Ace Combat

Setting

With the exception of Ace Combat: Joint Assault, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, and Ace Combat Infinity (all set in the real world), the franchise takes place in an Earth-like world dubbed Strangereal, with different geography and countries. The planet is also located in the same solar system as the real-life Earth, with the same Sun, Moon, and apparently constellations; one particular constellation, Crux, plays a major role in the plot of Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception. The only geographical similarities between Strangereal and the real-life Earth is that Antarctica covers the planet's South Pole, an archipelago shaped like New Zealand is near it, and there exists a Greenland-shaped country in the north aside which appears to be a part of Northern Canada. Strangereal also contains scattered and/or distorted Earth landmasses, such as a distorted Mediterranean near the equator, and Svalbard and Britain-like islands in the north. The longitude reading for the planet is based on a 360-degree system which is oriented west.

There are four major landmasses in Strangereal where most Ace Combat games are set and are separated by several major oceans and large seas, called Osea, Anea, Verusea, and Usea. Air Combat (after retconning), Ace Combat 2, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, and Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies are all set in Usea. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation takes place in Anea, just north of Verusea. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War reveals the entire Strangereal world map for the first time, with its major combatants, the Osean Federation and the Union of Yuktobanian Republics, facing each other across the Ceres Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is the largest ocean, touching Osea, Usea, and Verusa. The Cascade Ocean is the second largest ocean, touching Osea, Anea, and Verusa. The Arctic Ocean covers the North Pole, and the Pacific Ocean lies below the Ceres Ocean.

A main historic event that takes place in Strangereal is the fall of the large "Ulysses 1994XF04" asteroid. Its discovery in 1994 led to the creation of various superweapons to remove the threat of mass extinction of humans. Only one weapon, "Stonehenge", was completed and operational in time to destroy the asteroid by its arrival in 1999, but the asteroid's fragments spread out across the planet for sheer damage and loss of life. The asteroid is a main catalyst for the events of Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies and Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.

Title differences

The Japanese Ace Combat was renamed Air Combat in the North American and European releases of the original game.

In NTSC territories, the fourth installment of the series is known as Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, while in PAL territories the game is known as Ace Combat: Distant Thunder. The Spanish version of the game is known as Ace Combat: Trueno de Acero, which can be translated as Ace Combat: Steel Thunder. The NTSC version of the fifth installment of the game is known as Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, while the PAL release was renamed Ace Combat: Squadron Leader. In PAL territories, the word "Zero" in Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War was removed, making it the first game since the series introduction to not have a significant name change in PAL territories. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy in English-speaking territories was originally titled Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble in Japan.

Music

The Ace Combat series is known for its dramatic soundtrack, particularly in later installments of the game where full orchestras, such as the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, are used. Each installment of the series usually uses one style of music as the basis of its soundtrack:

The main composers for the game series soundtrack are Keiki Kobayashi, Tetsukazu Nakanishi, Ryuichi Takada, Junichi Nakatsuru, and Hiroshi Okubo.

Models

Although typical aircraft model kits can be customized and detailed after specific planes in each game, the Ace Combat series also has its fair share of specially produced model kits, with a number of them sold as resin garage kits. In the late 1990s, the garage kit firm Reebhu Club joined forces with Tokiwa Aircraft Create to produce a 1/144 kit of the XFA-27 Phoenix from Ace Combat 2, following up with the R-101 Delphinus 2 in 1999, and then the ADFX-01/2 Morgan from Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War in 2007. These kits were sold at Japan's Wonder Festival model kit convention.

Hasegawa sold 1/144 resin kits of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere's Delphinus 1 and 3 in December 2000. It continued the trend with a 1:72 F-14 Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War limited-edition kit modeled in a cherry blossom paint scheme in April 2011 and a similarly-scaled kit of Assault Horizon's main superfighter, the ASF-X Shinden II, in July 2012, The line has since been followed by the F-22 Mobius 1 and Su-37 Yellow 13 from Ace Combat 04, the Grabacr SU-47 and F-14 Razgriz from Ace Combat 5, the Strigon Team Su-33 and F-15 Garuda 1 from AC6, and the Ridgebacks ASF-X from Infinity. Various items in the company's line of model aircraft kits are also available in special color schemes depicting characters from The Idolmaster franchise. These schemes are available as downloadable content for Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.

In March 2006, Bandai produced a 1:100 kit of the ADF-01 Falken superfighter from Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.

Printed media

The first serious attempt to detail part of the Ace Combat universe's history came with a detailed photo booklet included with the Japanese release of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere in 1999. With the release of Assault Horizon in 2011, Project ACES created Aces At War: A History, a special artbook detailing the content from Ace Combat Zero, 4, and 5 from an in-universe perspective, as well as production commentary. This was packaged with the special editions of Assault Horizon released in Japan. In March 2012, ASCII Media Works released Ace Combat: Ikaros in the Sky. A tie-in novel for Assault Horizon, Ikaros is the story of series character Kei Nagase as she participates in the JASDF's ASF-X Shinden II fighter program.