Red Arrows

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Graphics 4/10

Sound 4/10

Value 4/10

Playability 5/10

MACHINE: Spectrum/CBM 64/Amstrad SUPPLIER: Database Software PRICE: £8.95 (Spec)/£12.95/£11.95 (Amstrad disks) Great idea. Shame about the game. That just about sums up this brave effort to put you in the hot seat of a Red Arrows Hawk jet. Database has obviously spent a lot of time developing the program - which is very well presented in packaging terms. But - and it's a big but - the actual graphic representation of the Red Arrows, on the Spectrum version is awful. Database say that the program uses "3D graphics to soar to heights of realism never achieved before". If you make claims like that, you have to be sure the finished product lives up to them, right? Well there doesn't appear to be any 3D effects on the Spectrum Red Arrows game. What you see through the cockpit of your Hawk is the usual blue slabs for the sky, green slab for the ground and superimposed red aircraft to represent the Arrows formation. Now, everyone knows about the colour clash problems on the Spectrum. But should half the aircraft you are following disappear when it banks and have half in the sky slab, half in the ground. Or is this just a simulation of what happens to your eyesight when you are subjected to high G-forces? Database say they created the program with the help of the Arrows pilots and have a special high-score competition running with the game. You could win an all-expenses-paid trip to the Red Arrows' base. But I don't think even the prospect of a day out with the Arrows would make me want to shell out nearly £9 for this game.

ZX Computing

Graphics 4/5

Addictiveness 4/5

Overall 5/5

Database Software £8.95 OK Biggles, chocks away! And with that cry I flew straight into the ground. There are a lot of flight simulators about already, so what are Database offering to entice you to buy their program? Well, for a start, instead of just flying around aimlessly you have the excitement of flying in formation with the Red Arrows (hence the name), but first you have to attain the high degree of skill required. You can jump straight in and try, but I almost guarantee you'll fail. The options are many, not the least important are the training sections with four degrees of difficulty or the 'Help' messages given to novices. The flight manual gives a great deal of information both about the Red Arrows and the Hawk T, Mk 1. Hints and tips are provided, and indeed the whole program goes out of its way to help you get to grips with the business of flying competently. Once you have mastered the basic techniques you can then practice each manoeuvre or go for the show, all with options to make the difficulty level easier or harder. This program has all the usual tricky combinations of keys to be mastered, and joystick if required, and is every bit as complex as its competitors. Where it scores is in the relatively gentle introductory stages and the final aim of a performance of aerobatics. The graphics are very good but suffer from the same jerkiness as other programs of this type. Highly recommended.

Sinclair User

Overall 4/5

John Gilbert 4/5

Publisher: Database Publications Price: £8.95 Memory: 48K Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair, programmable Fly with the Red Arrows and keep your stomach intact as you perform the amazing Manhattan Loop, the Pyramid Roll and the famous fly past. The game is a flight simulator with a difference. You are accompanied in the air by your team mates, and you must perform aerobatics to the best of your ability in order to score points. Don't look so worried. You are not left to your own devices in the air. A training routine has been included within the program which displays your instructions as you make a fly past. Failure to heed instructions usually results in a crash. The instruction routine does not, however, help with the 16 different key combinations which you need to control your Hawk aircraft. Out of desperation I just used the thrust and roll keys which seem to achieve good scores, and only the occasional crash. Graphics may not be the game's strong point but the simulation is accurate to the degree of seeing the aircraft of your team mates fly past. The flight instruction and aid docs not end with the instruction routine. Your team leader will give you instructions if you are going off course. The amount of instruction given to you during flights may seem unrealistic, but open communication must be available between pilots so that wing tips do not touch and you don't drive your aircraft into the ground. Your team mates will look after your safety just as you watch theirs. Red Arrows turns the dull area of flight simulation into fast and furious fun. Database Software has also arranged a competition in which you could win a weekend to visit the real Red Arrows.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Your Computer

Overall 3/5

Spectrum Database Aerobatic Simulation Concorde fly past, Manhattan loops, pyramid rolls - not exotic forms of confectionery but all manoeuvres you can perform in this interesting variation on the flight simulator theme. Flying a British Aerospace Hawk you can practise individual manoeuvres or fly in a display. Red Arrows pilots were consulted about the game, so it has to be about as good as you can get it on the Spectrum. If you buy the game you can win a weekend with the Red Arrows by submitting the highest score achieved in any month until the competition ends on January 31, 1986.

