Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Apr 8, 2023

  It is not hard, but it can be frustrating. I can compare with Airport Madness: World Edition from later years and this one is kind of easier. Because there is no bug with speed using shortcuts, so no crashes while taxiing. On the other hand you cannot select runway to take off and selecting runway for landing is possible only by dragging the plane to the runway, which is more tedious. But you can easily drag incoming plane to oblivion without issue, so too much incoming airplanes should not be a problem (and btw. it always never was anyway in this game, but yes, I have practice from the other one). You can get more stars if you replay some year with better performance, but it is not necessary as there are no achievements here. Finally there is the bug mentioned that sometimes plane can get to very slow speed and cause some troubles, but it happens only when you change too much orders of incoming planes. I have encountered it only several times and only once or twice got into troubles. I still need to finish the fantasy era, which has some more nice graphics (trains going around).
• keedor

  Apr 28, 2023

  Before purchasing the excellent Airport Madness 4 on my STEAM system, it was Airport Madness : Time Machine that I spent many a happy hour. Fans of the successful franchise will know exactly what to expect here. As with the others, planes enter the screen randomly and we have to land them on the runways without incident. Once landed, they are quickly refuelled and passengers on board before we send them skyward to exit the screen. Points are earned for both landing and newly airborne planes. The game begins in 1925 during the early days of flight. As we progress the years roll steadily by. Aircraft become much more powerful and the airport layouts increase in complexity. Soon we are facing levels with differing plane types - including airships and helicopters - plus numerous runways where planes have to cross the lanes only when it is safe for them to do so or risk a collision. When a plane is destroyed the game ends and we have to restart the current level all over again. Collect enough points, though, and we advance to a new level and all the challenges it creates. I found Airport Madness : Time Machine enjoyable to play with a nice variation in plane types and runway layouts. As usual for the franchise, approaching plane speeds can be adjusted to either fast or slow while aircraft may be ordered to circle around for another approach if a runway is congested. Idle planes add to a Time Delay score but this does not seem to be detrimental to the completion of the level. There is nice period music for each level but this can be turned off if so desired. Graphically the game is okay but the sprites on certain levels are incredibly small - green planes flying over fields can be particularly hard to spot even with their silhouettes - and on some of the space-age levels these silhouettes occasionally flicker, which can prove somewhat off-putting! These are just minor criticisms to an otherwise very good game. During play there is a series of information boxes displayed at the bottom of the screen for Score, Planes Moved, Year and Time Delay. All are continually updated. There are also options to Quit, Pause the game and toggle the music on or off. Our best score per level is always retained so we can try and surpass it at a later date. There are no Achievements but a total of 6 Trading Cards to collect. Airport Madness : Time Machine is very enjoyable to play but some notable features from Airport Madness 4 are missing, such as the unlimited time per level (until a crash occurs) and decreasing fuel for planes to add urgency to the proceedings. Nevertheless, for those wanting more or people new to the franchise the game should cater very well indeed!
• gamedeal user

  Sep 19, 2015

  Ever since the Airport Madness series started coming to Steam, I have had a huge love affair with it. There's an addiction that cannot be described. All you do is monitor the incoming planes and try to find a gap to send departing planes on their way. It starts off simple, but gets progressively more difficult as the sky gets busier. This happens until you lose enough attention to cause 2 planes to collide. You then swear profusely at how stupid you have been, think about rage quitting. Then instead of exiting, you press the retry button again and again until it's 4am. It's a form of self inflicted torture, but you cannot stop playing. You have to beat your previous score. This has been true of Airport Madness 4 and World Edition. So along comes Time Machine. I found the demo on their website, and got immediately hooked. I'd often play it at work out of boredom, and the hours fly by (pun intended). So when it came to Steam, I was all over it like a rash. Instead of Airport Madness 4 or World Edition's several airport levels where you just attempt to accumilate enough score until you collide 2 jets, and then try to better it because you're stubborn. Time Machine takes you through numerous levels/years of just a single airport. From a basic field in 1925, you go year by year, watching the airport expand and take shape until you get to 1970 where you've got to deal with more aircraft than Heathrow and LAX combined. Each level presents new challenges, from new runways, new facilities, to having to deal with military and civilian aircraft in World War 2 at the same time. Then even more... Once you get to certain stages in the game. You also unlock a Victorian Style steampunk airport and an airport from far in the future. These present further challenges and add a nice change of pace from trying to beat each level in the main part of the game. This means more fun and more addiction! Time Machine stands as my favourite in the series for the different direction it takes. It doesn't matter how many of these games Big Fat Simulations release. I will always buy them on launch, because they are just really, really fun to play. I look forward to the possibility of seeing Airport Madness 3 on Steam and their current development, Airport Madness 3D in the new year. For me these are "Must Buys"... I suggest you go to their official website and play the demos on their site. Discover the addicition, and buy the series here on Steam. You'll be hooked in no time!
• gamedeal user

