Sopwith
Sopwith is an airplane shooter game developed by David L. Clark and published by BMB Compuscience in 1984 for MS-DOS. An updated release was published in 1986, and the author released a special edition in 2000. Each version was released for free.
When I first played this game, it was titled "Red Baron" and was included as shovelware release by Keypunch Software. Their version was identical to the original release, just re-titled and had the multiplayer removed since it used a patented protocol.
Contents
Status
Each version of this game has since been released as freeware. I have beaten the original Sopwith in single player mode, but not the 1986 upgrade or the Author's Edition.
Review
3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Best Version: DOS
— This section contains spoilers! —
Good
- For the time, the game is pretty cool. You can make permanent craters in the landscape with your bombs, have a dogfight with an AI opponent, and bomb enemy targets.
- The upgrades in the later editions are pretty cool and increase the challenge.
Bad
- The game is graphically challenged and lacks decent audio.
- The AI, due to its suicidal nature, is difficult to defeat.
- The multiplayer uses a proprietary system that is no longer supported or emulated, so it remains unplayable.
Ugly
- There just isn't much to this game. Even with the updated versions, you see everything the game has to offer after about a minute.
Media
Screenshots
Videos
- youtube.com/watch?v=SFydiMvzlt0 - Longplay.
Download
Links
- sopwith.org - Fan site.
- mobygames.com/game/dos/sopwith- - MobyGames (Sopwith 2).
- mobygames.com/game/dos/sopwith-the-authors-edition - MobyGames (Author's Edition).
Categories:
- Video Game Rating - 3
- Video Game Graphics Rating - 3
- Video Game Sound Rating - 2
- Games
- Video Games
- Video Game Prime Order - Action, Adventure, Strategy
- Video Game Genre - Scrolling Shooter
- Video Game Genre - Shooter
- DOS Games
- Action
- Shooter
- World War I
- Multi-Player
- Games I've Beaten
- 2-bit Color Graphics
- Multi-Player Versus
- Software Distribution Model - Freeware