[{"TitleName":"Lightning Simulator","Publisher":"Silverbird Software Ltd","Author":"Michael Bauer","YearOfRelease":"1988","ZxDbId":"0002888","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 61, Feb 1989","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1989-01-26","Editor":"Dominic Handy","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Dominic Handy\r\nAssistant Editor: Stuart Wynne\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Philip King, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Raffaele Cecco, Ian Cull, Ian Doggett, Paul Evans, Ian Lacey, Barnaby Page, Ian Phillipson\r\nEditorial Assistants: Caroline Blake, Vivienne Vickress\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nSenior Designer: Wayne Allen\r\nDesigners: Melvin Fisher, Yvonne Priest\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nProduction Team: Ian Chubb, Robert Hamilton, Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Director: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nSales Executives: Sarah Chapman, Andrew Smales\r\nAssistants: Jackie Morris, Lee Watkins [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Sticky Solutions Department a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1989\r\n\r\nISSN 0954-8661\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"£1.99\r\n\r\nCode Masters' latest simulator attempts to bring the teeth-smashing sport of rugby to the Spectrum. International Rugby Simulator (68%) features a league of eight teams (any of them computer-controlled) competing for the championship. Matches are portrayed in Match Day-style 3-D. The player controls one player at a time: running, passing and kicking. Scrummages and line-outs are also featured for added realism. Graphics are simple stick-men but David Whittaker's title tune is good. Rugby is a difficult sport to simulate in a computer game, but this is a brave attempt which offers a fair amount of playability for rugger fans.\r\n\r\nAfter some deft promotion by Aussie superstars INXS and other style-merchants skateboarding seems 'in' again. Code Masters' Pro Skateboard Simulator (72%) has levels which alternate between attractive isometric 3-D skateparks and overhead-view cross-country courses. A number of flags must either be collected (skatepark), or passed through (cross-country), while avoiding obstacles. Once the odd control system is mastered, the game proves very playable, although very difficult on later stages.\r\n\r\nAlso 'in' are 1950s styles, as Silverbird acknowledge with Video Classics (05% - oh dear). Simple bat and ball versions of tennis, football, and squash are featured alongside the more original Four Bat Blip and Asterbliperoids! All these games (load together) take up about 11k of memory - but it seems less. The minimalistic graphics are identical to early video game consoles, with the exception of some garish, chequered backgrounds. A serious contender for The World's Worst Games Collection.\r\n\r\nKeeping to the theme of complete unoriginality we also have another run-along-and-jump arcade adventure from Mastertronic. Called Hundra (33%), it's got a Viking heroine trying to rescue her father by finding three jewels. Although graphically fair, Hundra is a simplistic platform-style arcade adventure with no frills, and certainly no thrills.\r\n\r\nDullness seems a positive virtue by comparison with Mastertronic's Motorbike Madness (20%), however. This has good isometric graphics, ten multiloaded courses and prize money for quick finishes. Unfortunately control is extraordinarily fiddly and every time you die you have to reload the course - even if it's only the first one. No wonder it's called Motorbike Madness.\r\n\r\nBy contrast Lightning Simulator (21%) plays like the opposite of its title, with wireframe graphics moving more like treacle than lightning. Options allow flying skills to be practised before attempting a mission, and you can even take photos. The cassette inlay provides the minimum of instructions making for a confusing and disappointing game.\r\n\r\nFar more enjoyable is the latest Mastertronic shoot-'em-up, Star Farce (58%). This is a colourful, vertically-scrolling alien-blaster in the style of Lightforce. There's very little originality, but playability makes up for it. Worth a look, although the superior Lightforce is on budget too.\r\n\r\nShowing a more original approach is Silverbird's Hopper Copper (40%). Here a policeman rides around in a space hopper, catching villains by bouncing on them! A radar screen helps you find clumsily-drawn villains in a drab, monochromatic town. While novelty makes it fun for a while, the basic gameplay is very repetitive.