MicroProse is on a roll when it comes to releasing classic 90s sims. First F-16 Fighting Falcon and now this. 2026 is off to a great start!
Aw, man. F-22 ADF. What a game. According to the developers, this one strikes the perfect balance between realism and accessibility. That’s true, but I saw it as the ultimate flight sim at the time (that is before I heard that it’s actually Falcon 4.0 that is punishingly authentic).
Read more: The Resurgence of 90s Combat Sims on Steam – Here’s What’s Coming and What’s Available Right Now
As a kid I spent countless hours playing this one, flying my F-22, trying to complete various missions or just goofing around. The variety and feel were incredible. Dogfights, bombing runs, convoy strafes, naval warfare and so on – there was plenty to do around here.
I remember my dad trying to beat the Quick Game mode – a grueling battle with, like, 17 waypoints and different enemies to beat at each one. One time he made it through around 90%, though he ran out of ammo and fuel. Guess we should’ve tried landing on one of the airports to get our ride fixed, refueled, and rearmed.
(they totally re-did that classic trailer!)
Or that one time when I casually dropped a bomb on some targets below for it to explode, like, half a second later and shower me with fiery bits and pieces. Turns out my wingman was flying just below me and I accidentally blew him up. I’m so sorry, man, I didn’t mean to!
And the missions themselves were a treat. Great design coupled with fantastic atmosphere. The game felt dreamlike at times. There was even a mode where you played as AWACS. Basically a real-time strategy where you boss other pilots around and try to complete various objectives. You can also take control of any F-22 in the air and take matters into your own hands if need be.
NovaLogic’s classics ain’t got nothing on that one when it comes to things like mission complexity and feel.
F-22 ADF Steam re-release details
Here’s what we know so far:
- We’re getting Air Dominance Fighter as per reformed DID testing the waters. If it gets a warm welcome, the devs said they’ll pull out more classics out of their back catalog. You know, EF2000, F-22 Total Air War (ADF’s sequel with dynamic campaigns), maybe their earliest flight sims released c. 1991. Wargasm, maybe?
- It’s the original 1997 game, but with a whole load of fixes and improvements. 4K resolutions and widescreen, 6-DOF head tracking, mod support – that’s just a couple of over 100 of these.
- No early access, this game’s getting a complete release on February 17, 2026.
- A YouTuber named damsonn confirmed that the re-release also features the Red Sea Operations expansion (not mentioned on the game’s Steam page), plus three new campaigns.
No info on pricing so far. Might be around 20 bucks or so. But don’t quote me on that.
Damsonn also got his hands on the game pre-release, here’s his first look gameplay video:
Also, this re-release has nothing to do with an upcoming new flight sim from DID. It’s a separate project. Speaking of which, here’s a short gameplay clip: