BLUE ANGELS 

 How well I remember that Sunday afternoon in August, the final day
of the 1988 Abbotsford International Air Show. My semi-annual
recurrent flight simulator training ended just before noon, and my
simulator partner and I wasted no time driving our rental car to the
Abbotsford Airport to catch the afternoon flying displays. By 1:30
PM, a cloud cover that had prevailed all morning dissipated, leaving
only a trace of alto cumulus cloud to provide depth to the clear
blue sky above. A wonderful day for an airshow, and the highlight of
that airshow was the United States Navy Flight Demonstration
Squadron, the Blue Angels. The whine of the General Electric
turbofans coming to life rekindled my boyhood admiration for these
highly skilled aviators. Now, as a thirty-eight year old airline
captain, I watched in awe as they once again worked their magic in
the summer sky. 

 If you share my admiration for those Navy flyers, Accolade's BLUE
ANGELS "Formation Flight Simulation" may be right up your alley. 
BLUE ANGELS puts you in the cockpit of a Navy F/A-18 Hornet, ready
to perform any or all of the precision flight maneuvers -- including
the "Knife Edge Pass" and the "Diamond Fleur-de-lis" -- that have
thrilled more than 210 million airshow spectators since 1946. (This
review is based on the IBM-PC version; Commodore 64/128 and Amiga
version notes follow.) 

 You decide how involved you wish to be with the show. Sit back and
enjoy it from the grandstand, or watch it from high above the field
in a hot air balloon. On the other end of the scale, jump into one
of the six Hornets and actually fly the show as a Blue Angel team
member. What position would you like to fly? Lead, right wing, left
wing, or slot? Perhaps you'd prefer to be in command of one of the
two solo aircraft. No problem. The program trains you to fly
whichever position you choose. A simulator within the simulator
takes you through each maneuver, key press by key press, if
necessary. A three-dimensional view of the required flight profile
can be rotated and studied from all angles prior to attempting the
maneuver; then, as you fly the simulator, wire-frame flight profile
guides show you the way. After completing the maneuver, you can
compare your actual flight profile with the one in the profile box. 

 When you feel ready, strap yourself into an F/A-18 and head out for
some practice, either on your own, or as a part of the team. Soon
you'll be performing in your chosen position on airshow day (but not
without lots of practice!). When you've mastered one position, you
can learn to fly the other positions, or try increasing the
difficulty level. The true sign of accomplishment is having your
name on the list of pilots who have performed near-flawless
airshows. 

 BLUE ANGELS lacks the sophistication to be considered a true flight
simulation program. Radius of operation is limited to twenty miles, 
and the maximum altitude attainable during the course of this review
was under 7000 feet. The key presses are few and simple, leaving
lots of human memory available to recall the maneuvers and the
sequence in which they must be performed. A knowledge of the physics
of flight is not required to get this program up and flying. This
very lack of sophistication makes BLUE ANGELS ideal for first-time
computer pilots, or for those who have no intention of ever trying
to master the complexities of a program like Microsoft's FLIGHT
SIMULATOR. But if you're one of those squinty-eyed computer pilot
pros who needs all the realistic flight equations and realism, learn
the Blue Angel routines in this forgiving program, then take them on
the road. The only drawback is that you may have to fly a solo
performance. 

 BLUE ANGELS does not support the use of a joystick. Firmly
depressing the "2" and "4" keys on the numeric keypad doesn't
provide the same thrill as hauling the stick back to the seven
o'clock position and stomping on full left rudder. Both give similar
results, but any top-of-the-line air superiority fighter without a
proper joystick simply isn't complete. 

 Another omission from this Hornet is its stinger. Although the
Digital Display Indicators (DDIs) and many of the switches and
buttons approximate those found in a real Hornet, you won't be able
to call up any arms control information, and you won't find a
gunsight. This omission is easier to live with: How pleasant to find
a computer game that doesn't hand out its highest scores to the most
violent and destructive players! 

 The IBM version of BLUE ANGELS runs on an IBM PC/XT/AT or
compatible, PS/2 Models 25, 30, 50, and 60, or Tandy 1000 series, 
3000/4000. It supports CGA, EGA, Hercules MGA, VGA (256 colors), and
Tandy (16 color) modes. The program requires DOS 2.1 or higher, or
Tandy DOS. Documentation is adequate, but I did manage to find two
undocumented key controls. 

 Worthy of mention is BLUE ANGELS' clever off-disk copy-protection
scheme. A circular decoding card provides a unique number to be
entered each time the program is run. Its resemblance to the CR-2
type of computers used during real-life pre-flight calculations only
serves to enhance the feel of the adventure. 

 With a suggested retail price of just under fifty dollars, BLUE
ANGELS will provide many hours of bargain entertainment. If you're
fortunate enough to catch the real Blue Angels' show, you'll
certainly appreciate their performance from a different
perspective. 

 COMMODORE 64/128 VERSION NOTES 

 With all due respect to Don Simmons (who certainly knows more about
real flight than I do), the C64/128 version of Accolade's BLUE
ANGELS leaves something to be desired -- although I'm not sure
what. The graphics are fine, the sound effects are competent and
sparingly implemented, and the joystick controls are easy to
understand. Everything worked as the manual explained. 

 The Commodore version does not allow rotation of the 3-D cube that
holds the selected flight maneuver. With the exception of the
Spacebar (to pause) and F1 (to return to the Main Menu), the
joystick controls flight: The stick alone moves the F/A-18 up and
down, and banks left and right; with the button pressed, the stick
accelerates and brakes, and rolls left and right. The single program
disk is copy-protected. 

 Because there is no scenery, ANGELS doesn't qualify as a flight
simulator, as Don noted. And because there are no missiles to launch
and no bombs to drop on the non-existent scenery, ANGELS doesn't
qualify as a combat simulator (Don also noted this). The game does
qualify as primitive aerobatics training -- aerobatics being
something most of us will never engage in, much less excel at, in an
F/A-18. 

 What does all this mean? While BLUE ANGELS is nicely designed, 
looks good graphically, and is easily controlled, it can't possibly
be worth fifty bucks. It's not a bargain-bin product by any means, 
but $50 is a bit much for a simplistic program that's aimed
(purposely or not) at novice pilots. If you've had experience with
FLIGHT SIMULATOR II, JET, or FALCON, you'll probably be bored with
BLUE ANGELS. 

 AMIGA VERSION NOTES 

 With its Amiga version of BLUE ANGELS, Artech Digital Entertainment
has taken on another difficult project, and the results are only
fair. The Amiga version of BLUE ANGELS appears to be a virtual
carbon copy of the IBM version, with almost no sound or graphics
enhancement. The 16-color IBM screen shots on the back of the box
are indicative of what you'll see on the Amiga. The game runs on
A500s, A1000s, and A2000s, and requires at least 512K of RAM. (The
manufacturer does not report having tested the game on the A3000.) 
The diskette is not copy-protected, which means the files can be
transferred to your hard drive. However, there is off-disk
protection in the form of an easy-to-use code wheel. 

 The Amiga is a great computer for playing games (and for other
applications), but BLUE ANGELS might be better enjoyed in the MS-DOS
environment on a PC with a 286 or 386 microprocessor. The game bogs
down on a stock Amiga: Its jerky animation fails to deliver the
sensation of high-speed flight. 
  
 Although that's a major flaw in a jet flight simulator, Artech
Digital still must be commended for taking on such a novel project. 
The game slows down in some frames because so much graphic design is
being squeezed onto the screen. It's tough to have quick animation
when the computer has to paint a picture of six jets streaking by. 

 Despite its flaws, the Amiga version of BLUE ANGELS is worthy of
consideration, if only because it's the first formation flight
simulator on the market. We can only hope that a sequel will truly
advance this nifty idea. 

  BLUE ANGELS is published and distributed by Accolade. 

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253