Sopwith

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Sopwith

Sopwith - DOS - Title.png

MS-DOS - Screenshot - Title.

Developer David L. Clark
Publisher BMB Compuscience
Published 1984-??-??
Platforms DOS
Genres Action, Scrolling shooter, Shooter
Themes Action, World War I
Multiplayer Simultaneous versus
Distribution Freeware, Open source

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. The game was programmed in C and x86 assembly and the source has since been released.

In the game, you play as the pilot of a Sopwith biplane who must fly their plane on various bombing missions while engaging in dog fights with enemy pilots.

Personal

Own?No.
Won?Yes.
FinishedLate 1980s.

When I first played this game, it was titled "The Red Baron" and was included in a shovelware titled called Strike Force published 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.

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

Video Game Review Icon - Enjoyment.png Video Game Review Icon - Control.png Video Game Review Icon - Appearance.png Video Game Review Icon - Sound.png Video Game Review Icon - Replayability.png
3 4 3 2 3

Best Version: DOS (Author's Edition)

— 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 your opponent (human or AI), 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 avoid.
  • 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

Longplay which elapses the score.

Play Online

MS-DOS (v1), MS-DOS (v2), MS-DOS (Author's Edition)

Representation

Strong female character?FailThere are no visible characters.
Bechdel test?FailThere are no visible characters.
Strong person of color character?FailThere are no visible characters.
Queer character?FailThere are no visible characters.

Download

Links

Link-MobyGames.png  Link-Wikipedia.png