Snoopy Flying Ace

The gameplay is similar to that of another arcade-style flight combat series Crimson Skies. The primary gameplay revolves around dogfights using biplanes and triplanes. Players can also fly into stationary turrets and control them. Two-player cooperative is supported via splitscreen, and two players can play through the entire campaign together. Acrobatic maneuvers such as barrel rolls and immelmanns can also be performed.

Players can select and customize one of several Peanuts characters, who have several outfits to choose from, or select and play as their Xbox Live avatar. Planes can also be customized, from visuals to weaponry. Each plane is equipped with machine guns, and other weapons such as missiles, an EMP blast, and floating mines can be equipped. Weaponry can also be changed during gameplay after players respawn.

Snoopy Flying Ace is a fictional story set in 1917 Europe and northern Africa during World War I. Snoopy, a famous Allied fighter pilot, must combat the Imperial German Army Air Service. His primary target is a specialized group of pilots dubbed the Flying Circus, and its commander, Manfred von Richthofen, otherwise known as the Red Baron. The game features several characters from the Peanuts franchise, some belonging to the Royal Flying Corps in the British Army of the Allied faction, others to the Luftstreitkräfte in the Deutsches Heer of the Central Powers faction.

During multiplayer matches players can choose any character, regardless of faction alignment during the campaign. The player's Xbox 360 avatar can also be used during gameplay, and is aligned to the faction of the player's choice.

Snoopy Flying Ace was announced on November 10, 2008. Smart Bomb Interactive began development for the title with no publisher and no set platforms. It was later announced at Tokyo Game Show on September 24, 2009 that Microsoft Studios would be publishing the game for Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360. It was shown in March 2010 at the Penny Arcade Expo where more features of the game were revealed.

It was released on June 2, 2010. In promotion of the game, several Snoopy Flying Ace-themed avatar items were released on the Xbox Live Marketplace on June 8, 2010. A downloadable content pack dubbed Suppertime of Destruction was released on August 25, 2010. It features two additional planes, five additional multiplayer modes, three new weapons, and several new character costumes and plane skins.

Snoopy Flying Ace received "favorable" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. It also received an Editor's Choice award from IGN's Arthur Gies, who called it "both the best dogfighting game of this console generation and one of the most exciting multiplayer titles to come out this year." As of August 2010, Snoopy Flying Ace has sold over 84,000 copies and as of year-end 2010, the game has sold over 110,000 copies. 2011 sales exceeded 122,000 units. Several reviewers stated that the game's price was a great value.

Critics gave universally positive remarks in regards to gameplay. Eduardo Reboucas of Game Revolution said the game was "extremely easy to pick up", and added "Weapons are also varied and offer plenty of combinations for a lot of different tactics." Eurogamer's Kristan Reed echoed his remarks and stated that "simplified objectives and stripped-down controls to make it instantly accessible to everyone." Joe Donato of GameZone praised the dogfights and added "combat is a thrill."