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Brigadier General Chuck Yeager is disputably the best test pilot ever to have lived. This flight simulator from Electronic Arts allows would-be pilots to follow in his vapour trail and provides fourteen different aircraft for test flights, races and stunt flying.

Initially a menu appears giving the main options of Intro Flight, Test Flight, Airplane Racing, Formation Flying and Flight Instructions. Accessing Intro Flight loads a demo showing a slalom flight between huge blocks, viewed from the interior of the cockpit.

Test Flight places the player in control of the plane in the demonstration set-up. If a different location or aircraft is required, pressing the Commodore key halts the action and brings up a selection bar, marked Location and Plane. The Location menu includes sixteen pre-set scenarios, allowing the pilot to begin his flight from positions on the ground, in the air and at the beginning of aerial obstacle courses. Accessing Plane allows the player to alter his chosen aircraft at any time, simply by highlighting the selected craft and pressing the fire button. The control panel alters accordingly, and the plane follows the normal flight characteristics of that craft.

The Airplane Racing option places the pilot in a one-on-one situation against an opponent over one of five pre-set courses. Each course has a straight line marking the actual route to be followed, and there are large 'gates' which must be flown through. The final result and time taken are displayed on completion of the course.

Formation Flying gives the pilot the chance to partake in some aerobatics, and provides a lead plane complete with vapour trail to be followed around one of six pre-defined locations.

As the final title suggests, Flight Instruction is a hands-on training session in either Basic, Advanced or Aerobatic manoeuvres. A total of 22 such manoeuvres are available, varying from straight and level flight through to a difficult Cuban 8. Details are given as to the correct procedure required, and there's also a cursor provided, which follows joystick movement. This cursor must be kept within the moving box market, which in turn designates the correct location for the manoeuvre to be flown successfully.

Both the latter options support the ability to record and replay the pilot's attempts at stunt flying. Successfully flights are saved onto the source disk and are accessed from the sub-menu and replayed at will.

There are ten different viewpoints available during flight: forward with control panel, forward full screen, rearward, left, right, up and down. A view of the whole plane is also available from a spotter plane, from the control tower and even from a satellite, all of which have a nine-stage zoom option to provide as clear as view as possible.

Any flights meeting a sudden and partially subterranean end are met with a digitised picture of General Yeager himself, who passes a terse and unflattering judgement on the player's efforts.

I'm quite keen on flight simulators, and having heard about Chuck's simulator with filled-in graphics, I was slightly dubious to say the least. Thankfully, my reservations were completely unfounded: Chuck Yeager's is superb. The list of available options is awesome, and the graphics... well, what can I say?

The programmer has achieved a small miracle in producing the fastest filled 3D graphics ever seen on the humble C64. I am truly impressed; they make Gunship look very slow indeed. Be warned, however, there is quite a bit of disk access to load in the different place specifications and locations (it might be a wise move to purchase a fastload cartridge if you intend doing a lot of flying), but this is little price to pay for the entertainment and lasting appeal that Chuck Yeager's provides.

As of this moment, there is only one flight simulator to own - thanks, Chuck.

I'd never have thought that a flight simulator like this could be possible on the C64! Chuck Yeager's is incredibly impressive, with fast, solid, and more importantly, realistic 3D graphics, and a mindblowing array of options.

Not only are there a wide variety of planes to choose - ranging from the most basic Sopwith camel to the hi-tech Lockheed Blackbird - but there are also races and obstacle courses to negotiate, and aerobatic and formation stunts to fly!

The different viewing angles and choice of viewpoint (ground or spotter plane) add a novel twist - especially when you're trying to fly from remote. The most impressive aspect is the incredible attention to detail, with touches like the sky darkening when you go high enough (in an SR-71), and the subsequent loss of control as the air gets thinner.

Black and red outs further the realism, and the sonic boom as a plane goes through the sound barrier somehow makes the simulator that more exhilarating to play. The scope for long-term flying is enormous - could a flight simulator fanatic ask for more?

Good flight simulations are in very short supply on the C64, as there is usually a sacrifice in quality to gain speed, or vice versa. However, in keeping with the recent upturn in software, this one has both filled-in quality graphics, and a reasonable speed during flight.

Far more impressive though, is the unbelievable number of options: there are ten different viewpoints, including chaser plane, satellite and tower; 14 types of aircraft, and a nine stage zoon up to 256 times magnification!

The realism doesn't end there - there's a g-force meter, and manoeuvring too quickly tears parts of your aircraft off... such as the wings!

The attention to detail even goes as far as the fuel cutting when an inverted roll is attempted in a Spitfire. This is a very well thought out, designed and executed package, and without doubt, the best all-round flight simulator around at the moment.

Presentation 95%
Easy to use menus, superb documentation and thoughtful all-round appearance.

Graphics 90%
Patchy and rather spartan graphics, but extremely effective and necessary to retain the incredibly rapid frame update.

Sound 48%
Little more than an engine whine and a couple of spot effects.

Hookability 88%
Includes a wide spectrum of training modes, allowing the user to fly immediately.

Lastability 97%
The huge list of options should provide a lasting and challenging array of aerial possibilities.

Overall 95%
Fast, exhilarating and extremely polished - simply the most enjoyable flight simulator available for the C64.