Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy, released as Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble in Japan, is an action video game for the Nintendo 3DS, developed by Access Games and published by Namco Bandai Games and a remake of Ace Combat 2. First impressions of the game were released by the Official Nintendo Magazine in July 2011 and were also leaked by IGN in the same month. Despite the game's international title outside Japan, it is not a direct sequel to the and has little relation to that game. The original Japanese version features compatibility with the Circle Pad Pro accessory. The enhanced version, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy + was released in Japan on January 29, 2015, with added support for Amiibo figures, as well as updated control handling for the New Nintendo 3DS. It was also released in North America and Europe in February 2015.
Plot
The plot is fleshed out from Ace Combat 2. Fearful of being caught in the saber rattling between the Osean Federation and Union of Yuktobanian Republics four years after the events of the, the nations of the Usean continent agree to unite and form a third-force alliance. However, countries in southern Usea consider joining the Osean Federation after it offers to sign a military treaty with them. The other countries in Usea object to this move, but the southern nations press ahead with the treaty. Conservativemilitary personnel in these countries engineer a coup on the day of the treaty signing, and even military forces in the other Usean nations join the rebellion. In danger of total collapse, the Usean government executes an offensive codenamed Operation Fighter's Honor, with the Special Tactical Fighter Squadron Scarface leading the attack. Since the game is a remake, it features additional aircraft not previously seen in Ace Combat 2 such as the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle and fifth-generation jet fighters like the Sukhoi PAK FA, the latter of which previously appeared in Assault Horizon.
Reception
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy received generally positive reviews, with Metacritic tallying up to a 71 out of 100 and GameRankings 72.28% out of 25 reviews. Nintendo Power awarded the game a score of 7.5 out of 10, stating "Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy may not be a beefy adventure, but because virtually everything that's great about Namco Bandai's long-running series is present here, it's well worth playing." IGN awarded it an 8.0, praising it for "beautiful environments" and impressive 3D effects, but criticized it for a short campaign and lack of multiplayer.