\r\n\r\nOnly marginally better is Tomcat (25%) from Players. A vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-up, Tomcat has good, monochromatic graphics - with the singular exception of bullets which are simply small circles. Spotting them is exceptionally difficult which, together with the unoriginal gameplay, makes for an extremely difficult game.\r\n\r\n£2.99\r\n\r\nAn even older bunch of games than Video Classics form the basis of Zeppelin's Las Vegas Casino (26%). You start off with £250 and must try to turn it into £50000 via four gambling games (all in one load again). The games are blackjack (just like Pontoon 21 here), baccarat (you choose whether to bet on player or dealer), roulette and craps (a dice game). The only game requiring real skill is blackjack, which is still pretty simple. In fact, without even matchsticks to play for, and human opponents to bluff, all these games soon become incredibly tedious. Highly recommended, in fact, as an antidote to the perils of gambling.\r\n\r\nWot no simulators? Code Masters have just released two games at the new higher price of £2.99. Ninja Massacre (45%) is a no-nonsense Gauntlet clone. One or two players explore up to fifty levels of a monster-filled dungeon, searching for treasure and magic potions. Gameplay is okay and there's a nice in-game tune, but if you want a Gauntlet game, you'd be better off getting the rereleased original, available from Kixx at £2.99.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"66,67","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"21%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 36, Dec 1988","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1988-11-10","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Higgs\r\nDeputy Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nTechnical Consultant: David McCandless\r\nContributors: Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Mike Clowes, Mike 'Skippy' Dunn, Mike Gerrard, Gwyn Hughes, Sean Kelly, Gary Liddon, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Ben Stone\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Kathryn Balchin\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1988 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"LIGHTNING SIMULATOR\r\nSilverbird\r\n£1.99\r\nReviewer: Ben Stone, Mike Dunn\r\n\r\nIn this little number, you take control of the Electric Lightning aircraft and fly it through a number of varying missions. And if that's not good enough for you, you can always make it even more lifelike by bringing in a reality factor like cross winds, system failures, G limit and queuing for three hours at customs!\r\n\r\nCompared to games like Empire Strikes Back and Starglider the graphics in this just don't stand up - even if it is a budget title. Technically it could be excellent (we've never flown an Electric Lightning so we can't say), but as a game it's terribly boring. Fly over this one.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"54,55","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 58, Oct 1990","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1990-09-06","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":92,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Sal Meddings\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Joe Davies, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Duncan MacDonald, Jon North, Rich Pelley, Jon Pillar, Claire Thomas, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nPublishing Assistant: Michele Harris\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Director: Ian Seager\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nMail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistributors: SM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"Lightning Simulator\r\nCodeMasters\r\n\r\nAt last! A real, genuine, bona fide budget flight sim! As you might have guessed, it 'simulates' a Lightning which is a fast but extremely old RAF plane. Lightning Sim has the inimitable budget feel to it, but it's still and actual flight sim - and a looking-out-of-the-window one at that. It brings a lump to my throat, it really does. There are plenty of dials to keep an eye on, and all the usual flight sim features. As games go it's awful. But I don't care. It's a flight sim - and that's what counts.