I feel like the F/A-18 just doesn’t have the screen presence as the Tomcat. When you watch the opening scenes if the original Top Gun and The Final Countdown, there is no doubting the F-14 is an awesome fighter. The Tomcat dominates the screen.
It almost looked like the Superhornets in Maverick were “enhanced” to appear more powerful. Especially the afterburners. They just seemed to become obscure.
