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Propeller Arena: Aviation Battle Championship is a videogame for the Dreamcast console. It was developed by Sega-AM2, completed, but never officially released. The main reason was probably that a certain level was visually very similar to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Also, with the Dreamcast's commercial failure, Sega believed this game's release wouldn't bring in profit.
Hopes of a port to another console never materialized. However, a disk image of the game was eventually leaked, becoming a popular download on many peer-to-peer networks.
Plot
In a near future, there will be an air combat tournament with planes from the WW2 era. From the game's intro:
- This is coming to you from Aviation Radio Station. The year is 2045. Who thought of this? I don't know! But it's a crazy tournament of cool battles in the sky. Aviation Battle Championships begin! Proud warriors of the world's skies gather in hopes of winning the prize!
Characters
Several pilots join the tournament, each with their own reasons.
Eagle Jam
Gary Hamilton is an USAF pilot and leads a team of ancient airplane restorers. In a time of peace, he wants to try his skill in real combat.Shameless Cats
Emily Williams is an actress who enters the competition to honor her beloved late grandfather, an adventurer and pilot, who taught her to fly at an early age.- Hamilton and Williams fly the P-51 D.
Muscle Brothers
Tim Golden is a bodybuilder and former Air Force cadet who was tricked into getting in the tournament.Pizza Fat
Michael Cantrelle is the heir of a large pizza franchise, a military item collector, and a slouch. He is promised a tank by his father if he wins the prize.- Golden and Cantrelle fly the P-38 J.
Pengo Jets
Rally Miller is an actor, airplane aficionado, and narcissist, who thinks his fighter will attract women even more than his jet plane.8-Bit Beat
Silver Boy is the mysterious leader of a German techno act. The character may be a parody of Zack from the Dead or Alive series.- Miller and Silver Boy fly the Bf 109 E.
Hex Candy
Lucy Walman is a singer in a girl band, enrolled in the tournament by her manager as a promotional stunt.Golden Knife
Peter Goldsmith is a Gulf War veteran who was seen as a cheater by his peers for going after enemy planes that had already been damaged by them, and wants to prove his worth as a pilot.- Walman and Goldsmith fly the Spitfire Mk. VB.
Gameplay
Propeller Arena can be roughly described as "Quake in the skies": it is not a typical flight simulator, but a series of quick dog fight deathmatches in rather limited areas, in a way similar to a multiplayer first-person shooter.
The game has four modes: the main game, Championship, which is a sequence of dogfights; Quick Battle, a single dogfight; Training Arena, a number of training missions and minigames; and Network, the online mode. Beating the game and the training missions unlocks extra characters and levels.
Soundtrack
The game's soundtrack, all consisting of punk rock, was prepared by both "branches" of Sega: a Japanese team had 12 songs composed and produced in-house, while an American team arranged a deal with the Fat Wreck Chords label to license 9 songs from the bands Consumed, Zero Down, No Use for a Name, Mad Caddies, and Rise Against.
External links
- SEGA-Universe - game trailer
"Propeller Arena"