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"30","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jonathan Davies","Score":"65","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Oh dear. All dressed up and nowhere to go."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"EVERY FLIGHT SIM EVER (IN THE WORLD)*\r\n\r\n*(near enough)\r\nAce - Cascade\r\nAce II - Cascade\r\nAce Of Aces - US Gold\r\nAcrojet - US Gold\r\nAirliner - Protek\r\nATF - Digital Integration\r\nBiggies - Mirrorsoft\r\nChuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer - Electronic Arts\r\nCombat Lynx - Durell\r\nDambusters - US Gold\r\nDelta Wing - Creative Sparks\r\nDeep Strike - Durell\r\nF-15 Strike Eagle - MicroProse\r\nFlight Path 737 - Anirog\r\nFighter Bomber - Activision\r\nFighter Pilot - Digital Integration\r\nFlight Simulation - Psion\r\nFlyer Fox - Bug Byte\r\nGee Bee Air Rally - Activision\r\nGunship - MicroProse\r\nNightflight - Hewson\r\nNightflight II - Hewson\r\nNight Raider - Gremlin\r\nProject Stealth Fighter - MicroProse\r\nRed Arrows - Database Software\r\nSkyfox - Ariolasoft\r\nSpace Shuttle - Microdeal\r\nSpitfire 40 - Mirrorsoft\r\nStrike Attack - Micro Mart\r\nStrike Force Harrier - Mirrorsoft\r\nTop Gun - Ocean"},{"Text":"GAMES THAT AREN'T FLIGHT SIMS, BUT MIGHT JUST WELL HAVE BEEN\r\n\r\nCaesar The Cat - Mirrorsoft\r\nMr Wong's Loop Laundry - Artic\r\nZX Tool Kit - Star Dreams"},{"Text":"GAMES THAT MOST DEFINITELY AREN'T FLIGHT SIMS\r\n\r\nBeaky And The Egg Snatchers - Fantasy\r\nBlue Max - US Gold\r\nHarrier Attack - Durell\r\nHeathrow Air Traffic Control - Hewson\r\nMonty Python's Flying Circus - Virgin\r\nNight Gunner - Digital Integration\r\nP47 - Firebird\r\nScramble Spirits - Grandslam\r\nSpitfire - Encore\r\nTLL - Vortex"},{"Text":"LOOKING-AT-IT-FROM-BEHIND ONES\r\n\r\nThese ones are really the next step down from the True Flight Sim. They're essentially the same, except that instead of a view out of the cockpit you get a view of the back of your plane. This isn't quite as pointless as it sounds, because usually the plane is small enough so that you can see past it to the 'scenery' beyond. This type of view generally makes it easier to judge landings and to see if you're about to fly into anything, but there is often a corresponding reduction in the number of knobs and dials, and an increase in things to do. Not what we want at all. ATF is the perfect example of this sort of thing.\r\n\r\n\"Chuck Yeager. (Well, he sort of belongs in this box.)\""},{"Text":"LOOKING-AT-IT-FROM-JUST-ABOUT-ANYWHERE ONES\r\n\r\nNow these really are the business. They're like a cross between the True Flight Sim and the Looking-At-It-From-Behind one, with lots more as well. In fact, what you can do is look at your plane from all sorts of different angles, including weird ones like from-the-ground and from-the-front-of-the-plane. To tell the truth, games like this are a bit scarce on the Speccy (they tend to flourish on posh computers like the Atari ST) but there are one or two good ones. Chuck Yeager is a notable example, as is Fighter Bomber."},{"Text":"LOOKING-AT-IT-FROM-THE-SIDE ONES\r\n\r\nNow we're looking at things like Harrier Attack And they're certainly not flight sims. In fact, they're usually just scrolling shoot-'em-ups with planes instead of spaceships. There's always plenty of stuff to shoot, but technical accuracy is very limited indeed. You never have to worry about setting your flaps at the right angle or the navigational computer to the appropriate beacon, or watching your airspeed in case you stall. Useless.\r\n\r\n\"Harrier Attack - definitely not a flight simulator. (Clear now?)\""},{"Text":"LOOKING-AT-IT-FROM-THE-TOP ONES\r\n\r\nNow we're in dicey territory. We're talking about things like TLL here. Quite frankly, they're not really, are they? Flight sims, I mean. They've rarely got more than four or five keys, placing them firmly on the arcade side of things. So let's pass over them."},{"Text":"SO, YOU WANT TO WRITE A FLIGHT SIM?\r\n\r\nEr, are you sure? Stick your tongue out. Hmm. Say \"Ahh\". Crikey. Okay, let's take a look at some essential ingredients...\r\n\r\nTHE SETTING\r\n\r\nFlight sims are always set in a spooky 'alternative' world where the sky is always blue and the grass is always green (and so is just about everything else for that matter). Other vegetation is pretty sparse, apart from triangles on sticks which look a bit like trees. These are usually about 600 ft high (if your altimeter is anything to go by). The only buildings tend to be in a modernist cereal packet style, with no-one living in them. Mountains are handy for flying into.