If your early gaming life involved playing flight sims from MicroProse, Tiny Combat Arena might be just what you’re looking for.
With gameplay in the vein of F-15 Strike Eagle, F-19 Stealth Fighter, Gunship, and M1 Tank Platoon, Tiny Combat Arena mixes stylised, 16-bit era graphics with super smooth animation. The result is the type game no one has ever seen outside of a 1990s fever dream after an F-15 Strike Eagle marathon.
Released under the revived MicroProse label, Tiny Combat Arena is a combat flight sim with various missions and crustom scenarios to take part in.
Tiny Combat Arena is an approachable combat flight simulator sporting a stylized look and various game modes. Dogfight your way in the Arena in Quick Action or craft your own scenarios and take part in a vast war with objectives and friendly armies to support.
Tiny Combat Arena is all about the fun factor of flying, dogfighting, and close air support. Simulation elements are added to the game in service of creating engaging and deep gameplay, never just for the sake of realism. Simulation inspired mechanics, such as boosting a missile’s range by launching from above your target, create a new range of tactics for you to explore.
Nerd time: when I was a 11 I played Project Stealth Fighter on the C64 for weeks, even going so far as to waiting until after dark to play the night missions for the full (albeit slow) vector graphics experience. Over the years I progressed through F-15 Strike Eagle and F-19 Stealth Fighter on the Amiga 500, and of course spent a bit of time on Civ and Railroad Tycoon. In short, MicroProse was my favourite publisher for 16-bit games, and I’m delighted to see them back again.
You can buy Tiny Combat Arena on Steam for PC, but be warned: it is in eary access so things are still under development. Happily, it is rated “Playable” for Steam Deck.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.