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The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces combines two things that I had forgotten I loved. Like most gamers, I’m a fan of anime. Or I should say I was a fan of anime back in the mid-90s during the genre’s initial peak in popularity. Innocent Aces got  me to watch the movie and rekindle that my love of anime. And the second ingredient in this entertainment cocktail is a well done flying game handled by the very talented Project Aces. If you don’t know who Project Aces is, ask yourself if Ace Combat 6 on the Xbox 360 or Ace Combat 5 on the PS2 rings a bell. Yup, they’re a development team from the Namco/Bandai stable. If you played either of the titles mentioned above, you know that Project Aces has a history of basing games on alternate lines of history within Western culture. And lucky for them, the Hiroshi Mori novels that provide the basis for The Sky Crawlers does the same. It’s a match made in aerial combat heaven; at least on paper.

The best thing about this game is the fact that Wii owners get a taste of Ace Combat style fun. Featuring 17 missions, the game starts out fast with some of the earlier missions lasting only a few minutes. As you get the hang of things, the missions get longer with some lasting nearly 25 minutes. Besides the well executed missions, there are plenty of weapon options to play with. Weapons are also pretty much interchangeable with all the planes. So flight fans will have fun customizing the look of their planes and the performance abilities with a variety of special materials that you’ll gain throughout play.  

Controls are also customizable.  Wii pilots have the ability to map their control layouts to whatever suits their fancy. There’s no specific button layout that will be best for everyone. It’s recommended that you play around with the positioning until it seems best for you. In no time you’ll be barrel rolling and dog fighting with ease. Would you expect anything less from an Ace Combat title? (Whoops! I’m not supposed to call it that.) But the ability setup the controls just for you is great.

Graphically, Innocent Aces is only okay. Even the Wii can do better than this. Gamers will immediately notice that this game barely beats Ace Combat games on the PS2 in the looks department. But don’t get too stressed about the graphics. There’s actually a reason for this. This visual concession gives the Wii enough breathing room to allow the intense dog fighting to run at higher frame rates, something Project Aces fans are use to. Following the completion of each mission, you’re treated to a pretty sweet replay, which again, those who are use to Ace Combat are accustomed.

Thanks to hands-on assistance from the movie’s director and the author of the novels, superb cut-scenes appear scattered between missions. These scenes are animated by the same studio that made the Sky Crawlers feature film, but don’t expect spot visuals here however either. And while the cut-scenes certainly add to the story, they don’t even begin to really touch on the origins of our pilots. You’ll have to watch the anime if you want all the details. I’m glad I did.

Sound-wise, there’s in-game chatter which is important and teaches you a lot about the personalities of the pilots you're flying with. The planes and combat all work well. Thankfully the audio doesn’t take the same hit as the visuals due to the Wii’s limitations. The voice-acting may take some fans out of the action, but it’s not very likely as it all seemed to work fine for me. The only gripe I had was when playing multiplayer. It appears to be a bit taxing on the Wii hardware to produce sound for two different players.

Overall The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces won’t just appeal to the fans of the movie and books, but clearly has enough style in the flight department to draw in flight-sim lovers as well. Innocent Aces delivers a great motion controlled flight-sim to gamers who have been starving for one since the release of the Wii. As long as you don’t walk into this one expecting the graphics of Ace Combat 6 on the 360, you’re in for a treat.