C&VG


Flight Path 737
By Anirog
Commodore 64

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #33

Flight Path 737

Nice one Anirog! This flight simulation puts you in the driving seat of a 737 which you have to pilot over a mountain range and land safely at your final destination - sounds simple, but it takes a lot of talent to do it just right.

You begin on the ground at an airfield and, just as in real life, you must taxi your aircraft onto the right runway ready for take-off. Once you've found the runway, it's all systems go for a flight. Rev-up and blast along the head for the wide blue yonder.

Soon you are airborne and you have to watch your height - too low and you'll smash into the mountains. Then, after a short cruise over the mountain range, it's time to come down to earth. If you land successfully, you'll get a score and a recommendation to proceed to the next skill level.

The graphics are not in the stunning class, but are more than adequate. The instrumentation is good and fairly easy to read. You also get a view from the pilot's seat too - a strip above the instruments shows first the airstrip as you take off, the mountains as you cruise over them and the landing strip as you come back down again.

At first I found it difficult to control the key. You have to keep one hand on the joystick and the other on the keyboard to control speed, undercarriage and flaps etc. But with a bit of practice and a cool head you'll soon be flying.

The tape comes with a fairly comprehensive instruction leaflet - but it could be better. There is some really important information missing. For instance, the instructions don't tell you exactly how to get to your correct runway and take off. Once your jet is on the correct heading, you have to centre the heading indicator arrow again. It took me some time - and several bent 737s - to work out exactly what I was doing wrong!

That gripe aside, Flight Path 737 is a good simulation and has some of the best music I've yet heard on the C64. I sat for ages just listening to it! But please Anirog, improve the instructions.