Wing Commander is a space flight simulation that Origin Systems developed and published for MS-DOS on 26 September 1990. Chris Roberts directed and designed it and produced it with Warren Spector. Before release it was called Squadron and then Wingleader. The story is set in 2654, and the branching campaign lets the player recover after losing a mission chain.
The Secret Missions add-on followed in November 1990 and The Secret Missions 2: Crusade in March 1991. The game became a best seller and pushed rivals such as LucasArts' X-Wing into the market; Chris Crawford said it cost about five times more to make than most games of its time.
Ports reached the Super NES, Amiga, Sega CD and other systems. In Japan, localized versions came out on FM Towns, Super Famicom and Mega-CD, and Sega sold the Mega-CD port made by Game Arts and CRI. In August 2011 the PC version returned on GOG.com.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Wing Commander | MS-DOS | Sep 26, 1990 | Origin Systems | 1 |
| NA | Wing CommanderPAL release in 1993. | SNES | Mar 1, 1992 | — | 1 |
| NA | Wing CommanderDeveloped by Game Arts. | Sega CD | 1994 | Electronic Arts | 3 |
| NA | Wing Commander: The Kilrathi SagaWindows 95 bundle with Wing Commander II and III; region not specified in the source. | Windows | Nov 30, 1996 | — | 1 |
| NA | EA ReplayCompilation; this version is ported from the SNES release. | PSP | Nov 14, 2006 | Electronic Arts | 1 |
| JP | ウィングコマンダーMega-CD port by Game Arts; FM Towns and Super Famicom versions were also localized for Japan (dates not given in the source). | Sega CD | Mar 25, 1994 | Sega | 3 |
| WW | Wing Commander 1+2Digital re-release of the PC version. | Windows | August 2011 | GOG.com | 1 |
Also known as: Wing Commander I WW1Super Wing Commander NA1Squadron1Wingleader1ウィングコマンダー JP2
Box art by region
NA Wing Commander
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.
Version differences
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GraphicsAmiga CD32
The 1993 Amiga CD32 version uses a 256-color palette.1
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AudioSega CD
The Sega CD version adds cinematic animation and digitized speech, as GamePro noted.1
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ContentSuper Wing Commander (3DO, Mac)
Super Wing Commander (1994) is a remake with enhanced graphics and full speech; it also contains both Secret Missions and a third campaign fans call "Secret Mission 1.5".1
Translations
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Japanese Official
—OtherReleased
Japanese versions were released for FM Towns, Super Famicom and Mega-CD; Sega sold the Mega-CD version in Japan.2
Where to play legally today
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GOG Purchase
How to run it today
GOG sells Wing Commander 1+2: it runs in DOSBox on Windows 10/11 and macOS without DRM, and a March 2025 update added a DOSBox menu option for carrying pilot data into Secret Missions 1 and 2.4
Reception
Wing Commander sold 290,000 copies by February 1995. It was Computer Gaming World's 1991 Game of the Year, won the 1991 Origins Award for best science-fiction computer game of 1990, and was named one of Time's 100 best video games in 2012.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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