Ace Combat 3 - Development History

Development History

Released in 1999, the Japanese version is extremely story-driven, featuring anime cutscenes, detailed characters, and 52 missions, with multiple paths through the game and 5 possible endings. The Japanese version introduced some elements carried over to Ace Combat 04, including radio chatter between comrades and enemies, and intelligent wingmen. The American and European versions, released a year later, have been extremely criticized for removing almost all of the story elements, including all of the cutscenes, and cutting the game down to 36 missions. The anime cutscenes and the fictional aircraft also alienated Japanese fans of the series, who were expecting something closer to the arcade style of Ace Combat 2. However, sales in Japan were still strong (though still 100,000 copies less than Ace Combat 2), but the cutting down of the storyline led to a lack of success in other markets.

The majority of the songs were done by Tetsukazu Nakanishi, who also did the majority of the songs and sound effects on Ace Combat 04 as well as being the sound director on that game and its two PlayStation 2 sequels, Ace Combat 5 and Ace Combat Zero, as well as Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360.

While the developers do not intend to remake Ace Combat 3, one of them commented that if there is enough demand and various issues can be resolved, he thinks it may be worth it.