  Sep 27, 2015

  A surpisingly deep strategy game. In Airport Madness: Time Machine you run an airport by deciding when and where planes are allowed to takeoff and land. You have to keep a steady flow going of takeoffs and landings, without causing crashes. The game begins in the early 30s and each level is one year later, each year introducing new features such as additional runways, faster planes, priority transports, etc.. What starts out really simple with simple queuing up planes quickly becomes a deep strategy of making sure runways are /just/ cleared when a new plane has to land or take off, dealing with multiple waiting planes and deciding the optimal order for them to launch, etc.. Visually the game is really underwhelming but the graphics do their job. On my system the game started fullscreen stretched across three monitors, but fortunately pressing ESC once made it windowed. Sound: music is limited to looping time period [ieces. Soundeffects are basic and limited to plane engine sounds. Control can be done completely via the mouse, or by using keys 1 through 5 on the keyboard once a plane is selected. A fun game that won't bore you too quickly, with decent length levels. Recommended for anyone who likes management strategy games.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 25, 2015

  I loved this game on iOS but this version is just way too buggy. It's not even situational bugs; everything constantly bugs. The devs bailed on this and haven't said anything about patching this piece of shit. Save yourself some money.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 28, 2015

  Game is not fun. Totally frustrating. There is a lot of functionality missing that actually helps you manage the airport. The buildings are just cosmetic. All you get are more space for the planes and more runways. Worst thing is when planes landed and are told to leave the runway but doing so at different speed. Even the same type of plane are sometimes fast and somestimes slow. This is a joke. I lost so many games because my calculations were wrong. It´s like gambling. Another thing is that you can´t tell planes where to start from. You can only do that when they land. And for now fucking reason they want to cross runways to go the other hangar. Bullshit. Does not matter where the terminal is, the planes just go where they want. Totally random. You can plan nothing. Not fun to play.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 20, 2016

  I am suprised there hasn't been any updates to this game to address the issue with bugs. The game is fun but there are some bugs that needs to be fixed before I can recommend this game. Some of the bugs that needs to be fix includes the aircraft not leaving the runway at the same speed as other aircraft. I know this developer is working on another game in the series but he does need to address the bugs in this game. This game is pretty fun with some historical informaton related to flight. Once the bugs are fixed this game will be fun but it does seem like the developer has abandoned it.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 16, 2016

  My wife is glad I'm not a real Air Traffic Controller.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 9, 2016

  When I first saw Airport Madness: Time Machine (AM:TM) on steam, I thought this was one of those shovelware titles. Boy, was I wrong. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] This game has a story but it's unimportant. What is important is that you got a job to do. As an air traffic controller, you got to airplanes know when it's okay to come into the airport, and when it's okay to leave. What makes AM:TM unique is that you get to do manage airports throughout history, starting with dirt runways in a farmer's field back in the 20s. Those airports are simple, but things get complicated very quickly. The difficulty comes in that you'll have multiple runways to manage, often crisscrossing each other, and lots and lots of planes that come at you all the time. Oh, and different types of planes behave differently. Mark my words, you do not want to let a biplane take off while a Boeing is coming in. As you can probably imagine, there's a lot of crashes. And you'll begin questioning the intelligence of some of these pilots. But once you get through a year, you'll feel a sense of elated satisfaction. [h1]Graphics[/h1] There's a reason I thought AM:TM was shovelware, and that's because there's not a whole lot of eye candy here. At best, they get the job done. To see what I mean, here's a screenshot. There were certain graphical features I wish this game had. I wish there was a zoom feature. I wish there was some sort of off-screen indicator of planes coming in. I wish it has more impressive explosions. But in the end, the graphics are simple and to the point. You're looking top down on an airport with planes coming in and out, and that's it. [h1]Sound[/h1] This is where I feel AM:TM shines the most. There's music recalls pop tunes of each time period. I quite like the jazz tunes. But just as nice is the ambience of the airport. And by ambience, I mean you'll be hearing lots of jet engines. The sound effects are actually quite practical. In order to manage your airport effectively, you'll need to pay attention to the audio cues that tell you how quickly a plane is embarking and disembarking. Generally, the bigger the plan is, the bigger the noise it makes, and the bigger the concern it will be. [h1]Controls[/h1] The entire game can be driven by the mouse and left click, which means AM:TM is generally easy to use -- and most people should be able to pick up and play it. However, you can also use the numeric keypad for shortcuts, and that often comes in quite handy. What you got to do is click on a plane, and command an action. Sometimes, you need to taxi it to the runway, whereupon you have to tell it when to depart. With planes coming in, sometimes you have to tell them to delay their arrival so they don't crash into a departing plane. In other words, there's a lot to do which is why I'm glad the controls are so simple. [h1]Synopsis[/h1] If an airport simulation appeals to you, you should love AT:TM. But don't let the word "simulation" put you off. This game has as many similarities to Diner Dash as it does to SimCity. You won't be asked to build airports or runways. All you have to do is decide which planes are departing, and which planes are arriving. Thus, the most important skill here is time management. Now all of this might sound too easy, but by the time World War II comes around, you'll be failing quite a lot. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I love a good challenge. This is what I call a "sleeper game". It doesn't look like much, but it is.
• gamedeal user

  May 7, 2017

  Do not buy this game on it´s own as it contain bugs that makes gameplay perform strange and counterintuitive. Personal favorite, plane trying to taxi down the runway in the wrong direction rather than taking the taxi path. As the Dev himself has said "Unfortunately, this game is not receiving any further updates." in the steam forum, this is not expected to get a solution any time soon. If you get this as part of a bundle, expect some frustration over this buggy mess compared to the crisp and well polished game that is AM: World edition.