Gone But Not Forgotten Video Game Developers/Publishers Lost 2000-2017 - Mission Studios
Gone But Not
Forgotten Video Game Developers/Publishers Lost 2000-2017
Mission Studios was a video game developer based just outside of
Chicago, Illinois in the town of Schaumburg. In addition to video game
development the studio also worked on training and simulation solutions for the
Military as well as the commercial market
The studio was created when Velocity Development Corporation as
known as Velocity Inc. was split up, Velocity were the publishers of
Interceptor, The network tank battle game Spectre as well as the three follow
up Spectre games, VR, Supreme and Megaspectre as well as the first two entries
in the JetFighter series. With the company now split into two, Mission Studios
was created to continue work on the JetFighter series, along with the collaboration
with simulation developer Robert Dinnerman.
Robert Dinnerman has been involved in flight combat sim
development for a number of years prior to his involvement in the development
of Jetfighter III, he had worked on F/A-18 Interceptor as well as the earlier JetFighter titles. Prior to his involvement in flight combat Sims he was the
designer and programmer of the 1983 Arcade game Discs of TRON.
In 1988 he would work as part of the Software Development team on
the first JetFighter game, titled JetFighter The Adventure, he would programme F/A-18
Interceptor also released in 1988, this game as a cold war themed flight combat
game with the player tasked with protecting Air Force One from Soviet attack.
After this Dinnerman’s career would focus on the JetFighter series
first with Velocity with Dinnerman taking on the role of of Game Design and
Software development for JetFighter II Advanced Tactical Fighter, we would also
work on the more advanced version of the game which releases in 1992, which
added 125 new missions to the game.
Dinnerman would continue to work on the JetFighter series
throughout the Missions Studios development of the series, with Dinnerman
working as a Simulation Designer and Programmer on the final two entries in the
series, following the dissolving of Mission Studios Dinnerman would work on the
Battle Of Britain II Wings of Victory in
2006 providing addition programming on the game.
While Mission Studios were best know for the development of the
JetFighter series from the third entry in the series, it was not the first game
the development studio created. That honour goes to the 1994 released Bobby
Fisher Teaches Chess.
Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess was the first game developed by Mission Studios and was based on the book of the same title.
Like all of the games developed by Mission the game was releases
on DOS and is a licensed game based on the chess book of the same name which
was written by Bobby Fisher, the game is not so much a game but an educational piece
of software while it does have a playable chess element with player able to
compete again another human player as well as the computer on various difficulty
levels.
The game is largely though about learning how to play the game of
Chess with tutorials provided to the player on defending, attacking and
winning, the game also features a huge number of Bobbie Fisher matches for the
player to watch with around 500 in the game, in addition to this the
games provides a history of chess section on the main menu.
Three years after the release of Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess the
JetFighter series would receive its first new entry for five years since the
release of 1992s JetFighter II: Operation Lightning Storm. The game continues
the theme of the previous entry which had a drug baron on the west coast of the
US, the new entry in the series switches focus however from the US to South
America and a new war against a new drug baron.
The games has a similar campaign structure to games like Strike
Commander and Wing Commander with scripted missions that are linked by an
intricate story, the game is based on a an Aircraft Carries with the player
playing as a pilot between missions the game allows the player to visit
locations around the Aircraft Carrier.
With areas such as the Library where you can view the read the
news and look a the games encyclopedia, and your cabin where you can view your
own personal terminal and medal case, as well as several other areas. The
terrain used in the game is taken from satellite data with cities, airports and
roads all geographically accurate
Critically the game was a slight dip in overall scores for the
game with JetFighter II averaging a review score of 82 while the 1997 return
for the series was down to an average review score of 72. even with this drop
in average the game got itself some good scores with an 83 from Gamezilla who
praised the games easy to learn interface and absorbing gameplay. While
Computer Gaming World called it currently the overall best entry level combat
sim available.
The terrain for the series is taken from satellite images so roads, airports and cities are geographically accurate.
The game must have been a commercial success as well the same year
saw the release of the Enhanced Campaign CD, this new release features new
scenery, game features and missions to the original game, the latter adding 70
new missions to the game, in addition the game world was increased by a massive
5 million square miles, the expansion was however was not as critically well received
as the original release of the game. In addition to the expansion the complete
collection which included the game and the enhanced campaign was released also
in 1997.
After the development of JetFighter III, Mission Studios began
developing products for the US Army using their expertise in 3D Graphics and
simulation, in addition to this Mission Studios also developed software for theF-14
LANTIRN training system, which was used by the United States Navy.
In between the release of the JetFighter III and JetFighter IV a
spin off game was released in the series, titled JetFighter Full Burn, which
was set over the Norwegian Oil Fields in a conflict between NATO and Russia, the
campaign is made up of a linear story with FMV’s between missions which provide
the story elements, the game can be played through either side of the conflict.
Unlike previous JetFighter games this spin off takes a more arcade feel rather
than the more simulation themed main games.
Prior to the release of the final JetFighter game in 2001 the
third entry in the series JetFighter III received a re release titled JetFighter
III Classic, and was the first in the series to release on another platform
other than MS-DOS with a windows release of the game.
The re release of the game was the original base game plus the
Enhanced Campaign CD expansion, the also received additional improvements with
the inclusion of a mission editor, new missions and additional scenery. A year
later the fourth entry in the JetFighter series would release , this would also
be the final game developed by Mission Studios.
The fourth entry in the JetFighter takes us back to the United
States which is under attack from all sides, with insurgents near the lake
Tahoe area and the combined Russian and Chinese forces attacking the west coast
of the United States.
Jet Fighter IV was the final game developed by Mission Studios, the JetFigher series would continue though.
The games release coincided with Take Two Interactive
Software entering the stock market. A year after the release of Jet Fighter IV
Fortress America, Mission Studios was dissolved by Take Two Interactive who had
acquired the company prior to the release of JetFighter III.
With Mission Studios no longer operating the JetFighter series
would continue, JetFighter V Homeland Protector was the next in the long
running series to release, developed by InterActive Vision and published by
Global Star Software, a subsidiary of Take Two Interactive. This release was
followed up by the 2005 release of the arcade style JetFighter 2015, which was
critically very average, this would be the final entry in the JetFighter series
as of the time of writing this.
Written By
P J Gibbon
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