Your Spectrum

Dougie Bern 7/10

Rick Robson 6/10

Ross Holman 5/10

JOYSTICK JURY It's all change again this month as we say goodbye to the irrepressible Roger Willis - you haven't heard the last of him though, you can be sure of that - and welcome Dougie Bern in his place. He joins the other two joystick jurors, Rick Robson and Ross Holman as they pass judgement on all the latest games. It's all change on the scoring system too! Out go the hits and misses and the score out of five. So that the joystick jurors can draw more subtle distinctions between games, they're now giving the scores out of ten. If there's anything else you think they should be telling you, let em know.! RED ARROWS Database Software £8.95 Dougie: Looking through the 24-page manual for this simulation isn't an inspiring task - the words tell you all about the Red Arrows' celebrated career, their planes and their successes... and... eventually... on to the game itself. Which is what we're here for! Once you've digested the relevant 10 pages of playing hints and tips, you can decide to fly in formation or solo. Solo is, of course, flying on your own. Boring. Flying in formation, however, is OK - a bit like Come Dancing with jet aircraft. The control panel is, as always, crammed with every kind of indicator imaginable. Of course, no-one ever looks at these... but they're there if you want. The graphics are good and chunky, but pixel graphics might have introduced a more interesting in-flight display. Your role in this simulation is to keep up with the rest of the lads on-screen. And if you fail in your manoeuvres, you end up parachuting down out of your plane... Oh, one last thing. Aficianados will be interested to hear there's a competition included in the package. This could be your chance to meet up with the real Red Arrows!

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Crash

Use of Computer 75%

Graphics 62%

Playability 48%

Getting Started 68%

Addictive Qualities 50%

Value For Money 39%

Overall 52%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Database Software Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £8.95 Language: Machine code Author: Database Publications There is now quite a good selection of flight simulators available for the Spectrum, all of varying quality. Most of them require you to take off, have a bit of a saunter about perhaps over some mountains and then make your way home before you run out of gas. Red Arrows is very much a flight simulator, but your main task is to fly with the Red Arrows, performing complex and difficult formation displays. The Red Arrows perform a large range of manoeuvres during their displays and this game lets you run through four of the formations in their repertoire with them. One further option allows you to go out on a solo flight which gives you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with both the aircraft's controls and its response. A training mode allows you to fly any of the five options, and offers guidance via instructions displayed at the top of the screen which help you keep up with the rest of the formation. If you find it too difficult to cope with all of the controls, the computer can be told to take care of the steering or the thrust, but you score is adjusted accordingly when you 'cheat'. The ultimate aim of the game is to learn to fly well enough to be able to take part in any of the displays unaided - then you score according to your performance. From your cockpit you can see the other team members. (Well, those directly in front and slightly to port and starboard of you anyway.) More often that not, this means you yet to see a great deal of other aircraft's exhaust ports which can be unnerving. The cockpit instruments are pretty standard and include brake, flap and undercarriage indicators. The all important thrust bar is alongside the panel housing the altitude, rate of ascent and velocity indicators. The other large panel is unique to this particular game since it gives a picture of the shape of the current display formation, with your position indicated by a flashing dot. The same display can also show the pattern of the current manoeuver. Two further panels show the degree of roll and angle of climb or descent that your aircraft is experiencing. During the display instructions from Red One will scroll along the bottom line of the screen. It's here that you find out what the next formation is and, more importantly, exactly when you must change to it. If you find yourself out on a limb or over another airfield you can return to the formation by pressing a single key but the cost is the loss of your score up to that point. With the manual that comes with the game there are details of a competition in which you can win a weekend with the Red Arrows, and who knows, if you get good enough at this game them perhaps they might let you fill in for one of the pilots. COMMENTS Control keys: definable Joystick: works best with Kempston Keyboard play: complex and slow Use of colour: limited to three Graphics: could be a lot better Sound: none Skill levels: three Lives: one Screens: N/A

The rear view of three (or is it four) Red Arrows, in Database's game of the same name. RED ARROWS that is. Bet they don't have 'Caution - Show Dogs in Transit' stickers in THEIR rear windows...