I have played:

Air Combat
Ace Combat 2
Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (NA version so oof oof oof)
Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
Ace Combat 6: Skies of Liberation and
Ace Combat: Ass. Hor. (Didn’t finish)

Everyone and their dog keeps telling me how good Zero is and DAMN I WANT TO PLAY. Let me tell you how it worked for me…

Back in like 1999, I played Air Combat because I was REALLY into flight simulators. That game kicked ASS. Time moved forward and I then played Ace Combat 3. This game had been my favourite for ages and ages for its progression of usable planes/weapons, and developing a fun interwoven story. When I learned of the original JP version and how much content was cut for the International release, I was CRIPPLED. I read all into the original story when I was 15 years old and the whole idea of Artificial Intelligence and what it means to be human etc. etc. If Electrosphere came out in full glory overseas, that might have made it definitively my favourite Ace Combat.

When I got around to getting a PS2, I simultaneously picked up Ace Combat 4. It was fun, but man did it feel short. It also seemed they had monumentally less aircraft in the game. The story was beautifully done, but the gameplay seemed to experiment with ideas that didn’t work out nicely (Hey, need to get more fuel? FLY ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAP! IT’S REALISTIC!). But Ace Combat 4 had something new they brought to the table since the original Air Combat, FIGHTING GIANT TECHNICAL MONSTROSITIES. Stonehenge and Megalith were SO FREAKIN’ COOL TO TAKE DOWN, okay? That was the main selling points. The story and a few cool things they reintroduced.

But Ace Combat 5 man. The Unsung War. That game introduced a party. A team of people that were just your squadmates from the beginning and you get to work together, developing the story internally and externally. You got to go from “Ah man, this guy has anxiety issues, and this girl is sad about war, and this guy’s a scrub” to “This guy is a natural, this girl’s a badass mutha, and THIS GUY’S A GATDAMN HERO.” Paired with the fact that there was like, 50 missions or something and that fun little Arcade mode, the ALT PAINT SCHEMES, and the ENTIRE DAMN PLOT OF THE UNSUNG WAR AND ALL ITS INTRICACIES OF STRANGEREAL?! Yeah. The Unsung War. That one’s my favourite.

Maybe I’ll get to play Zero some day.