Air Traffic Control

Your Spectrum

Dave Nicholls 4/5 MISS

Roger Willis 0/5 MISS

Ross Holman 1/5 MISS

JOYSTICK JURY From their bench on high, our regular panel of jurors - Ross Holman, Dave Nicholls and Roger Willis - pass judgement on the latest games software! You're probably getting used to our joystick jockeys by now but, for the record, there's gamester supremo Ross Holman; the hairiest of hackers, Dave Nicholls; and the fastest reviewer on two wheels, Roger Willis. WARNING! Just in case you find our scoring system too confusing, here's what it's all about. The score out of five at the end of each person's review is based on their own experience of the game. But that's pretty subjective... so they also use the HIT and MISS system to indicate its potential as a commercial success. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL Mikro-Gen £9.95 Dave: "Oh no! I've lost contact with that 737 heading for Heathrow, and the outward bound DC 10 has lost pressurisation so I'll have to re-route all the aircraft down W17 and put Concorde in a holding pattern, then I can..." This is an example of the thoughts that go through your head as you play (!!) Mikro-Gen's ATC. The program simulates the job of controlling the air traffic over a section of southern England, including the main London and south coast airports. All you have to do is make sure the planes don't get too close together and that aircraft leaving your section are at the correct height for the air channels they're entering. You take over for a fixed period of one hour and, at the end (or earlier if you quit), you're given a percentage rating relating to your performance. Different ability levels are catered for by varying the number of planes entering the area within the hour. Communication with the planes is handled via the keyboard and the main screen display depicts your radar screen; you can also have on-screen lists of aircraft or all flights scheduled to come through the area. ATC won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like simulations or turning your brain to jelly then it's worth a look.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Your Computer

Overall 3/5

ZX Spectrum £10.00 Arcade Strategy Mikrogen Heavy stuff. A credibly realistic simulation of area control - as opposed to approach control - over a modern airport. Black and white.

Personal Computer News

Overall 8/10

David Lester 8/10

PRICE: £9.95 PUBLISHER: Mikro-Gen [redacted] This flight simulator is a cut above some of the others but it has to be said that Air Traffic Control is not for your get-up-and-go gamesters. You must monitor and control air traffic over a given air space. In this case you're looking after the air lanes around Bournemouth and Southampton. The airways here are bustling with planes bound for or arriving from Europe and the States. Keeping tabs on all this lot is not easy. When asked you whether or not you want printed details of planes coming into your area, you can then select a skill level between one and nine. The package comes with a keyboard overlay and a detailed and easy-to-follow manual. The screen display is a bit drab, mostly black and white, but looks just as it should - lines all over the place showing flight paths. A flight data display, giving details of each flight currently monitored is available at the touch of a key. At the higher skill levels there are all sorts of difficulties. For example you must keep your traffic well away from Military Crossers - RAF aircraft crossing the airways are out of your jurisdiction. Radio or pressurisation failure, which mean the pilot of the damaged craft will descend rapidly to the highest safe level, will have you hairless in an instant. Air Traffic Control is very good, comprehensive and if you like this sort of game, well worth the price.