Today Bandai Namco and developer Project Aces released a video that will serve as a real treat for fans of the Ace Combat franchise.
The video features Fire Youngman, one of the most popular songs from the 1997 PlayStation classic Ace Combat 2, performed by well-known Japanese guitarist Masahiro Itami and composer Keiki Kobayashi at the keyboard.
The song, performed live, is absolutely fire. The video is part of a series titled "Music Beyond the Sky" showcasing the franchise's soundtracks performed by famous musicians. It follows another featuring "A Brand New Day" from Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation performed by pianist Shogo Nomura.
You can take a look at the video below.
If you're unfamiliar with Ace Combat 2, it was released all the way back in 1997 in Japan for the original PlayStation when the storied air combat franchise was still young. It's worth mentioning that, whole Kobayashi-sensei is performing in this video, he actually did not work in this game, having debuted in the series with the acclaimed Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (or Distant Thunder in case you prefer the European title).
The latest game of the series is Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game has revitalized the franchise after a long dormancy, and has sold over 4 million copies as of November 2022.
A new game is in development in partnership with ILCA, and we're just a week away from the 4th anniversary of the release of Skies Uknown. Perhaps we may hear something new then, albeit that's just my wishful thinking. A man can hope, can't he?