Sopwith

Sopwith is a video game in the action genre developed by BMB Compuscience and published by BMB Compuscience originally released in 1985. It is currently playable on DOS.

Two of the most beloved 'cult classics' of all time, Sopwith and its much improved successor, Sopwith 2 are classic CGA games that gave birth to the flying planes of destruction genre. Among the now legendary gameplay, the original Sopwith even had multiplayer networking options that took advantage of BMB Compuscience's 'Imaginet' networking product (in fact, the game was designed precisely to demonstrate Imaginet, according to the author).

So what is so special about Sopwith and its sequel? The best answer is that both games are incredibly addictive and fun. Sopwith is a side-scrolling biplane action game involving two sides: cyan and magenta planes. Your goal in single player mode is to destroy all enemy buildings and vehicles, either by shooting, bombing or colliding with them. To stop you, the enemy has deployed planes to shoot you down and buildings that shoot anti-aircraft fire at you. Each level ends when all enemy buildings and vehicles are destroyed, and is followed by a faster and more difficult level with the same map. Despite being an arcade game, all the elements of a good flight simulator are included, such as limited ammunition, ground artillery, limited fuel, and a limited number of bombs.

What makes Sopwith legendary is the ability to handle up to 8 players in multiplayer mode (4 human and 4 computer). The original Sopwith didn't have much physics modeling, and the AI was pretty weak. Sopwith 2 improves on the original in several ways, including smarter enemy aircraft, more enemies (including those pesky birds), bigger explosions, deformable terrain, and a cool real-time radar and mapping feature. Best of all, Sopwith 2 was coded with an internal timer that allows the game to run at the same speed on modern Pentiums as on IBM XT computers (similar to Alley Cat).

With exceptional gameplay, simple controls and plenty of surprises, Sopwith and Sopwith 2 are simply a must-have for any arcade fan. Be sure to also check out Sopwith: The Author's Edition: the best and definitive version of the game, released as freeware by designer David Clark in 2000.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.