\r\n\r\nKNOBS AND DIALS\r\n\r\nThere should be a ridiculous number of these, all of which are unmarked and of no obvious use. If they start reading 'zero', eject. There should also be little red lights which start flashing and making a beeping noise for no apparent reason. They only stop when you press every key on the keyboard very hard, at which point the plane crashes.\r\n\r\nTHE MAP\r\n\r\nAny relation to a normal map should be avoided. Flight sim maps consist of a large and (usually green-on-yellow, or something else that's probably outlawed by EEC legislation) covered in little splotches. Quite what these are isn't entirely clear. Somewhere in the middle is a flashing square - you. This never seems to move, no matter how long you look. Meanwhile, back in the cockpit, your plane has just been shot down.\r\n\r\nTHE CONTROLS\r\n\r\nAs previously explained, there should be as many as possible, and then lots more on top of that. They should all have obvious purposes (eg P for throttle up, K for map, Symbol Shift, Caps Shift and 3 for left etc). There should also be a disconcerting delay (say, five minutes) between pressing a key and anything happening. The need for constant reference to the manual can easily be incorporated, during which time the plane flies into a tree.\r\n\r\nSOUND\r\n\r\nDon't put any in. Apart from the 'crash effect', of course.\r\n\r\nTHE ENEMY\r\n\r\nSomewhere on the screen there should be a radar with a little flashing dot on it. This is the enemy aircraft. The player will turn to face it, prime the air-to-air missiles and wait for the two aircraft to meet. This, of course, never happens. After a certain length of time the player will get bored, engage the autopilot and nip out to put the kettle on. His plane then gets shot down.\r\n\r\nLANDING\r\n\r\nAs you'll no doubt be aware, this is impossible. Real F-15s and things land perfectly first time, every time. But not simulated ones. You get them lined up exactly, set the speed rate of descent and everything exactly according to the instructions, flaps and undercarriage down, set it down oh-so-gently and... kaboom.\r\n\r\nPLAYTESTING\r\n\r\nOnce the game's nearing completion you'll have to thoroughly test it. Sit yourself down in front of it and ask someone to come and check up on you after an hour or so. If you're still awake the game is obviously in need of modification."},{"Text":"THE A-Z OF FLYING TERMS\r\n\r\nAmmo: A Latin verb.\r\nBeing Tail Gunner: Going to the loo.\r\nChocks Away: Someone's pinched your lunch.\r\nDogfight: These are illegal.\r\nEject: If in doubt...\r\nFlaps: Do lots of these if the propeller stops going round.\r\nGround: The main hazard faced by most pilots.\r\nHeading: See Football Guide, YS Issue 54.\r\nInstruments: In-flight entertainment.\r\nJoystick: Long thing between your legs with a red bit on the end.\r\nKippers: Probably the nickname of a World War 1 pilot.\r\nLanding: The bit at the top of the stairs.\r\nMae West: Something pilots like to keep handy.\r\nNormandy: A nice place to go on holiday.\r\nOrange: If you paint your 'crate' this colour you'll probably get shot down.\r\nPiece Of Cake: Dreadful drama series about planes on telly.\r\nQuebec: Keep an eye on the map if you don't want to end up here.\r\nRoger: (Er, do S. Ed)\r\nSix O'Clock: Tea-time.\r\nTake Off: Spoof or parody.\r\nUndercarriage: See Joystick.\r\nV-Formation: Give one of these to the enemy as you fly by.\r\nWings: Something to do with Paul McCartney.\r\nX-Ray: You're meant to say this over the radio quite often.\r\nYellow: See Orange."},{"Text":"THE FIRST FLIGHT SIM EVER\r\n\r\nHa. This one's easy. It was Flight Simulation, one of the first games that ever came out on the Speccy. It was also the first game I bought. (Aargh! The secret's out.) It was one of those Psion games which came out on Sinclair's own label, and despite the mind-numbingly tedious piccy on the box (the instrument panel of a plane) it hung around near the top of the charts for years. In actual fact, Flight Simulation is a conversion of a ZX81 game of the same name. Yikes. We'll take a closer look at this one later on."},{"Text":"THE 'TRUE' FLIGHT SIM\r\n\r\nThe obvious example of one of these is the original Flight Simulation, but that was pretty crap. What we're basically talking about here is the sort where you're placed in the cockpit looking out of the window in the bottom half of the screen (or, worse, on another screen altogether) is the instrument panel, which can generally be ignored, and in the top half is the view. This is generally green on the bottom and blue on the top. If it's the other way round you're probably in trouble. Scattered about will be lots of squiggly lines, and maybe a few dots on the ground to give the impression of 'speed' (ahem).