JET

 Move over, Chuck Yeager; I'll take it from here. After logging thirty or so
hours with JET, I figure I'm about the hottest combat pilot this side of Tom
Cruise.

 JET is SubLOGIC's sort-of sequel to FLIGHT SIMULATOR II. I say "sort-of"
because the simulation lacks some of the pure realism of FLIGHT SIMULATOR;
instrumentation and landing procedures, for example, are greatly simplified. In
return, you get some white-knuckle action against various Eastern-bloc aircraf
and ground targets. And that's the appeal of JET: For most of us, this is about
as close as you can get to those boyhood dreams of aerial derring-do. This
review is based on the Apple // version of JET; Atari ST and Macintosh version
notes follow.

 The simulation gives you two jets for the price of one: a land-based F-16
Fighting Falcon and a carrier-based F-18 Hornet. The only practical difference
between the two is in the takeoffs and landings. As you might suspect, setting
down on an aircraft carrier deck is just a little bit trickier.

 The graphics in JET are about what you're used to in FLIGHT SIMULATOR:
acceptable, but not great. The scenery is identical; enemy jets and warships are
done in wire-frame graphics, which aren't breathtaking, but get the point
across. Control is by keyboard or joystick. I prefer the keyboard, personally;
it just seems more precise.

 Because the F-16 and F-18 routinely exceed Mach 1, you'd think JET would be
harder to master than FLIGHT SIMULATOR. Just the opposite is true. The reason
for this is that modern military fighters have little in common with your
run-of-the-mill Piper Tri-pacers and Cessna 152s. The brute power of these
warbirds renders the conventions of prop-driven flight pretty much irrelevent.
Since both generate thrust greater than their weight, even a first-time pilot
can do things they only dream about down at Municipal Field: loops, snap rolls,
split S's, Immelman turns. In the real things, this massive power is combined
with computer-controlled flight surfaces, which means you point the nose where
you want to go and the jet is automatically trimmed for that pitch and heading.
You don't really fly these planes, you simply aim them.

 All of this is reflected quite well in the simulation. One of the best things
about JET is the takeoff: I like to bring the nose up to about 80 degrees, then
go to rear view and watch the airport or carrier deck recede below. Even on a
computer screen it's almost exhilarating: nearly vertical, 20,000 feet, and
accelerating through Mach 1. Yahoo!

 In JET's free-flight mode you can then practice any maneuver you want, without
the distraction of inbound enemy missiles. Here's a good place to find out ju
what the simulation will let you get away with. Fly inverted, straight up,
straight down, or straight ahead in a 90-degree bank. Dive for the ground and
figure out just how low you can go before it's impossible to recover.

 In the course of your experiments, you'll probably discover another realistic
feature in this simulation: Pull too many G's and you'll lose consciousness,
which is handled in the game by a red or black screen that tells you what has
happened. The jet keeps flying, of course, but you don't get to see what's
happening until the G forces stabilize. It's no big deal when you're practicing,
but it can cost you your airplane when it's you against the MiGs.

 MiGs? Well, it wouldn't be much of a simulation without enemies, would it? When
you feel proficient enough to try your skills against the Ruskies, there are two
basic war missions: dogfights or bombing runs. In these combat modes, JET offers
a number of levels of difficulty. There's level 0, a practice mode that most
lower primates should be able to survive, through level 9, which w annihilate
just about everybody. The difficulty level is mostly a measure of two things:
the alacrity with which your aircraft crashes and the skill of your enemies.
Those enemies are no dummies even on level 1.

 Their main weapon is the air-to-air or ground-to-air missile. Avoiding these
things is the chief source of thrills in JET, and most of the time requires some
wild maneuvers that will demonstrate why power and speed are so important these
days. You can track inbound missiles on your radar; if you get hit you'll have a
few seconds to eject before your jet blows up.

 The ejection feature is a fine detail; when you do it, you retain the
perspective of the pilot. You'll see your jet fly out from under you; go to top
view and you'll see your parachute opening. If you're close enough to home base,
you can switch to tower view and watch yourself float gently to earth.

 Another nice thing about JET is that it's compatible with all of SubLOGIC's
flight scenery disks. Any place you used to take FLIGHT SIMULATOR II's wimpy
little Piper Cherokee, you can now take an F-16. Of course, you won't be able to
set this baby down on some of those tiny runways, but it's kind of neat to check
out familiar surroundings from the cockpit of the deadliest aircraft ever made.

 OK, I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no: You can't bomb Newark.
When you load the scenery disk with JET, you don't get any ordnance. Darn the
luck. Even with that "failing," I heartily recommend JET. It's a nice blend of
entertainment and education that will challenge you for a long time.

