Top Gun: video games inspired by movies with Tom Cruise

Top Gun

We are returning from the vision of Top Gun: Maverick, recently officially distributed also in Italy on streaming services. The film is faithful to the canons of the first chapter, which perfectly represented the 80s and their effervescence, and takes up many of its dynamics, including the immortal soundtrack.

The sequel to the popular feature film has so impressed us to convince us to do a videogame retrospective, thinking back to all those games that were inspired by Top Gun. There are not a few, including official titles that exploit the brand, more or less veiled tributes and collaborations. Let's find out which are our favorite Top Gun video games, and you can tell us yours in the comments!

Grand Theft Auto V

An evocative image aboard the aircraft carrier in GTA 5 Well yes, GTA 5 was also tainted by Top Gun. Many of you will probably remember the mission aboard the aircraft carrier docked off Los Santos.

During the raid mission in the laboratories of Humane Labs it is in fact necessary to steal fighters and save the precious cargo. Here, as soon as we start the engines and leave the deck of the aircraft carrier, we can hear the powerful soundtrack of Top Gun with the track Kenny Loggins "Danger zone". Never was a choice so successful.

Flight Simulator

Top graphics for Flight Simulator, almost indistinguishable from reality With the release of Top Gun: Maverick in cinemas (remember, for more, event postponed for almost two years due to the pandemic), an expansion dedicated to the film has simultaneously been released in Microsoft Flight Simulator on PC and Xbox Series X.

The collaboration between Microsoft and Paramount Pictures has brought to PC and Xbox users this curious and intriguing free DLC, where the absolute protagonist is the F / A-18E / F Super Hornet fighter already seen in the film. There are five flying missions to carry out, in addition to the implementation of the beautiful Darkstar plane, which in Maverick hosts Tom Cruise struggling with a dangerous aeronautical test.

Ace Combat 7

The great realism of aircraft in Ace Combat 7 Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is without a doubt one of the best video games based on aerial combat. Honored by the public and critics for its technical achievement, thanks to an intelligent use of the Unreal Engine 4, it has also proved to be a fun and engaging action title.

The gameplay of Ace Combat 7 is very cinematic , there is never a moment's respite and the controls are intuitive and easy to master. The countless cutscenes wink at American action films, including Top Gun, of course. It is also distinguished by the orchestrated soundtrack that manages to emotionally underline the key scenes of the game, exactly as the two films do.

Top Gun: Hardlock

a still image suggestive of an attack plane in Hardklock It has been ten years since the release of Top Gun: Hard Lock on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. The game exploited the license of the original film without too many pretensions, with ups and downs. One of the strengths was certainly the soundtrack, taken from the film with both hands, and a story that is intertwined with the original thanks to the use of many characters such as Maverick, Iceman and Jester.

The gameplay was very simplified and suffered from some gaps such as the presence of inexplicable quick time events during the dog fight phases, but it let itself be played and represented a good way to recall Top Gun within the four walls of the home. At the time it came out perhaps too far from both the first and second films, becoming a niche title destined for a few nostalgic fans. Today, perhaps, we should try it again.

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.

Some planes were flawlessly made The competition within the "aerial combat" genre had virtually disappeared when Ace Combat remained the only (worthy) exponent of this category. The rare incursions on the subject by some minor software houses had turned out to be totally unsuccessful, assigning Namco to the monopoly of the "Top Gun" videogame scene. However, in 2009 Ubisoft thought about giving some sparkle with its promising H.A.W.X. , another extension of the already prolific world based on Tom Clancy's famous action books.

One of the innovations brought by this title was that of being able to pilot "in the third person", by quickly pressing the back buttons you entered a sort of view outside the aircraft that allowed us to perform otherwise impossible maneuvers, making the combat in an artificial but effective way. A very limited multiplayer, repetitive gameplay, combined with a fluctuating technical realization did not make it enter the Olympus of action games. However, anyone who has played H.A.W.X. It probably keeps a pleasant memory of it, and that's why we put it in our special.

Arma 3

the detailed cockpit of an ArmA III aircraft In the ArmA III tactical simulator there is space also for aerial fights, the so-called dog fights often mentioned in Top Gun: Maverick. The game, developed by the Czech software house Bohemia Interactive and released in 2013 on Windows PC, is a huge open world simulator where dozens of factions, armies, military vehicles coexist, each with its own specific way of being used.

Paradoxically, we are in a field diametrically opposite to that of frenetic action, but in any case in ArmA III it is possible to "taste" how a real hunting cockpit moves us inside. Thanks to successive expansions, many new generation aircraft and other vehicles have been added.

Top Gun (NES)

The 8bit pixel graphics made us dream big One of the first directly inspired video games from Tony Scott's film was that Top Gun released in 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System, or for friends NES. Considering the technical and physical limitations (we think the pad only had two frets), the work of the developers was commendable. The game was rewarded by critics and audiences, sold millions of copies and proved to be another hit added to the already dense Nintendo library. Top Gun proved to be a quick, fast, easy-to-handle game, but also a satisfying pad in hand.

The aerial fights took place through different environments such as air, land or water (obviously only the color of the background changed, passing from light blue to blue, up to brownish). For those who have never tried it and still have an old NES attached to their 4K OLED, we recommend recovering the cartridge (which also costs relatively little), and enjoy its 80s magic.

Did you notice mistakes?