\r\n\r\n\"Night Raider - not of the best but it'll do.\""}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"The View","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Realism","Score":"51%","Text":""},{"Header":"Dakka Factor","Score":"62%","Text":""},{"Header":"Net Weight","Score":"66%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"65%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 80, Nov 1988","Price":"£1.6","ReleaseDate":"1988-10-18","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham 'No Compromise' Taylor\r\nDeputy Editor: Jim 'Accelerate Out of Trouble' Douglas\r\nProduction Editor: Alison 'I'm Just Popping Out for a Massage' Skeat\r\nArt Editor: Tim 'High Tackle' Noonan\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'I've Lost My Glasses. Wah!' Dillon, Chris 'They Should Be Shot' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nSenior Sales: Shane Hussien\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'I'm Not Leaving Until You Agree With Me' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'Zxxx' Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Jerry 'Mad Dog' Parks\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries: [redacted]\r\n24 Hour Order Line: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: Back Issues Department (SU), [redacted]"},"MainText":"Label: Silverbird\r\nAuthor: Michael Bauer\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: Kempston\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nThough not immediately apparent from its title, Lightning Simulator is in fact a flight simulator, or at least that is what it describes itself as. What it actually is is a rehash of the old PSION Flight Simulator with a new dogfighting catch and a built-in movie recording facility. All this for £1.99. Sounds like great value, but is it?\r\n\r\nFor a start, as a flight simulator, it falls short on realism by quite a long way. As there are no ground features other than runways and control towers (situated next to the runways) there is no feeling of movement. In fact, for a lot of the time, all you will see is a plain screen with a black rectangle at the bottom and a white or blue rectangle at the top. Or maybe not a rectangle. If I said this game was hard, I'd be selling myself short. Controlling this plane is bloody difficult. Not only is it amazingly difficult to manoeuvre, it's also frustratingly impossible to fly in a straight line. It just won't respond when you want it to, and you end up overcompensating a lot of the time.\r\n\r\nCombat works quite well, I will say that. The vector graphics are quite fast and recognisable as what they are meant to represent. I.e. aircraft, tanks, etc. Unfortunately, there is very little in the way of reaction needed as far as the destruction of the enemy is concerned. The guns/missiles are automatically fired the moment the gunsight locks on. In the same instant, the cameras start rolling, and keep roiling as long as the bullets/ missiles are flying.\r\n\r\nI can see absolutely no point to the cameras whatsoever apart from giving you the option of seeing that ugly S.O.B. blow up in a cloud of triangles in glorious slowmoving-o-vision.\r\n\r\nJust in case you're worried about the lack of variety in most flight simulators, then worry no more.\r\n\r\nLightning Simulator contains 6 basic missions, with lots of room to alter all the usual things like wind direction and strength as well as being able to add a cloud layer and varying amounts of tanks, just to add a little spice.\r\n\r\nLightning Simulator doesn't really make any impression in the Spectrum games market. It's not a bad simulator, but unplayability and lack of realism don't make it anything remarkable.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Yet another run-of-the-mill budget simulator. Not a dodo, but there is better.","Page":"32","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Dillon","Score":"68","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"72%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"35%","Text":""},{"Header":"Lastability","Score":"67%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"68%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]