AirCars is a 1997 shooter video game developed by MidNite Entertainment Group Inc., published in North America by ICD and in France by La Terre du Milieu for the Atari Jaguar. It was one of the last officially licensed releases for the platform. The game follows a government pilot controlling an aircar to stop the E.B.N.E.R.S. organization, which plans to dominate a post-apocalyptic world left by a nuclear holocaust. The player fights against enemies and bosses, while shooting down key targets across 32 missions set on various locations. Two players can also play the main campaign or up to eight players can participate in a deathmatch mode.
Originally announced in 1994, AirCars was one of the first titles in development for Jaguar by MidNite Entertainment, one of the initial third-party developers signed by Atari Corporation for the platform. It was also one of the first games to support local area network (LAN) play using the CatBox, an unofficial peripheral by Black Cat Design and ICD. Although the CatBox accessory launched in mid-1995, the game's release was held up by MidNite due to a less than enthusiastic response from press and the company facing financial difficulties before publishing duties were handled by ICD instead, who produced a limited run of copies in total as a result.
AirCars garnered generally unfavorable reviews from journalists before the planned initial launch was held up and after its release to the market; criticism was directed towards the presentation, visuals, sound, and gameplay. Some complemented its multiplayer capabilities with the CatBox, but the setup required before playing was also criticized. It has been retrospectively cited as one of the worst video games of all time.
Gameplay
AirCars is a three-dimensional shooter game that is primarily played from a first-person perspective. The plot involves an organization named E.B.N.E.R.S., which was established after a nuclear holocaust left the world in a post-apocalyptic state. Their goal was to encourage mankind to live peacefully and restructure society to eradicate any hostility but it was deemed unrealistic, with E.B.N.E.R.S. later becoming known as a fringe organization of radical scientists. The government placed spies into the organization to follow their activities, learning about their recent development of teleportation devices, force fields and nuclear-powered vehicles called aircar, which unveiled E.B.N.E.R.S. plans to dominate the world by using their weapons and technology to submit the remaining humans under their rule. The government sends a pilot to command their own version of the aircar to eliminate the organization. There are three difficulty levels the player can select at the main menu before starting a game.
The main objective of the game is to obliterate E.B.N.E.R.S. by destroying key targets in an area such as bases, complexes, and installations, which are identified before the start of each mission at the briefing screen. Every primary target must be eliminated before exiting the area via a teleportation gate and proceeding into the next area. The player also fights against enemies and bosses in order to progress further. There are 32 missions in total, each one taking place across various locations. Though primarily played in a first-person view, the player can change between multiple camera angles by pressing the assigned button on the controller's keypad to view their surroundings. Although the player can explore at their own pace, a red line is put into the edge of the area to limit exploration beyond the main playfield. At the beginning, the player starts off with a cannon and shotgun as main weapons, which are interchangeable with other weapons obtained by destroying enemies scattered on the playfield and attach them either to the left or right of their aircar by pushing the corresponding buttons on the keypad.