Ace Combat: Distant Thunder

Successfully complete the game under the expert difficulty setting to unlock the ace difficulty setting.

The following is a complete aircraft list (in order):

F-4E (fighter)
Blue
Camo
Tiger Stripes
F-5E (fighter)
Sky Camo
Gray Camo
Sea-Green (Wang) level 1
F-16C (fighter)
Gray
Camo
White w/ Blue Stripes (Tempel) level 3
A-10A (attacker)
Camo
Desert Camo
Silver (Ciffred) level 2
MIR-2000 (fighter)
Sky Camo
Gray Camo
White w/ Blue Stripes (Rigaux) level 4
F-14A (fighter)
Gray
Sky Camo
Black (LEVY) level 6
TND-ID5 (attacker)
Camo
Green
Yellow Stripes (De Vico) level 7
F/A-18C (multirole)
Gray
Desert Camo
Yellow (Vrisala) level 8
F-15C (fighter)
Gray
Green-Gray
Blue-Silver (Tuttle) level 9
MIG-29A (fighter)
Gray Camo
Camo
Red (Mrkos) level 5
F-117A (attacker)
Black
Gray
Winter Camo (Kwee) level 16
EF-2000 (fighter)
Gray
Brown
White with red stripes (Olmstead) level 15
R-M01 (multirole)
Black
Gray Camo
White with blue stripes (Faye) level 10
F-15E (multirole)
Black
Camo
Blue Tiger Stripes (Gunn) level 13
F-2A (attacker)
Blue-Gray
Camo
White with red stripes (Urata) level 12
SU-35 (fighter)
Sky Camo
Gray Camo
White with blue and red stripes (Neujmin) level 11
F-22A (fighter)
Sky Camo
Gray
Gray (Abell) level 14
SU-37 (fighter)
Camo
Gray
Gray Camo with yellow wing tips (Yellow Squadron)
F-15ACTIVE (fighter)
Black
Gray Camo
White with blue andred stripes (Halley) level 17
S-37A (fighter)
Black
Gray Camo
Silver Camo (Smirnova) level 18
X-02 (multirole) (last aircraft)
Gray Camo
Silver

Use the following steps to unlock all aircraft, including special colors. First, acquire an aircraft by destroying it in battle. This is easy, except for three aircraft. Forget the ground targets and dogfight instead, which is the true nature of an ace. You can acquire three different paint schemes for each aircraft. Two of the paint schemes can be acquired by destroying that color aircraft in battle. To acquire the special brightly colored third aircraft, you must find and kill the pilot flying it. On each level of the game there is a single hidden aircraft (eighteen total hidden aircraft). Each one of these aircraft has a specific pilot. When you see the aircraft in front of you and lock on, it will display the pilot's name next to the aircraft name and lock on square. For example, "S-37A SMIRNOVA". The hidden aircraft will not show up on radar until you get nearby. On radar, the aircraft will be marked with a red triangle instead of yellow. Each hidden aircraft is always in the same place on their specific level. This is always in an empty spot on the map away from the main combat zone. The aircraft can usually be found directly behind the main combat zone. Last but not least are the three remaining aircraft. To acquire the Yellow Squadron fighter (SU-37) of your nemesis Yellow-13, you must kill all of the pilots with names flying the special colored aircraft (eighteen total). To unlock the X-02 Stealth, get an "S" rank on all 18 missions under normal mode. In order to get the second X-02, finish the game getting an "S" rank under the hard difficulty setting. This will unlock a black plane. Finish the game under the expert difficulty setting with an "S" rank on all missions will unlock the last X-02. This one is silver. You can get the Tiger Striped F-4E by completing the game once under any difficulty setting, then using the Sp. Continue option. To unlock the second X-02 aircraft you must get an "S" rank on all eighteen missions under the hard difficulty setting. The third X-02 is unlocked by getting an "S" rank on all eighteen missions under the expert difficulty setting.

Successfully complete the game in ace mode. Note: You may also need to obtain S-class for all missions.

To see a different plane other than the F-22 flying lead at the opening, go into a mission or free flight and choose a different plane. Crash your plane or quit the mission and return to the title screen. When the opening sequence plays again, whatever plane and secondary weapon you selected will appear instead of the F-22.

Successfully complete all 18 missions, then save the game. Load the saved game to unlock the following new options at the main menu. The "Special Continue" option allows the entire game to be replayed with new fighters and weapons, plus the money earned in the first game. The "Free Mission" option allows any mission to be played. The "Trial Mission" option allows the game to be played in either score attack or time attack modes. The "Scene Viewer" allows FMV sequences to be played. The "Music Player" option allows any of the 36 songs in the game to be played.

There is an XB-70 at the top left at about 30,000 ft. The enemy XB-70 can be shot down to earn extra points. The plane can be found all the way at the back of the combat area at high altitude. The plane is visible on radar to the left on the first target.

Look up in the night sky and you can see the northern lights.

Hold Triangle to zoom. Use the Right Analog-stick to pan around.

Use the following trick to defeat Megalith with an "S" rank. First, destroy all Yellow aircraft possible. Next, fly past Megalith until you see an red-orange triangle. Shoot that aircraft down and return to Megalith. Go through the right tunnel and shoot the generator. Continue to destroy the next generator in the left tunnel. Now, go to the side of Megalith and destroy the last generator. After all generators are gone, destroy the two missiles that appear just ahead. Turn around as fast as possible, as the next two missiles will only remain for a minute after the generators are destroyed. Next, destroy the big missile in the center and do not forget to pull up.