Longtime IGN editor and Gamescoop host Daemon Hatfield asked me last fall if I could contribute to the Top 10 video he was working on. The setting: “Every gamer has at least one favorite game, but I feel like I’m the only one who’s played it.”
If you’ve been reading this forgotten gem column, you know I raised my hand within seconds. Not only do I have a huge list of unknown and largely forgotten games in my metaphorical pocket, but I was immediately reminded of “the One.” Perhaps in the years leading up to the remake, I talked about Live A Live so much that I already had people thinking, “Oh, this is that multi-scenario square RPG.” I can’t. I’ve always wanted to play it.” – But for this week’s pick, Sky Odyssey, the answer is always, always, “never heard of it.”
This reaction, while not unexpected, is noteworthy for several reasons. First, Sky Odyssey is unique. This is the archetype of a subgenre that never took off and never will. This is the rogue of flying games. It’s just that there hasn’t been a flying game like Beneath Apple Manor before. Secondly, while this domestically he arrived as an Activision game, it was actually commissioned by Sony Computer Entertainment as a showcase for the PlayStation 2 DualShock 2 controller. I’m not sure what ultimately led to Sony’s apathy and reluctance to bring the game to America, but Activision’s interest wasn’t surprising. Publishers were already in the practice of acquiring US distribution rights for Japanese games. Such as Tenchu and Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram.
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After a strong run at ECTS 2000 (European computer trade fair, discontinued in 2004), Activision president Ron Doanik proudly announces a publishing deal with Sony, one of the few available for the newly launched PS2 this holiday season. Said it would be one of the games. . And with little time to get hopes up, Sky’s Odyssey hit stores just two months later, on November 17, 2000, in the height of holiday shopping. And Sony ended up bringing the game to Europe and Japan a few months later, but the complete indifference of consumers that followed seemed to prove that intuition correct. PS2 owner he didn’t want to know about Sky Odyssey (our positive reviews showed little interest). I didn’t buy Sky Odyssey and didn’t play Sky Odyssey.
it belongs to the museum
Going back to this day, I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve met in the last 23 years who have heard of and played Sky Odyssey. If you somehow reached this post today, I want to say thank you for joining my secret club! This is testament to its strong design and timeless gameplay. When I brought in my copy to capture the footage for the video above, his Dave Toole’s eyes lit up in video production, his leader, and eventually, we took turns completing a brutal mission. It happened. Everything I needed was already captured.
I know I’ve obscured the main character a bit by rambling on why Sky Odyssey has been forgotten, but here’s the obvious reason. This is the niche game the rare PS2 owner was looking for sitting in the middle of the unlikely Venn diagram. An almost roguelike nature that mostly tries to teach you that old planes, combat-free flight simulations, extremely difficult object-based missions, and frequent deaths are just part of the experience.
The flight genre, from 2D hits like Blue Max and Capcom’s 194X series SHMUP, to Mode 7 and 3D graphics that enable more complex experiences like Pilotwing, Falcon, Red Baron, Crimson Skies and Ace Combat. can certainly look back on a rich history. Microsoft Flight Simulator, of course. But the genre has been in decline in recent years, and even valuable licenses like Top Gun are wasted on bad, boring games. The developers of Sky Odyssey were keenly aware of the need to develop and create something that would appeal to non-sim users.
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Sky Odyssey is part flight game and part Indiana Jones adventure. Early comparisons to the Pilotwings series quickly fade as players discover that its missions extend far beyond flying through rings and defeating Immelmann. At the heart of everything is a story, a quest to find four map fragments that reveal the location of a mysterious tower. The challenges you need to complete to get there are given even more urgency and danger through an epic soundtrack from Shadow of the Colossus composer Kou Ohtani. This soundtrack always reminds me of the music of Bruce Broughton’s underrated young Sherlock Holmes.
The mission itself involves battling weather conditions, avoiding falling rocks, draining fuel to make the plane light enough to barely cross a high mountain range, catching up with trains and trying to connect to refuel on the move. and so on. Dave and I shot some of the latest footage here. If you want to see what it’s like, here it is:
The pace may seem slow, but it’s a truly dramatic and nerve-wracking experience. If you get too greedy and try to incorporate a few stunt moves, or try to increase your speed to give your mission a higher rating, you pay the price of gritting your teeth and inevitably stalling, crashing, and crashing your mission. An exit crash will occur. What makes Sky Odyssey so memorable is its level of challenge and the demand for uninterrupted focus and good judgment, as well as discovery and puzzle-solving.
Despite Sky Odyssey’s difficulty, the game’s director, Mitsunori Shoji, was a vocal advocate of accessibility from the start. He would be proud of the explosion of games and genres, and games that are truly fun for everyone. However, another flight into this future at the moment he can’t help but be disappointed that adventure games aren’t included. The Cross team was certainly optimistic. After completing Sky Odyssey, the ending presents a positive message: “Maximus is conquered, but the sky calls again…”.
With subscription services like Game Pass allowing more than 10 million players to check out Microsoft Flight Simulator, hope is solidified that our future is much more than just extra shooters and pixel art roguelites. is in Cross didn’t make another game after Sky Odyssey, but its staff consisted of Dark his cloud, some Mario Party, and a conglomeration of what could have been a spiritual successor. We continued working on Wing Island. New air combat games and simulation games are still being made, but the closest we have right now is probably Grand Theft Auto V. That air trafficking mission reminds me of the early Sky Odyssey quests.
Where can I play Sky Odyssey today?
Sky Odyssey’s visuals aren’t as appealing to modern gamers, but the gameplay is still fresh and engaging. Unfortunately, it’s not available digitally or streaming at this time. But if you have a PS2 or PS3 handy, you can easily find a used one on eBay for a few bucks, and find the rare and only flight adventure game that has slept with more people than Red Eye. increase.
Pier Schneider (@PeerIGN on Twitter) is one of the founders of IGN Entertainment and still buys games with planes in the hope that they will rekindle Sky Odyssey memories.
