Death Wing (デス・ウィング)
Developer: Cybertech Designs
Release Date: 1996
Platforms: PlayStation
Check out our podcast episode discussing Death Wing!
Death Wing was the one and only game developed by Cybertech Designs. As a space flight combat sim with minimal text and voice acting, it seems like it could have been localized with relative ease, but considering its low budget feel and overall poor reception, doing so likely wasn’t in the cards. Most of its development team didn’t have a lasting career in the industry, but planner/programmer Ryo Shimizu is still doing AI and programming-related work to this day. Based on a comment left by a member of the team on a Japanese blog, the voice of the operator that provides your missions throughout the game wasn’t done by a professional voice actor but rather a staff member who was otherwise in charge of graphics work.
Each mission tasks you with destroying a particular target, usually a large creature or structure. To aid in your goal, you have a rapid fire laser, the ability to boost and strafe for additional mobility, and three different subweapons. The homing missile is self-explanatory, the photon is essentially a slower to ready but more powerful flurry of homing missiles and the “CLB” launches a spiral of lasers that can’t lock on to targets, but deals massive damage if you can get them all to hit your target. The Analog Joystick controller is compatible, though using it doesn’t make a significant difference. Death Wing is an incredibly lean game, only making you play three short missions before the comparatively lengthy final mission with no unlockables or extra modes. After each of the first two missions, you can select from two different paths, all of which offer unique targets, environments, and music.
The most notable thing about Death Wing is its absurdly difficult finale. It’s a multi-part gauntlet that has you first fighting off an endless swarm of ships, then fighting in multiple 1-on-1 dogfights, and lastly dealing with a two-stage final boss, all without the ability to continue if you lose. Most of it is reasonable with practice, but the second form of the final boss feels utterly broken thanks to shoddy hitbox design. Your ship seemingly has a much larger hitbox than its appearance would indicate, which causes problems in stages with low ceilings, but in the case of the final boss, said hitbox makes it nearly impossible to dodge some of its powerful attacks, namely its frequent spreads of yellow lasers. It is possible to win, but it’s certainly not worth the effort and this boss remains a notorious point of grievance for those who have played the game.
