Apart from an instruction
booklet that's as big as a Jeffrey
Archer novel, but infinitely
better written, the first thing
you encounter in this game is the line about
Chuck's AFT being 'designed for advanced
pilots who already know how to fly a plane'!
This is a warning on the complexity of the
game, so don't expect to pick Chuck Yeager
up (Oo-er!) and get straight into it. It's the
sort of game that requires a lot of practice to
master.
Don't be put off by first appearances either. The
loading screen is a nice digitised piccie of Chuck
himself, but with a big yellow sticker over his
mouth and nose! Why would anyone want to
smother Chuck in such a fashion? I'll tell you why!
Because he is
so annoying. Each time you make a
tiny error (Like ploughing a field with the nose of
your F-18!) he says things like "You sure bought
the farm that time!" and "Nice auger-job". What is
this man talking about?
The graphics on occasion cause optical
discomfort and the scrolling is a trifle jerky. The
ground is purple and the sky is black.
(And they
went to sea in a sieve? Ed) When you see your
plane from behind against the ground (Yes, you
can. I'll explain later!), the clashing pixels make
your eyes go wibbly! (This having been said, there
is some nicely filled ground detail.) But stick with
it, unless you posess a 48K Speccy. If this is the
case, then be warned - Chuck is a mere shadow of
his former self! When copped from its 16 bit
original to 128K, the game is still very big and
offers some nice original options. These include
the ability to view your aircraft from behind (the
chase plane's viewpoint) and from the ground (the
Control Tower's viewpoint), the choice of flying
one of 14 different aircraft (from a 1918 Sopwith
Camel to the latest USAF aquisitions such as the
F-18 Hornet and the SR-71 Blackbird), and also
the option to fly a 'Test Flight', 'Formation Flying',
'Airplane Racing', or 'Flight Instruction'.
Furthermore, within each of these choices, there
are even more sub-choices!! In Formation Flying,
there is an invitation from General Chuck himself
to 'Wax Me'
(Good Lord!! Ed). This, in fact, is
where you get to chase Chuck in a P-51 Mustang!
Sorry, I digress, back to the 48K version. This
version has been chopped so much that you are
only able to opt for Test Flights. Furthermore,
unlike the 16 bit formats, both versions have lost
the 'Direction Finding Radio', a helpful device to
help you locate your airport! This makes landing
very much a hit and miss affair. Anyway, having
mastered the principles of flight (hem, hem) then
you can get into the main part of this game, which
is the test flights, the racing and the aerobatics.
Racing, against another plane, is great fun. The
courses send you slaloming around obstacles, or
through narrow gates. Testing planes too is
thrilling, with Chuck's handy tips and his
checklist.
| Ratings given by other magazines |
| |
8/10
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6/10
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| Info supplied by the SPOT*ON database |
