Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The Baltic campaign in Jane’s Combat Simulations: ATF – NATO Fighters expands on the core Advanced Tactical Fighters experience by delivering a hefty roster of 40 meticulously designed missions. Each sortie unfolds with varied objectives—ranging from precision strikes on fortified installations and ship interdiction to high-stakes aerial dogfights against advanced Soviet-era fighters. The mission briefs are rich with tactical context, ensuring you always feel like a genuine NATO pilot tasked with critical operations over the Baltic Sea and surrounding airspace.

(HEY YOU!! We hope you enjoy! We try not to run ads. So basically, this is a very expensive hobby running this site. Please consider joining us for updates, forums, and more. Network w/ us to make some cash or friends while retro gaming, and you can win some free retro games for posting. Okay, carry on 👍)

One of the most notable gameplay enhancements is the introduction of four new flyable aircraft: the EuroFighter 2000, F-16C Fighting Falcon, Saab Gripen, and Su-35 Flanker. Each jet comes with its own performance envelope, avionics suite, and handling quirks, providing a refreshing layer of variety. Veteran simmers will appreciate mastering the Gripen’s agility, while fans of raw power will gravitate toward the Su-35’s thrust-vectoring prowess. The learning curve remains authentic—novice pilots may find themselves retrimming and recalibrating on the runway, but the payoff in realism is substantial.

Complementing the new airframes are an array of additional ordnance types. Cluster bombs now permit you to blanket large target areas—ideal for taking out enemy armor concentrations—while “backfiring” missiles simulate ECM-driven decoys that can save your tail in a pinch. The enhanced weapons roster forces players to think strategically about loadouts, balancing destructive capacity against weight and drag penalties. In practice, selecting the right armament for each sortie adds a gratifying level of pre-flight planning to the gameplay loop.

Multiplayer enthusiasts will find the expansion’s mission variety a boon for team-based tactics. Coordinating wingman roles with human partners—suppression flights, combat air patrols, SEAD runs—becomes a highly engaging endeavor. While the add-on doesn’t introduce new netcode features, the additional mission templates and the dynamic nature of the Baltic scenarios inject fresh life into cooperative and competitive online sessions.

Graphics

Though released in the late 1990s, ATF – NATO Fighters presents surprisingly polished visuals for its era. Terrain textures across the Baltic region exhibit believable coastal outlines, thick forest canopies, and sprawling urban centers. Weather effects—fluctuating cloud layers, realistic haze, and the occasional rain shower—enhance immersion, creating ever-shifting lighting conditions that can complicate target acquisition and weapons employment.

The new aircraft models stand out in the cockpit and external views alike. The EuroFighter 2000 boasts sleek, aerodynamic surfaces, while the Saab Gripen’s canard wings are rendered with commendable attention to detail. Cockpit instrumentation is crisp, with legible gauges, animated MFD pages, and functioning warning lights. These details aren’t just eye candy—they play a tangible role in situational awareness, allowing simmers to rely on in-cockpit readouts for speed, altitude, radar contacts, and weapons status.

Explosions and weapon effects maintain consistency with the base ATF engine, but the added munitions like cluster bombs produce satisfying visual flair when they detonate in cascading fragmentation patterns. Surface-to-air missile launches and backfiring ECM flares add to the spectacle, enriching both single-player and multiplayer engagements. While the textures won’t stand up to modern flight sims, they strike an effective balance between performance and visual clarity, even on mid-range PCs of the period.

Aircraft shadows, runway markings, and deck lighting during night sorties showcase the developers’ commitment to atmospheric authenticity. Particularly in low-light conditions, runway approach lighting systems guide your landing approach, and subtle reflections on aircraft fuselages reinforce the simulation’s immersive qualities. In sum, this expansion upholds the graphical strengths of the ATF engine while introducing a handful of new assets that feel polished and purposeful.

Story

Jane’s Combat Simulations: ATF – NATO Fighters doesn’t follow a traditional narrative-driven campaign; instead, it places you in the shoes of a NATO pilot during a hypothetical Baltic crisis. This loose framework provides ample flexibility, allowing you to confront a variety of mission types without being tethered to a linear storyline. The scenario briefing documents read like authentic government communiqués, complete with satellite imagery and threat assessments, setting an immersive stage for each operation.

Despite the absence of cinematic cutscenes, storytelling emerges through mission objectives and after-action reports. Successful sorties result in declassified intel drops, enemy fleet disruption, or humanitarian corridor enforcement—each outcome reinforcing the sense that your actions carry real geopolitical weight. This mission-by-mission progression delivers a subtle narrative arc: escalating tension as Soviet-aligned forces probe Baltic defenses, followed by a climactic push to secure critical airspace corridors.

The expanded Jane’s Reference Guide included with the add-on doubles as a pseudo-narrator, offering background on each aircraft, threat profiles for enemy radars and SAM sites, and strategic tips to inform your tactical decisions. Skimming through this digital manual before launching into new missions feels akin to attending a NATO pre-flight briefing—an effort that heightens the immersion and adds context to the aerial chess match unfolding above the Baltic Sea.

While hardcore story enthusiasts may miss branching storylines or character-driven drama, the compact, mission-focused narrative keeps you engaged. It’s a gift for players who prefer their flight sims grounded in operational realism rather than Hollywood spectacle.

Overall Experience

As an expansion disk for Advanced Tactical Fighters, ATF – NATO Fighters delivers a substantial package of fresh content that revitalizes the original sim. The 40 Baltic missions are varied and challenging, leveraging the new aircraft and weapon systems to create novel tactical scenarios. Whether you’re coordinating a multi-aircraft strike package or running escort for naval convoys, the add-on injects welcome diversity into your flight-sim regimen.

The learning curve remains demanding but rewarding. Pilots who relish system depth and authentic avionics will find plenty to explore, while casual players may need time to acclimate to the Gripen’s rapid roll rates or the Su-35’s engine management quirks. Nevertheless, the inclusion of practice missions and the expanded Jane’s Reference Guide serve as a helpful training ground, smoothing the path from rookie mistakes to mission-ready proficiency.

Graphically and sonically, the expansion stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the base ATF release. Dynamic weather, realistic cockpit instrumentation, and crisp audio cues (engine whine, weapons release, air-traffic chatter) combine to sustain the series’ reputation for immersion. Multiplayer sessions gain fresh life with new mission templates that support diverse playstyles, from competitive dogfights to coordinated strike packages against AI-controlled targets.

In summary, Jane’s Combat Simulations: ATF – NATO Fighters is a robust, thoughtfully designed add-on that reinforces the core strengths of Advanced Tactical Fighters. With its Baltic theater, new jets, expanded munitions list, and comprehensive reference manual, this expansion is a must-have for flight-sim enthusiasts seeking deeper tactical challenges and a broader operational sandbox. For prospective buyers, it represents exceptional value: a wealth of content that extends gameplay longevity and reaffirms the franchise’s commitment to realistic air-combat simulation.

Retro Replay Score

7.4/10