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Sonic Wings Wiki
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Sonic Wings 3 (ソニックウィングス3), also known as Aero Fighters 3, is a vertically scrolling shooter originally released in arcades in 1995 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 3 keeps the same gameplay style from its predecessors. Its main change comes from the playable aircraft, as the game ditches the modern fighter jets from the previous two games in favor of World War 2 fighter planes, a change that is explained by the game's story. This game also introduces branching paths, with players being taken to completely different levels depending on the route taken.

The Japanese version of the game has two different endings for most characters and two teams, depending on whether the Bermuda Triangle or Mars is the final stage. However, the US version has a single ending for each character and team. The Japanese version also includes text for the "bad endings" if the final bosses escape, whereas the US version only has laughter.

The opening sequence of Sonic Wings 3 shows an enemy force destroying Project Blue's weapons. The doors of the secret underground hangar then open, revealing the World War II-era aircraft the pilots must now use. Some of the enemies throughout the game reflect this throwback to the 1940s, while others are the usual mix of bizarre alien and oceanic creatures Sonic Wings players have come to expect.

In general, the enemy seems to be the combined forces of Fata Morgana and the Hildroid; however, a few enemies from other Video System games appear as well. Some of Project Blue's pilots return from previous Sonic Wings games: Mao Mao, Hien, Whity, Cincia and Ellen, Mecha-Keaton (now in an upgraded robot body), Kowful, and Lord River-n-White.

Several new pilots originated in other Video System games. Two of the three Blazers (Glen and Gill) originally appeared in Karate Blazers, and Malcolm hails from Tao Taido. One hidden character, Kotomi, is from Rabio Lepus; she is the only pilot who was not originally a playable character.

The true identity of the other hidden character, "The Man," is either Captain Waffle from Spinal Breakers or Gore from the unreleased game Metal Rabbit. Both versions of "The Man" pilot the Diabloon from Turbo Force.

The only completely new playable characters are Chaika and Pooshika, Alex and Pictus, and Glenda of the Blazers. All pilots from Sonic Wings and Sonic Wings 2 who are not playable in Sonic Wings 3 are shown in cameos in various end sequences.

Story[]

Prologue[]

One night, three months after the last battle...

After a mysterious light flashed in the sky above a certain city in the western United States, several large planes suddenly appeared. When the people of the city looked up at the old-fashioned planes they had never seen before, something was scattered from the planes...

A few dozen minutes later, the city was completely taken over by numerous soldiers and combat vehicles that parachuted from the large planes.

Similar incidents were occurring all over the world. One country was bombarded by a battleship that appeared offshore, and another was detailed by a tank unit that suddenly appeared in the forest. Strangely, all of them looked like weapons from World War II.

The base of the secret rescue squadron that supports world peace behind the scenes was also suddenly attacked by a mysterious air force that appeared in the sky. Fighter planes burst into flames one after another without having time to take off. In an instant, the base was destroyed. The few remaining usable state-of-the-art aircraft had their electronic devices disabled by enemy tactics, rendering them unable to retaliate effectively.

Here too, the enemy had used old reciprocating aircraft. Moreover, according to reports, some of these aircraft were prototypes never used in actual combat.

After receiving the report, commanding officer River was silent for a moment before making a decision.

"Retaliate with all available weapons. I've given permission to use the old weapons stored in the underground hangar as well."

Epilogue[]

Thank you for your hard work on this mission. We appreciate your efforts.

-River-n-White

What did you think of Sonic Wings 3? Video System is looking forward to hearing your impressions and opinions of the game. Please tell us what characters and fighter planes you would like to see appear in the next battle. We look forward to hearing from you.

(From the entire development staff)

Pilots and Aircraft[]

Country Pilot Aircraft
USA Keaton, Blaster F4-U Corsair
The Blazers (Glenda, Glen and Gill) P-61 Black Widow
Japan Hien Zero Fighter
Mao Mao M6A1 Seiran
Russia Chaika and Pooshika IL-2 Stormovik
Whity Polikarpov I-16
Germany Malcolm Do 335 Pfeil
Kowful and Lord River-n-White Ju 87 G Stuka
England Alex and Pictus Whirlwind
Ellen and Cincia Swordfish
Secret Kitashirakawa, Kotomi Aka Usagi
"The Man" (Captain Waffle or Gore) Diabloon

Stages and Bosses[]

The chart below, translated from the Sonic Wings 3 Strategy Special guidebook, illustrates the routes to all stages available in the game. The first stage is always Tokyo, but players may choose their route otherwise.

To choose the stages branching to the left, players must shoot off the left wing of the Rival Aircraft that appears upon defeating the final boss of the current stage. Likewise, the player must shoot the right wing of the aircraft to choose the right-hand stages. To receive Bagarius-gō or very rarely Atlantic Lance as a final boss, choose left-hand paths; to receive Gurabura or occasionally Soh Takeko, choose right-hand paths.

Stage Location Boss
1 Tokyo, Japan Do-ni Kai
2A Keel Naval Port, Germany Graf Zeppelin
2B Sahara Desert, North Africa Vazeel III
3A Grand Canyon, USA Tenzui
3B London, England Rocket V3
4A London, England Rocket V3
4B Normandy, France Me 323 Gigant
Rainfire
4C Panama Canal, Panama Montana
5A Sahara Desert, North Africa Cross Fire
Daio Ika
5B Southeast Asia Ruins Fire Master
Mars-Vesta
5C Soviet Union Fortress Zveno-9
Novgorod
Maxim Gorky
6A Bermuda Triangle Tenukie Chaudo Osaru Station
Bagarius-gō
Atlantic Lance
6B Mars Big Monster Ball Osaru Station
Gurabura
Soh Takeko

Other Enemies[]

Releases[]

Arcade[]

Sonic Wings 3 was released in arcades in Japan, and internationally as Aero Fighters 3.

Neo Geo[]

For home systems, Sonic Wings 3 was released for the Neo Geo. It was the last Sonic Wings game released for Neo Geo MVS and AES port.

Nintendo Switch & PlayStation 4[]

Aero Fighters 3 was released digitally for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on August 15, 2018, as part of the ACA NEOGEO series.

Books[]

Soundtracks[]

Secrets[]

Unlockables[]

  • Kotomi and/or "The Man" (Captain Waffle in 1P mode or Gore in 2P mode): On the character selection screen, hold down B and the player 1 start button. Each highlighted character's plane will be shown rotating; hit the down button each time the plane is facing directly forward. If successful, one of the secret characters will be selected (Kotomi if the cursor is in the left column of planes and "The Man" if in the right column). In two player mode, you will play with both Kotomi and "The Man."
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
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