I have found myself to be in a strange time, in terms of my generation. Too young to have truly had the quintessential video game arcade experience. And too old to have had zero knowledge that such places existed and have seen the remains of these beloved establishments slowly blink out like stars in space. Especially given the rise of home video gaming, the world of the video game arcade is shrinking further and further. What remains: niche locations that cater to the crowds who truly love the nostalgia of early video games. Despite this, however, the arcade-style video game itself has not vanished from the world. For example, let’s take a look at Sonic Wings Reunion.

Sonic Wings Reunion is the latest entry in the Sonic Wings (Aero Fighters) line-up. Originally released in May 2025, the title made its way to the Nintendo Switch on October 7th, 2025. Success Corporation was the developer of this new entry in the series, with publishing rights on the Switch credited to Red Art Games.

Gamer Social Club was able to pick-up an early access copy of the recent port of this game. While I may be something of a stranger to the military-themed arcade shooter, I am not a total noob to the world of shoot’em up games. This genre has taken on a new name in the 21st century: bullet hell. Let’s dive into the world of fighter jets and…a very convoluted story.

The World and Story

The year is 20XX. Cities across the globe have been attacked by “Fata Morgana”. This elusive organization is in possession of superweapons and is able to manipulate the world’s military arsenals with strange technology (possibly not of this planet). In response, “Project Blue” was formed. This elite team of fighter pilots have been tasked with fighting Fata Morgana and freeing planet Earth from their control.

And that’s the story. I had to look this up online via the game’s Steam page, as it doesn’t outline…any of this in the actual game.

Per the game’s description, the actual scenario and story changes depending on the combination of pilots that you choose. I completed two separate runs of the game and couldn’t discern any differences. Maybe it was just dumb luck on my picks.

The Gameplay

Arcade Mode

This is the main story mode of Sonic Wings Reunion and where you’ll be able to select your Pilot and Wingman to accompany you on your missions. You can also set your game difficulty, from Easy all the way to Very Hard. I opted Normal runs for a nice challenge, but not something that was going to cause me to throw my Switch across the room.

Is that…a dolphin? Yes. Yes it is. Is that the United Nations flag underneath him? Yup. Being that this is my first foray into the Sonic Wings franchise, I’m not certain if…this level of absurdity is par for the course. But moving along, you’ll have an array of pilots to choose from, all hailing from different countries.

For my first run, I opted to go with Mao Mao and Hien. Both pilots are from Japan, so I would assume that their stories would align. Hien functioned as my Wingman, so while I did not fly as him, I did have access to his special ability as Mao Mao.

Yeah, their lines never got much more serious than this. Is tongue-in-cheek the style of these games? Maybe. Regardless, the gameplay itself functions like any shoot’em up from the arcade era. The screen moves along and your goal is to destroy everything on screen while avoiding the absolute glut of bullets and missiles sent your way.

Your missions will take you all over the globe and each mission follows the same flow. You’ll progress through the level and take on a unique “boss” at the end. Honestly, the creativity of the bosses was pretty good – none felt similar to one another and each had their own unique fighting caveats.

Towards the end of your mission, you’ll discover that Fata Morgana is operating…from within the Earth. Because there’s a massive hole in the planet at the North Pole. Because of course there is.

BUT WAIT…it gets even more ridiculous. Your final test in Sonic Wings Reunion: a giant…monkey. You can’t make this up.

After finishing the final fight, you’ll get looped back to the first mission again as the same duo you have been flying as. So in order to choose a new pairing, you’ll have to exit to the Main Menu.

For my second run, I opted for Chaika and Pushka (from Russia) and Whity (from…the sea?). The silliness didn’t abate on this run either.

Training Mode

For some strange reason, Training Mode is not available until after you have completed a full run in Arcade Mode. In Training Mode, you have the game’s settings at your fingertips to learn the combat styles of each pilot, as well as the combat progression in each mission of the game.

Is it useful? I guess. Is it needed? Not really, in my opinion.

Leaders Board

OK, so not really a “game mode”, but you can check the leaderboards of scores of those who have played this game. I have ZERO game skills compared to some of these individuals!

And that’s it! No other gameplay options for Sonic Wings Reunion. I actually did end up completing a third run of this game literally a few minutes ago with Glenda and Keaton. Whole run time for the missions: about…10 minutes. Let’s get into what I liked and didn’t like.

The Good

Gameplay Mechanics & Difficulty

Honestly, it was simple and intuitive, which is definitely a sell for me in an era where games have more and more complex mechanics. Additionally, the controls themselves felt responsive and didn’t feel too…cumbersome, nor did I have any lag hiccups in the inputs.

I also didn’t feel like the game itself was too trying, in terms of its difficulty. Granted, I did play on Normal Difficulty and while I did die quite a bit, I never got frustrated with it. It was more of a mild inconvenience than anything else.

Sheer Madness (in terms of humor)

So rarely do I play a game that takes me by surprise with regards to how…daft the in-game dialogue is. Seriously, imagine me starting up a mission and seeing this on the screen.

Excuse? What am I girding? And again – I have no clue if this game is meant to be humorous! That being said, it did give me quite a few chuckles along the way. It almost goes back to that era of gaming where the more out-there the concept and story was, the better (looking at you, Duke Nukem).

Pure. Gold.

The Bad

Gameplay Length

I was not joking when I mentioned I finished a third run in roughly 10 minutes. The Arcade Mode of the game is that short. Now, obviously I could sit here and run through every combination of pilots in the game. But to what end? Just for some other on-screen conversations that might be slightly unhinged? And for levels that will not change, in terms of their flow? It makes me hard-pressed to say that I would keep playing this game again and again solely for those dialogues.

Switch Visuals

One of the biggest selling points of the Switch is that it’s a handheld gaming system. That being said, some games…need a bigger screen. Especially a bullet hell-esque game like Sonic Wings Reunion. There were definitely moments when there were so many bullets and missiles on screen…I lost track of my own ship. I guess you could just dock your Switch to the TV. But what if that’s not an option for you?

Pricing

Here’s where…it gets icky. Sonic Wings Reunion retails for $29.99 on the Nintendo E-store. While it’s currently on sale for $23.99 until October 14th, this is still a pretty steep price for such a short game. And while this review is covering the Switch port of this game, I would be remiss to mention the following. On Steam…the game is sold…for $59.99. That’s right. The same cost of some AAA games that easily have dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of gameplay and story. That just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This is 100% not a game that should warrant such a price, especially on Steam and even for the Switch (even though it’s a bit more reasonable there).

The Overall

Sonic Wings Reunion, while being a silly little side-stop in my gaming, is not something that is setting the world on fire. For the fanbase of this series, I am certain that I am probably making someone mad over there. But the game…just doesn’t lend itself to being anything beyond an arcade game. If you have been following this series since it began in the early 1990’s, maybe it’s worth picking up. But if you find yourself a newbie to Sonic Wings world, you may not see what the fuss is about and might opt to spend your hard-earned money elsewhere. And I wouldn’t blame you.

Gamer Social Club was provided an early-access code for the purposes of this review by PressEngine. This review was played on Nintendo Switch.