Sonic Wings 2 (ソニックウィングス2), also known as Aero Fighters 2, is a vertically scrolling shooter originally released in arcades in 1994 by Video System, running on SNK's MVS hardware. It was ported the same year to the Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD home consoles.
Overview[]
Sonic Wings 2 features a few of the same basic elements present in the original Sonic Wings: a team of international pilots fighting an alien enemy. Game play is essentially the same, including vertical scrolling, enemy targets with power-ups, and special weapons for each plane. However, the feel of the game is quite different due to its better graphics, more humorous storyline, and wider range of characters.
While the player may still choose from among eight pilots, two-player mode is quite different from that in Sonic Wings: the second player may select from any of the other pilots instead of being forced to use the pilot from the same country as player one. Each pairing of pilots has its own ending sequence, in addition to the eight sequences for the individual pilots.
Some minor bosses have changed from the original Sonic Wings, as have the final bosses: Osaru is now only a minor boss in the "Another Dimension" stage of the game, appearing before the player encounters Lar, Tenukie Chaudo, or Manbou. Finally, the gameplay includes two short "bonus levels" without final bosses, in which the player is constantly bombarded with easily destructible enemy craft; each enemy produces a power-up when defeated.
Story[]
Once a wicked organization schemed to destroy the world but it was wiped out by 8 pilots. 2 years later, a mighty, unknown army suddenly appeared and soon occupied the world. The United Nations Peace Keeping Force rushed in to intercept them but missed in the enemy [sic]. Their last reports say that the super weapons which had attacked the world 2 years ago still exist. But does the organization behind them still exist?
The U.N. has requested the International Secret Rescue team to take action. The commander was [sic] ordered all members to destroy them completely. Now, the time to sortie is upon us!
Pilots and Aircraft[]
| Country | Pilot | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|
| USA | Keaton, Blaster | F-117 Nighthawk |
| Silver, Captain | A-10 Thunderbolt II | |
| Japan | Hien | FSX |
| Mao Mao | F-15 Eagle | |
| NATO | Ellen and Cincia | F-14 Tomcat |
| Whity | YF-23 | |
| France | Angela | Rafale M |
| England | Arthur | AV-8 Harrier II |
Stages and Bosses[]
Sonic Wings 2 is eight stages long. The order of stages 2, 3 and 4 is picked randomly.
| Stage | Location | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyoto, Japan | Super XX |
| B | Paris, France | Concorde |
| C | Mato Grosso, Brazil | Vazeel II |
| D | New York, USA | Spriggan |
| 5 | Sydney, Australia | Leviathan |
| 6 | Teotihuacan, Mexico | Pyramid of the Sun |
| 7 | Hawaii | 89-X |
| 8 | Another Dimension | Lar Tenukie Chaudo Manbou |
Unused Bosses[]
Releases[]
Arcade[]
Sonic Wings 2 was released in arcades in Japan, and internationally as Aero Fighters 2.
Neo Geo[]
Sonic Wings 2 was released for Neo Geo home systems.
Nintendo Switch & PlayStation 4[]
Aero Fighters 2 was released digitally for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on August 3, 2017, as part of the ACA NEOGEO series.
Soundtracks[]
| Games | |
|---|---|
| Sonic Wings Series | Sonic Wings · Sonic Wings 2 · Sonic Wings 3 · Sonic Wings Special · Sonic Wings Special for Android · Sonic Wings Limited · Sonic Wings Assault · Sonic Wings Reunion |
| Sonic Wings Related | Gapporin · Karate Blazers · Lethal Crash Race · The Mahjong Touhaiden · Ojanko High School · Power Spikes II · Rabio Lepus · Rabio Lepus Special · Spinal Breakers · SukuSuku Inufuku · SukuSuku Inufuku 2 · Tao Taido · Turbo Force |
| Other Video System Games | 3 On 3 Dunk Madness · F-1 Grand Prix · F-1 Grand Prix Part II · F-1 Grand Prix Part III · Hyper V-Ball · Pipe Dream · Power Spikes · Super Volleyball · Tail to Nose: Great Championship |
| Unreleased Games | Droppers · Metal Rabbit |