Wing Nuts: Battle in the Sky

Wing Nuts: Battle in the Sky is a game published by BMG Interactive Entertainment and developed by Rocket Science Games for MS-DOS systems in 1995.

Wing Nuts: Battle in the Sky
Developer(s)	Rocket Science Games
Publisher(s)	BMG Interactive Enterainment
Platform(s)	MS-DOS systems
Genre(s)	1995

Gameplay

The game is told by FMV cutscenes. It is an FMV rail shooter, like Loadstar, but in 2 missions the player must use bombs and balloons to destroy a bridge.[1]

Plot

The game is set in 1914. The player character is a young pilot whose base was attacked by Germans, out of the blue. To find the source of the planes, he shoots any German planes in sight.[1]

Development

In early 1995, Rocket Science Games' Mike Backes noted that the company was working on a fighter aircraft title set during World War I. He told Wired at the time, "The nice thing about Rocket Science is that we developed all these nifty graphics and great production resources, and now we're starting to look at how storytelling can change."[2] Following the commercial failure of its early action-oriented titles, the developer restructured to focus primarily on the adventure game Obsidian, and cancelled several other projects in development. However, company head Peter Barrett confirmed in July that "we still have Wing Nuts, a World War I dogfight game, in the works" despite these new plans.[3]

Release

A 3DO Interactive Multiplayer version of Wing Nuts: Battle in the Sky was announced to be in development during E3 1995 and slated to be published by BMG Interactive, however, this version was never released for unknown reasons.[4][5][6]

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score Next Generation [7] PC Gamer (US) 71%[8] PC Entertainment C[9] Computer Game Review 80/80/80[10]

In 1997, Jeff Sengstack of NewMedia wrote that Wing Nuts "bombed miserably." Its sales by that point were below 20,000 units. He blamed this poor performance on the low quality of the game, which he described as "heavy on eye candy and devoid of game play."[11]

A reviewer for Next Generation described Wing Nuts as "a basic rail-type shooter ... with humor making up for the lack of gameplay." He compared the game to Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine, and gave it three out of five stars.[7]

References

1. "Wing Nuts: Battle in the Sky for DOS (1997) - MobyGames". MobyGames. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
2. Martinez, Rod (April 1995). "Shape Shifter". Wired. Archived from the original on September 20, 2000.
3. Wired Staff (July 1, 1995). "Updata". Wired. Archived from the original on February 10, 2016.
4. "E-3 The Biggest And Best Electronic Entertainment Show Ever! – '95 Next Generation Software Listing". GameFan. No. Volume 3, Issue 7. July 1995. p. 41. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
5. "Preview – Coming Soon". 3DO Magazine. No. 10. Paragon Publishing. May 1996. pp. 33–34.
6. "Preview – Coming Soon". 3DO Magazine. No. 12. Paragon Publishing. July 1996. pp. 33–34.
7. "Wing Nuts". Next Generation. No. 13. Imagine Media. January 1996. p. 164.
8. Vaughn, Todd (December 1995). "Wingnuts". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on February 29, 2000.
9. Paul, Fredric (January 1996). "Wing Nuts". PC Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996.
10. Snyder, Frank; Chapman, Ted; Kaiafas, Tasos (December 1995). "It is BALLOON!". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on December 21, 1996.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
11. Sengstack, Jeff (April 14, 1997). "The Making of Obsidian: Maybe It Does Take a Rocket Scientist". NewMedia. Archived from the original on April 14, 1997.