In spite of finally turning into a great commercial success, the long delay of getting MechWarrior 2 out of the door had disgruntled FASA sufficiently to not prolong their cooperation with Activision. The licence went to Microprose, where ironically, the production of the official sequel again went on for years after having been first announced. Activision was still allowed to produce add-ons to MechWarrior 2, on the other hand. Mercenaries stretched the definition of "add-on" to the extreme, being a standalone game. One could almost suspect this is where they would have taken the series for a third installment.
With the advent of new technologies comes a time of innovation, a time when pioneers set out to explore the potential of the latest inventions. Red Baron is remarkable in this concern because it is not only about the early days of a new kind of warfare, but because it was in itself one of the first dedicated combat flight simulators for home computers set in this era. And so it helped to lay down the basics of the genre just like the historical biplanes in it did for the aerial combat. A very fitting combination so to speak which gives the game a timeless appeal: Entering this world of rough 3D graphics and simplistic flight models seems to have a lot in common with taking off in one of those fragile flying machines of WWI. But let us take a look at how exactly this works to the game’s (dis)advantage and what else makes it a classic.
Police cars not only have a terrifying effect on criminals, but also let many toddlers dream of a career as a policeman while playing with their Matchbox equivalent. In the early 90s, as the first Cisco Heat arcade cabinets appeared in public, every school child was able to get right behind the wheel of those machines and spend a few coins for a quick manhunt on the American West Coast under the impressive landmark of the Golden Gate Bridge. To top the feeling of steering so fabulously fast through the street canyons by using a real (physical) steering wheel was kind of illusionary for the rather underpowered home computers of that time. But at least the charm of the original should have approximated as closely as possible.
