MAGIC FLY

 Let's open with the usual comments about MAGIC FLY: It's a European import,
it's tough, and it could have been documented better so that newcomers might
ease their way into the game. With that out of the way, now I can say what I
really feel: This game is lots of fun! (This review is based on the Amiga
version.)

 Picture, if you will, a "Star Wars" style tie-wing fighter that has been sent
on a mission to explore a very large maze of corridors buried deep within an
asteroid. These corridors are chock full of alien craft, some of which fly, some
of which crawl, and some of which...well, _move_. These craft are there to
defend a new prototype secret attack vehicle (the Moth), which it is your task
to find, identify, and destroy before attempting an escape.

 Along with the alien craft, there is a series of complex puzzles that must be
analyzed and mastered before you can gain further access to the entire maze of
tunnels. Some of these puzzles consist of merely figuring out which of your
weapons will break through a barrier; others are almost as complex as Rubik's
cube. Most of them will have you scratching your head for quite some time.

 Your fighter, designated the T2 (codename "Magic Fly"), is quite a vehicle: Not
only does it come with a wide array of weaponry (three types of lasers, three
types of missiles, two types of mines, a robotic rear gunner droid, and a
tunnel-blocking web), it contains full instrumentation, including something
called a "Map Radar," which essentially serves as an automatic tunnel-mapping
device. This is a crucial instrument, as the tunnels extend in three dimensions,
which makes recording where you've been (and analyzing the relation of where you
were to where you are now) extremely challenging.

 Along with the radar, there are indicators showing both main and reserve energy
banks, six different combat warning lights, throttle and thruster levels, damage
control, turbo booster, and zone indicator. The latter is an ingenious device
that provides a boresight view of your location in relation to the walls of the
tunnel, so that you can tell whether you're centered or off to a side.

 The zone indicator is important for navigation, as you choose which branch of a
tunnel to take simply by moving into the main tunnel zone most proximate to the
branch you want. If you plan a right turn, for instance, moving to the right
side of the tunnel insures that when you get to the intersection, your ship will
navigate into the right branch.

 A number of the instruments provide further information at the click of a mouse
button on the onscreen action triangles. These call up other screens (during
which game time is paused) that provide fuller info.

 The map radar's A/T allows you to visually backtrack across three axes to see
where you are in relation to already explored tunnels. The damage indicator's
A/T allows you to set priorities for auto-repair of any of the ten systems that
might be damaged. A single system can be set to highest priority for quick
repair, or a number of systems can be set to medium priority or low priority,
depending on how much of your energy you want to use up for repairs as you
progress.

 The energy A/T gives you detailed info on how much energy you have left, what
your current rate of usage is, and how much energy each of your systems
requires, so you can better analyze and allocate energy where it's needed most.
The weapons A/T provides you with a detailed database of all your weapons
(complete with 3-D images you can rotate) for study.

 There's also another database that you build as you go, which consists of
information on all the alien ships you've encountered. Activating a scanner
instead of a weapon, and holding it long enough on the alien ship, pulls its
info into the database for future reference. This info includes such things as
the ship's name, speed, primary weapons systems, and weak points (if any).
Rotatable 3-D wire-frame images of these ships can also be toyed with for
contemplative purposes.

 As you negotiate the tunnels, you discover a series of resupply and repair
bays. You can dock there and refuel, fix any damaged systems that haven't
completed auto-repair, and re-stock weapons. You can also save games at the
bays, which is crucial for effective play when you're first starting out and
have had some successes.

 The control system in these bays is the one weakness in the game design: To
make selections, you have to do the equivalent of playing slo-mo handball with
the wall. To save a game, a series of six icons in the game manual have to be
looked up and bounced off of, which can prove tedious. Still, it's all something
you get used to after a while, and it doesn't interfere severely with play in
any way.

 What does all this add up to in the way of fun? Well, MAGIC FLY is, I think,
quite an intriguing spacecraft simulation that contains a range of potential
attractions: Combat with the alien fighters comes to be a test of arcade skills
and systems management; decoding the blocks in the tunnels can be as challenging
as any good FOOL'S ERRAND-style puzzle; and if you like imagining yourself
within complex mapped spaces, there's plenty of map here. The game's goals are
well-defined, and the means to achieve them (once understood) are logical.

 In terms of graphics, animation, and sound, MAGIC FLY is quite lively and makes
good use of complex, colorful wire-frame animation to keep things speedy and
simple. Sound effects are all appropriate and nicely dispersed throughout the
game. The ship's control panels all click up nicely, and seem logically
organized. You're not going to wow anybody familiar with Amiga 3-D space sims
with this one, but on the other hand, MAGIC FLY contains more in the way of
useful instrumentation than any other spaceflight-style simulation I know of; it
has some of the flavor of games like F-16 COMBAT PILOT and FALCON in that
respect. (No way to comment on the realism of the flight equations, though --
I've never been inside an asteroid tunnel.) The flight control system is
effective, believable, and quite satisfying once you get a handle on how the
thrusters work (and once you realize that hot pursuit is not the best policy).

 MAGIC FLY comes on one copyable disk that contains enough room for about three
game saves (more can be made on another, standard AmigaDOS-format disk). Copy
protection is invoked when you attempt a save, and consists of a manual look-up
scheme (follow the bouncing ball). The game runs on all A1000s, A500s, and
A2000s with 512K of RAM, and requires a mouse for control.

 The keyboard is used for some commands, and a joystick can be used in place of
the keyboard for certain things, like throttle and roll control. (If you're an
octopus, you can use all three at once.) MAGIC FLY is, unfortunately, not
inherently hard-disk installable, though something may be possible with creative
use of the ASSIGN command in AmigaDOS.

 I give MAGIC FLY a solid recommendation. The scenario is a fresh combination of
familiar elements that makes this game different enough from others (like
DAMOCLES or STARGLIDER II) to be well worth playing. Be aware of the initial
difficulty levels, though. Electronic Arts has done its best to try to provide
some hints in the manual, but they're quite introductory. You're going to need a
good amount of patience at the start.

 MAGIC FLY is published and distributed by Electronic Arts.

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