Sopwith

Title screen.

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.

Personal

When I first played this game, it was titled "Red Baron" and was included as shovelware release 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.

Status

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

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 an AI opponent, 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 defeat.
• 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

• 

  Preparing for takeoff.

• 

  Bombing my opponent's tarmac.

Videos

• youtube.com/watch?v=SFydiMvzlt0 - Longplay.

Download

• Download (Info) - All versions and source code.

Links

   

• sopwith.org - Fan site.
• mobygames.com/game/dos/sopwith- - MobyGames (Sopwith 2).
• mobygames.com/game/dos/sopwith-the-authors-edition - MobyGames (Author's Edition).