is a 1996 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed by Video System and published by MediaQuest for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It is the fourth installment in the Aero Fighters series. It was ported to arcades as Sonic Wings Limited (Aero Fighters Special in North America).
Gameplay Fighters There are 7 teams, 14 pilots, and 26 fighters in this game, with each team consisting of 2 members, and a choice of 2 fighters per pilot, except the secret team, which has 1 fighter per pilot.
Once a player has chosen a team, the other player can only choose a pilot and fighter of the respective team.
TeamPilotNormal fighterSecret fighterUSABlaster Keaton/Mecha-KeatonLockheed F117 Sea HawkVought F4-U CorsairCaptain SilverFairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IINorthrop P-61 Black WidowJapanHienMitsubishi FS-XNakajima J1N GekkouMao MaoMcDonnell Douglas F-15Aichi M6A SeiranRussiaVolkKamov Ka-50 HokumMikoyan-Gurevich Mig 3Chaika & PooshikaIlyushin IL-102 Ilyushin IL-2 StormovikSwedenKowful the VikingSaab AJ-37 ViggenJunkers Ju 87G StukaT.B. A-10Lockheed F-104 Star FighterBrewster B-239 BuffaloP.K.F.WhityNorthrop YF-23Henschel Hs129Lord River N. WhiteMcDonnell Douglas AV-8 Harrier II PlusBoulton Paul DefiantNATOAnjeraDassault Rafale MDewoitine D520Ellen & CinciaGrumman F-14 TomcatFairey Sword FishSecretKotomiAka-Usagi-The ManLamborghini Diablo (Diabloon) -
A pilot's secret fighter is unlocked by completing the game with the chosen pilot.
The NATO and Secret teams are unlocked by unlocking all secret fighters in the US, Japan, Russia, Sweden, and P.K.F. teams.
Stages There are 17 stages in this game, but only 9 are playable at a time. After completing stage 1, 3 stages are randomly chosen out of 5. The game includes a branching system that allows players to choose 1 of 2 branches after completing stages 5, 7, or 8.
If a secret fighter is chosen, alternate versions of the stages appear instead.
PlayStation version It allows saving the game for more than once per round, while the PAL version does not support the PS1 Memorycard at all.
Hamster Corporation released the PlayStation version as part of their Console Archives series for the Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 in March 2026.
Arcade version There are 6 teams, 12 pilots, and 12 fighters in this version. There are 10 stages but only 7 are playable per game. After completing Stage 4, Stage 5 and 6 are chosen depending on the player's performance. After completing Stage 6, one of Fight in Orbit, Another Dimension, or Mars becomes Stage 7, depending on the player's performance. In Fight in Orbit, Another Dimension, 1 of 2 different final bosses appear in the end. If all lives are lost in Stage 7, continuing causes the game to start at the beginning of a stage. If one of the five last stage bosses is not defeated before it escapes, a boss-specific failure ending is shown. A character-specific ending is shown if the final Stage 7 boss is defeated, and a stage-specific ending is shown. After an item is revealed, the point value of the item increases the longer it stays on screen. The point value progresses at the sequence of 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 10000 (maximum) points.
Reception
Notes
References
External links Sonic Wings Special at MobyGames Sonic Wings Limited at the Killer List of Videogames