There was a time when jumping into a flying game meant pointing your plane at the horizon and worrying about one thing – how high you could push that score before everything exploded. Wild Blue Skies wants to bring that arcade feeling back, taking inspiration from the on-rails flight shooters of the ’90s and giving them a colourful modern makeover.
It launches right now on Xbox Series X|S, PC and PS5 for £13.99, with a Nintendo Switch version planned for Fall 2026.
At A Glance
- Game: Wild Blue Skies
- Developer: Chuhai Labs
- Publisher: Balor Games
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, PS5
- Price: £13.99
Take To The Skies With The Blue Bombers
Wild Blue Skies follows Bowie Stray and his fellow Blue Bombers – Roe, Thorne and Chuck – as they take on the forces of the fearsome Grimclaw. Expect to fly across oceans, desert landscapes and perilous caves while battling waves of enemies and working towards an epic confrontation.
The controls are designed to be approachable enough for newcomers, but there’s plenty here for experienced arcade pilots to master. Tight aerial combat, boss encounters and a scoring system built around medals and ribbons give you plenty of reasons to replay missions rather than simply reaching the end and calling it a day.
Every Flight Has A Different Route
Wild Blue Skies isn’t content with sending you through the same sequence of missions every time. Branching paths allow you to choose different routes through the campaign, with hidden missions, encounters and secrets tucked away for those willing to explore.
That gives the game a welcome arcade quality. You can finish a mission, but then the temptation is there to go back, try another route, find something you missed and chase a better score.
And because the Blue Bombers aren’t simply silent avatars in aircraft, their personalities and banter are woven into the campaign too. Getting to know the squad is part of the adventure, alongside encounters with rival pilots.
A Love Letter To Arcade Flight Shooters
The inspiration from classic N64 and PS1-era flight shooters like Star Fox is obvious, but Wild Blue Skies isn’t simply trying to recreate the past. Its anime-inspired visuals give the world a distinctive look, while the modern presentation and responsive controls are designed to make the old-school formula feel at home on today’s hardware.
Wild Blue Skies is now available on Xbox Series X|S (Xbox Store), PC and PS5 for £13.99, with Nintendo Switch pilots due to join the squadron in Fall 2026.
So, if you miss the days when arcade flight games were all about finding the perfect route, blasting everything in sight and immediately starting another run to beat your score, it might be time to get your wings back.
