186: F/A-18 Interceptor

Number 186
(11.3 points)
F/A-18 Interceptor
1991: 62 (3.9)
1992: 64 (7.4)

It's another flight simulator with a name based on a particular aircraft, but this one is one of the earlier entries in the genre on the Amiga.

The game is set in a very simplified version of San Francisco - so simplified that the Golden Gate Bridge is practically the only landmark you can see. You have various missions available, and the game eases you into things with demonstration flights where you can't actually control the plane, through free flight without enemies, and finally to qualification where you have to take off and land successfully, while hoping MiG-29s don't turn up and spoil things.

Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I had real trouble with the thrust on the F/A-18 (I didn't try the F-16 which you can also use): it kept losing thrust all the time, causing me to stall. No doubt I was doing something wrong, but I was following the manual's tutorial so I didn't understand. Nevertheless, this is the oldest flight sim we've seen yet, and the fact that it made a reappearance in the 1992 list shows that it's not a bad effort at all.

Recommended TOSEC disk(s):
FA-18 Interceptor (1988)(Electronic Arts)[cr MAAD][docs]