Rising Star Games has today announced the development of Pilot Academy on PSP, a flight simulator based on the Psone/PlayStation2 Japanese series Pilot Ni Narou! (Let's Become A Pilot!) set for release in Europe in Spring 2006.

Taking in aircraft from World War I, World War II, the Cold War and the Modern era, gamers will be trained in planes as contrasting as a crop duster and a 300-seat passenger plane across three landscapes of 64km each and an altitude range from 30,000 feet to the ground. Each era of flight will have its own challenges, and the game will also feature several multiplayer modes where up to eight players will be able to take part via Wi-Fi.

Developed by British based Kuju Entertainment, Pilot Academy is also being produced by Pilot Ni Narou! Producer Junichi Kutsuzawa, who had this to say about the new title:

"The Pilot Ni Parou series has shown that flight simulations needn't be niche, and Pilot Academy will reinforce this…The game will offer the most authoritative simulation of civil and military flight ever seen on a handheld, without requiring a degree in engineering to play. Everyone's fascinated by the wonder of flying, and Pilot Academy will allow everyone, everywhere to enjoy commercial or military aircraft in a host of different planes."

"From these early screens, it's easy to see how Pilot Academy will define handheld flight simulations," Kutsuzawa-san. "It's a game which typifies Rising Star Game's philosophy of combining the best from Japan with the West, to create games which have appeal the world over."

It will be interesting to see how well the experience of flight will be recreated for the PSP, not least because of the lack of buttons on the system and the comparatively small screen compared to a PC or TV. We’ll have more on Pilot Academy shortly…