 ATARI ST VERSION NOTES

 The Atari ST version of JET from SubLOGIC is one of the best packages of 19 JET
works on either monochrome or color monitors, and features great graphics and
animation, lots of different views from within and outside of the cockpit, 3-D
and radar maps, zooming, night flying, compatibility with all available ST
scenery disks, and an option to conduct dogfights by modem.

 The numeric keypad controls throttle, ailerons, and elevators, and these
keystrokes are enough to get you in flight. Although a mouse or a joystick can
be substituted for certain keypad functions, the keystrokes are not a problem
and actually work as positively as anything attached to a port. All other
keystrokes control the many luxuries of JET, all of which you can invoke at your
leisure.

 The scenery on the boot disk comes from a never-released SubLOGIC game called
RADAR RAIDERS. Users of other versions have recognized the scenery from pirated
copies. Other than this scenery and that contained on the ST version of FLIGHT
SIMULATOR II, only four other disks are currently available: Scenery disks 7 and
11, the Japan/Osaka disk, and the Western European Tour.

 If you want cockpit combat, there are dogfights with Russian MiGs and bombing
strikes. If you want to sight-see, there is more than enough scenery on any
given disk to monopolize hours of your time. If you simply want to crank up the
after-burners and head for 50,000 feet at Mach 2, you can do that, too. JET
looks great, sounds great, and handles like a dream. I could fill up a lot of
pages extolling the virtues and features of JET, but there is only one way to
appreciate this all-around excellent ST package: Buy it!

 MACINTOSH VERSION NOTES

 JET for the Mac is for those gamers who love aerial combat a la "Top Gun," but
hate to fiddle with dozens of controls. Admittedly, there are more than enough
options and controls to keep most self-respecting aerialists occupied, but even
in its original inception JET eliminated many of the tedious details that often
get in the way of aerial combat. Now, in its Macintosh incarnation, JET is even
easier to play.

 The initial menu looks the same as on any other version, but the minute you get
into the cockpit you know things will be different. It's obvious that SubLOGIC
has taken great pains to use the Mac's graphic abilities to the fullest.
Landmarks and opponents are well-defined and shaded, and the surroundings
include such visual details as clouds, a realistic aircraft ground shadow, and
stars in the night sky. One might think that all this detail in a game might
slow it down, but the animation is smooth and very fast. If this is still not
fast enough for you, by hitting the "K" key you eliminate all but the most
necessary details to further quicken combat and animation.

 Another obvious Mac innovation is the use of multiple windows during combat. By
hitting the corresponding keys during combat, you can call up numerous
viewpoints (cockpit, rear, top, map) and such essentials as radar -- all as
individual windows. These can be toggled on and off as you please, and I would
certainly not recommend having more than two or three onscreen at the same time
as they can easily clutter the screen and impede combat. One of my favorites was
the missile viewpoint, where you "ride" the missile to impact. One of the
problems I had with the windows was that after I'd toggled one on and off and
then tried to use it again, it wouldn't appear. This was an unpredictable
problem and may have been based on certain sets of windows onscreen being
incompatible.

 Another new feature allows you to pause the game in the middle of flight and
return to the options menu so that you can change the mission's nature and other
simulation conditions such as fighter type and armament.

 When you have completed your run, you can come in for a landing and receive
your medals. This feature, which was absent in the IBM version, awards you
purple hearts and such for aerial combat and is a nice addition to the game.

 The Mac version of JET includes a multiplayer option that allows two players to
engage in combat over special SubLOGIC serial cables or two modems. Combat works
at 300, 1200, and 2400 baud, and requires players to operate on the same baud
rate. I found that while 300 baud was a little too slow, 1200 baud was fine and
allowed for fine dogfighting.

 The version of JET I reviewed has one serious flaw. The manual claims that JET
is copyable onto a hard drive. However, when I tried this, the HD copy would not
run. I then tried to run the program from the original diskette and suffered a
system crash. It appears that the only way to run JET is to boot the original
diskette and then run the program. However, under the JET system, when I tried
to access files on my hard drives, I found all my folders rendered invisible.
This was a distressing state of affairs and one that I hope SubLOGIC will
address immediately.

 Aside from this problem, the Mac version of JET is a definite improvement over
other versions and makes excellent use of the Mac's interface and graphics. When
compared to the IBM CGA version, Mac JET's animation is smoother, more detailed,
and ultimately more playable.

 JET is published and distributed by SubLOGIC, Inc.

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