Hey. You got your Cowboy Bebop in my Afterburner..

Sky Rogue looks like it was ripped right out of an arcade. Colorful graphics, fun combat, and wonderfully realized community content combine for a damn good time. It’s this week’s Indie Pick.


I was a bit surprised to see that Kotaku hadn’t covered this game much. My coworker Nathan Grayson enjoyed the gameplay, which is ripped right from Ace Combat, and that write up was back during the game’s earlier days. That fundamental core remains and the game has held up incredibly well.

Sky Rogue is all the things you loved from Star Fox or Crimson Skies smashed into a package worthy of a Sega arcade cabinet. You’ll run various missions to destroy outposts and air carriers while expanding your arsenal and adding more planes to your roster. It’s great to pick up and play in bursts.


The simple graphics have a lot of charm to them and this is made particularly clear by just how much mileage the community has gotten from them. The Steam Workshop is full of custom fighters to pilot. My particular choice is a recreation of Spike Spiegel’s sleek Swordfish jet from Cowboy Bebop.

Hell, yeah. It’s the Vic Viper!

I’m a sucker for nostalgia and Sky Rogue hits me right in the gut. It makes me think of heading over to my friends place to play Afterburner. The sound design is like a time machine, drawing me back to the simpler games of my youth.

This game is a lot of fun. It captures the soaring sense of excitement that comes from playing with a toy airplane or seeing the Blue Angels fly overhead at a demonstration. The sky is a beautiful place. This game gets it.


Each week, I show off a new, affordable indie game using the tag “Heather’s Indie Pick.”



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