Pilotwings is a flight simulation game by Nintendo EAD, released for the Super Famicom in Japan on December 21, 1990, shortly after the console launched. In North America it was a Super NES launch title in August 1991. It grew out of Dragonfly, a demo shown when the Super NES was unveiled on November 21, 1988.
Players earn pilot licenses in four events: light plane, skydiving, rocket belt and hang gliding, with bonus stages such as a diving penguin. The final mission swaps the lessons for an attack helicopter and a rescue on Izanu Island. The game leans on Mode 7 to fake 3D by rotating and scaling flat images; with no Super FX chip, buildings are painted flat on the ground.
Tadashi Sugiyama directed and Shigeru Miyamoto produced. Soyo Oka wrote the score, and Koji Kondo did the sound programming and the helicopter theme. EAD finished Pilotwings, Super Mario World and F-Zero within 15 months of the console's launch.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | PilotwingsSuper NES launch title; English Wikipedia gives 23 August, Japanese Wikipedia 13 August 1991 | SNES | August 1991 | Nintendo | 1 |
| NA | —Virtual Console; also PAL regions; Japan in 2010 | Wii | 2009 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | パイロットウイングス | SNES | Dec 21, 1990 | Nintendo | 1 |
| EU | PilotwingsEnglish Wikipedia gives 1992, Japanese Wikipedia 21 March 1993 | SNES | 1992 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | —Virtual Console | Wii U | 2013 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | PilotwingsNintendo Switch Online SNES library | Switch | Sep 5, 2019 | Nintendo | 1 |
Also known as: パイロットウイングス JP2
Box art by region
NA Pilotwings 
EU Pilotwings 
JP パイロットウイングス
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Where to play legally today
-
Nintendo Switch Online Subscription
Reception
Reviewers praised the presentation and called its Mode 7 effects stunning; the game holds an 82% average on GameRankings and had sold over two million copies worldwide by 1995. Nintendo Power ranked it the 20th best SNES game in 2006.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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