Microprose (U.S. GOLD)
48k disk £14.95
48k cassette £9.95
1/2 players
Joystick
|
 |
Someone at Microprose is obviously
rather keen on flight simulators. MIG ALLEY ACE is the latest in
a long line, following in the wake of previous releases such as
SPITFIRE ACE, SOLO FLIGHT and F-15 STRIKE EAGLE.
There seems to be a trend these
days toward combat-style flight simulators and this one, as the
name implies, is no exception. The action supposedly takes place
during the Korean war of the early 1950's where inferior U.N. jetfighters
took on the mighty squadrons of North Korean MIG-15's, or so the
blurb in the enclosed booklet says!
You have a choice of three different
game options, 1 player solo, 2 player head-to-head or 2 player co-operative.
The screen is split into two separate cockpit views, the top being
player one's cockpit view and the bottom player two's or the computer's
depending on your game choice. This is slightly unusual for this
type of game and takes a bit of getting used to at first
The simulation covers several different
combat scenarios. You have 3 lives in which to try and battle your
way right through the card and, afterwards, you are accorded a rank
based on how well you fared in battle. The ranks go from Novice
through to WGFP {World's Greatest Fighter Pilot).
As flight simulators go, MIG ALLEY
ACE is something of a let-down, particularly in the graphics department.
All the action takes place in the air with no facility for taking-off
or landing and control is almost entirely from the joystick with
the bare minimum of keyboard input. As a result, the game is best
suited to complete beginners and a good idea would be to use it
as a flight trainer before moving on to something more complex such
as the brilliant F-15 STRIKE EAGLE.
Sadly, the Atari version of MIG
ALLEY ACE loses out to the C64 one. The cockpit view is much more
realistic on the 64 version with a proper cockpit canopy and an
authentic rotary-dial instrument display. The Atari version is more
like a view out of a plate-glass window and the digital instrument
bar is about as unrealistic as they come. The Atari is capable of
a far superior display to that of the Commodore as Microprose have
already shown with their versions of SOLO FLIGHT and F-15 STRIKE
EAGLE and I honestly I cannot understand why they should purposely make Atari the poor relation
this time. Let's hope Microprose don't repeat this in any forthcoming
releases.
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