Wing Commander hits different when it boots instantly in your browser. Released in 1990 on the Super Nintendo, this retro classic from Origin Systems is ready the second you press start — no downloads, no setup.
Wing Commander is the first game in Chris Roberts' space flight simulation Wing Commander franchise by Origin Systems. An enhanced remake Super Wing Commander was made for the 3DO in 1994, and later ported to the Macintosh.
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| Action | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| D-Pad Up | ↑ | D-Pad up |
| D-Pad Down | ↓ | D-Pad down |
| D-Pad Left | ← | D-Pad left |
| D-Pad Right | → | D-Pad right |
| B (bottom) | X | Bottom face |
| A (right) | Z | Right face |
| Y (left) | S | Left face |
| X (top) | A | Top face |
| L | Q | Left shoulder |
| R | E | Right shoulder |
| Start | Enter | Start |
| Select | V | Select |
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The Story Behind Wing Commander
Wing Commander was originally titled Squadron and later renamed Wingleader. Before the team could isolate and fix the error and they considered a work-around, one of the game's programmers, Ken Demarest, hex-edited the memory manager so it displayed a different message. The rebundled remakes do not contain and do not support the Secret Missions addons.
Instead of the error message, it printed "Thank you for playing Wing Commander". In 1994, Wing Commander was retroactively renamed Wing Commander I in a bundled re-release together with Wing Commander II, in preparation for the release of Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. A Sega Mega Drive version intended to use a custom ASIC graphics chip on the cartridge was planned but never released.
How Wing Commander Plays
An enhanced remake Super Wing Commander was made for the 3DO in 1994, and later ported to the Macintosh. The Dralthi medium fighters from the Ras Nik'hra are put to work on reconnaissance missions (conveniently, the Confederation Scimitar medium fighter is retired at the beginning of the expansion pack, opening a space in the database of Confederation fighters for the Dralthi), and Terran troops begin landing in secret. Of the two endings, the "winning" path is considered canon by the game's two expansion packs as well as the sequel Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi.
The player names the pilot and chooses his call sign. The campaign will split to various different planets and scenarios depending on the player's performance. John, James "Paladin" Taggart, and K'kai, a Firekkan flock leader.
Why Players Still Load It Up
In 1994, PC Gamer US named the game's CD-ROM release the 23rd best computer game ever. The long lost source code of Wing Commander was given to the fan-community in that year in August by a former developer for the purpose of long-time preservation. In a 1992 survey of science fiction games, the magazine gave the title five of five stars, stating that "the richness of the entire package makes this a 'must-have'".
They regarded the Super Wing Commander remake for the 3DO to be "a tedious disappointment", citing missions that are "either too short or too repetitive", dramatic slowdown which interferes with the gameplay, poorly animated character faces, and low quality voice tracks. Crawford opined that Wing Commander in particular affected the marketing and economics of computer games and reestablished the "action game" as the most lucrative type of computer game. In 1991, PC Format placed Wing Commander on its list of the 50 best computer games of all time.
Wing Commander — Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I buy the original Wing Commander?
Scroll to "Other Places You Can Get This Game" beneath the write-up — it lists trusted stores selling official copies.
What console was Wing Commander released on?
Wing Commander was released for the Super Nintendo in 1990.
Can I save my progress in Wing Commander?
It does — with a free account you can snapshot the game at any point using save states, then pick it up later from exactly that spot.
How many players does Wing Commander support?
Wing Commander supports 1 player(s) in this browser version.