A one-man labour of love which is currently in Early Access, Tiny Combat Arena is a delightfully retro-style flight sim, Set in a fictitious cold-war era conflict, it describes itself as being a ‘flight-sim lite’, aiming to include only those aspects of simulation which lend themselves readily to fun. The aim is not to bamboozle the player with a cockpit full of functioning buttons, but create an enjoyable experience with a nod to reality. In this, it certainly looks set to deliver.
From the retro-style graphics, to the jet-plane setting (giving players control of an AV8B Harrier Jump Jet), this game reminded me a lot of the old 1988 Jetfighter (a classic which I spent many hours on as a kid – particularly attempting to fly under bridges at high speed). Unlike that old game, however, ground attack is very definitely a thing, and massed ground battles make up the ‘arena’ part of its name.
In these, battalions of friendly and enemy vehicles spawn from their respective bases, and go head to head (MOBA-style) in an attempt to capture all the bases in the arena. It’s up to the player to fly over this raging battle, deciding where to apply their firepower to turn the tide of the battle. This could mean dropping cluster bombs on an advancing battalion, or racing to save a defenseless base that’s about to be overrun. Or maybe even outfighting your fighter with heavier weaponry and attacking the enemy bases directly, in order to stem the flow of their troops, all the while watching out for enemy fighters. Should you run out of ammo, simply land at the friendly airfield, to instantly rearm and refuel, or even completely change your loadout, before diving back into the fray.
There’s also a custom flight mode, letting you create your own scenario, whether it be a peaceful flight, dogfight, or custom ground battle. While the implementation is a little bare at present (with only one arena available, and not all features implemented), what is there shows a good level of polish, and is fun to play. Flying over a raging ground battle, or seeing tracers rise up from a mobile AA, forcing you to jinx to avoid being blown out of the sky, is definitely exciting.
Speaking of blowing things up, there is a decent array of toys to play with, ranging from light and heavy bombs, to cluster bombs, infra-red tracking missiles, air-to-ground fire-and-forget munitions, and semi-active radar homing missiles. The game also comes with a database, giving you the details on the best usage of these weapons, effective range, how long the motor burns for, and even advising on the use of realistic tactics, like increasing the effective range of air-to-ground missiles by launching them from higher up so they can glide even after their engine has burnt-out. Giving players a Jump Jet, with controllable thruster nozzles, also feels quite novel, and it’s a new experience to be able to land and take-off vertically (though it will take a bit of practice, and I will admit to ignominiously crashing on the first few attempts).
While it’s definitely best to play using a joystick, Tiny Combat Arena is also perfectly playable with a controller, or even the keyboard. Just avoid using the mouse to try to fly. I’ve not yet found one flight-sim where this is even vaguely viable, and Tiny Combat Arena is no exception.
As the game heads towards full release, the developer plans to flesh out the game more, including better dogfighting, bases with proper defenses (including the bane of all pilots, the dreaded SA-2), and a full campaign consisting of multiple arenas. Given the polish and care evident on what is currently playable, Tiny Combat Arena is shaping up to be a perfect game for those who want a casual jet-fighting sim, indulge in a bit of ground-strafing (always fun), or just looking for a good old-fashioned style flight sim. ■