoopy and the Peanuts but when you unleash a swarm of missiles or unleash the fury of the Rainmaker (think big gun turrets) it definitely evokes a badass feeling.  Controlling the different planes in the game are all a breeze as the left analog stick handles movement and the right stick handles evasive maneuvers which are required to use if you want to survive.  The piloting controls may not require as fluid precision as a game like Warhawk, but they still get the job done and to be honest they’re exquisite compared to recent games.

As I said earlier, don’t think that Snoopy Flying Ace doesn’t bring the action since it’s a “kid’s franchise” game.  The aerial battles in the game are often intense as each of the online modes can host up to 16 players. So just imagine 16 players flying about shooting homing missiles, laying mines, and unleash a hailstorm of bullets all of which are portrayed with a certain realistic, albeit cartoony, sensibility that makes the action have an actual impact instead of feeling like you’re shooting pellets or green powder.  Snoopy and the other Peanut characters aren’t portrayed as cold-blooded killers though as the pilot of each plane is seen parachuting after their plane is destroyed. So yeah, there’s definitely a cartoony vibe in the game, as evident by Snoopy’s crackle after getting multiple kills, but the action is far from being tame.

At the heart of Snoopy Flying Ace is the online mode.  As I mentioned earlier, each of the online modes which range from standard Team Deathmatch and a CTF type mode all support up to 16 players.  There’s also a very unique online mode title Pigskin in which the two teams literally battle over a football on a map, complete with an overlay of the different yards and with goalposts on both ends. It may only sound like a gimmick mode but Pigskin is easily the most addicting multiplayer mode in the game due to the teamwork it requires.  Going crazy in Team Deathmatch is fun but if you want to play a mode that requires teamwork to win then Pigskin is the mode for you.  In general all the multiply modes are  a blast to play, no part due to the entertaining gameplay and the wonderfully designed maps which range from Paris, the arctic, and even Egypt complete with a Snoopy Sphinx of course.

Snoopy’s aerial exploits aren’t just limited to online action as there’s also a single-player mode. While it doesn’t feel like a complete training mode, the single-player campaign isn’t as robust as it could be. It’s still fun to play as it’s you against A.I. planes in the various multiplayer maps but that’s about all it has to offer, aside from a few boss encounters.  The one thing that I found a bit disappointing about Snoopy’s single-player adventure is that there isn’t a story to it or anything. 

Aside from brief text based explanations and the appearances of Peanut characters like Charlie Brown and there’s no classic Peanuts humor or Snoopy silliness. The lack of a substantial story mode is understandable given the smaller scale of the game but I hope if we get a sequel maybe we’ll see something substantial such as the original vision developer Smart Bomb Interactive had in mind.

Snoopy fanboyism aside I just can’t stress how good Snoopy Flying Ace is.  The controls are perfect, the graphics are great and the action is intense.  If you’re not a big fan of the Peanuts or Snoopy then you shouldn’t let the franchise deter you from checking out what is easily one of the best arcade flight games to come out in the past decade.  The game is simply addicting to play and when you factor in the 800 MS points it costs to purchase then it’s an absolute steal.  With such a rich online experience and entertaining gameplay, Snoopy Flying Ace will deservedly go down as one of the best if not the best XBLA game to be released this year.

CONTEST

Thanks to the incredibly kind Clark Stacey of Smart Bomb Interactive, we have a copy of Snoopy Flying Ace to give away. All you need to do to win is post a comment to this review saying which arcade flight game is your favorite and give a reason why. But if you're a hardcore Peanuts/Snoopy fan then you can also list your favorite moment from that franchise as well.  The winner will be announced early next week before the E3 madness begins.

UPDATE

The winner of the contest is bigboss2k.