It’s out.
Twenty-five years after Small Rockets shipped it, Red Ace Squadron is back. The Definitive Edition is free to download right now: the complete 2001 game, both campaigns, Master Mode, the Secret Mission, and online multiplayer that works again, no account required.
What’s in the release
Beyond everything the restoration already fixed (native Windows 11, true widescreen, the repainted 1917 interface, remastered terrain, the crash-freeze cured at the binary level), this release ships a full cockpit and combat overhaul finished this week:
- Redesigned instruments. The speedometer and navigator are new art: engraved brass, aged ivory enamel, carved wooden propeller blades, painted in the same style as the menus.
- Real paper maps. The minimap terrain in all three worlds is the game’s original hand-drawn charts, restored to four times the detail. You can finally read them.
- A face for every pilot. The pilot selection screen now holds twelve period photographic portraits (the dog made the cut, obviously), and every aircraft carries its own unique painted pilot instead of one shared head.
- Sharper combat. Tracers, hit flashes, smoke, and debris all remastered.
Where to get it
From the download page, and only from there. It’s free. The installer’s SHA-256 checksum is published on the page. If Windows shows its “protected your PC” box, that’s just SmartScreen not recognizing a new publisher yet; the page walks you through the two clicks.
An Epic Games Store release is in review and coming soon, with full crossplay with this build.
Come fly with us: the Discord has a weekly Friday Night Fly-In, and the multiplayer page explains how Host and Join work. If the revival brought something back for you, you can support what comes next.
The skies over the aerodrome are busy again. See you up there.