Source: Computer Gaming World – Number 87 – October 1991
Megafortress is a flight simulator that was published by Three-Sixty Pacific in 1991 for the IBM PC (DOS) and Amiga. It was developed by a company called Artech studios that has a long history developing games for many platforms from the Commodore 64 all the way up to the Xbox 360. Sadly, they disbanded in 2011. This game is based in part on a novel by Dale Brown called Flight of the Old Dog. Sometimes you also see Megafortress with that subtitle. The Megafortress is not a real aircraft but a fictional enhancement of the B52 called the EB-52 that features the latest weaponry and stealth technology.
There are three sets of missions in Megafortress. The first set consists of training missions, the second set features a series of fictitious missions from the first Gulf War, and the third set follow the plot of the novel which ultimately involves a strike into the Soviet Union. Megafortres is generally played as a first person flight simulator. However, the game is much more strategic than action oriented. After all, the B52 is a bomber, not a fighter. You can control various aspects of the aircraft from multiple stations including not only the pilot, but electronics warfare and others.
Reviews were generally all positive. Graphics and sound were good for the time, as was the most important aspect, the game play. Keep in mind that it is not a game in which you will be doing a lot of dogfighting. The B52 is a large strategic bomber so it is a much more strategic game than a fighter simulator. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any action though. Megafortress found its way into a lot of top ten lists including best flight simulator, best wargame, etc. While I don’t generally consider flight simulators as a genre that holds up well over time, this one does pretty well all things considered. It’s more strategy oriented nature help a lot in that regard.
If you do want to play this game though, you’ll have to track down some disks for the PC or Amiga or be satisfied with emulation. It hasn’t been re-released as far as I know and since it involves licensed material I wouldn’t ever expect it to be. For this type of game, I would lean more towards the PC version than the Amiga but I think both of them are solid.
While there aren’t any re-releases, there were a couple of add-ons, including Operation Sledgehammer (1991) and Operation SkyMaster (1992). Operation Sledgehammer features new missions in Iran and Libya, as well as new ground targets, enemy aircraft, ships, weapons, and surface to air missiles. Operation SkyMaster is based on Dale Brown’s novel Sky Masters and includes missions in North Korea, enemy aircraft, and more. Both of these add-ons were also available for both the PC (DOS) and Amiga.
All screenshots above are from the DOS version of the game. The ad is from the October 1991 issue of Computer Gaming World.
