SPITFIRE
ACE
US
Gold, £9.95 cass, £12.95 disk
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Spitfire
Ace by US Gold is a simulator that attempts to challenge
your flying skill and knowledge of air-to-air combat
techniques. As the title suggests, you are in control
of that famous World War II fighter . . . the Spitfire.
There are nine different scenarios and your aim is to
complete five missions so you can win the accolade of
Spitfire Ace. These missions range from easy to hard,
the easiest being the shooting down of a Stuka above
Malta, whilst the most difficult is to engage in combat
with Germany's new prototype jet.
The
screen layout is the now rather standard view of the
inside of a cockpit. The instrument readings you need
are displayed as a straight numerical output. The data
available to you includes your speed, the aircraft's
course as a compass bearing, altitude, ammo left and
power. The upper portion of the screen is where all
the action takes place, being a pictorial view of the
outside world. In the middle of your screen is a gunsight
for use with the plane's machine guns. It's also handy
for deciding quickly whether you are going up or down;
when the horizon is above the sight, you are diving
and when it's below, you are climbing. You are also
supplied with a rear view mirror. This is fine on easy
levels but once you start to progress, you'll find that
most of the later missions are night flights where a
rear view mirror is a bit useless.
Joystick
control is very simple -- left and right for banking,
up and down for dive and climb. Fire activates the machine
guns, but as you only have forty rounds of ammunition
it's wise to be frugal . . . and accurate!
In
combat you are flying above a fairly featureless landscape
(in fact it's just green ground and blue sky). The planes
are rather small sprites that on closer approach reveal
little or no extra detail. Because the game is quite
slow, a dogfight that you would expect to be quite exciting
can in fact be rather dull.
Upon
finishing a mission you are given one of three ratings;
victory, no result or loss. If
you bail out there's a chance you might be captures
and if you are then you get a loss, otherwise you're
awarded a no result status.
The
documentation accompanying this package is quite nice,
as it explains the capabilities of the simulator to
the full. Spitfire Ace is not really a full simulator
and suffers for it -- we feel that this is more of a
game than a true flight simulator.
Graphics
59%
Interaction 77%
Authenticity 56%
Overall 58%
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