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There are certainly a lot of great flight simulators around these days - and joining the already crowded airways is F-15 Strike Eagle II, the sequel to the ageing Microprose flying game, F-15 Strike Eagle.

It's basically a combat simulator, with the emphasis on destroying set targets and dogfighting, rather than having to worry about watching your flaps, rudders and elevation. Although flight simulator purists might scoff at this sort of thing, I personally feel that this type of control simplification makes for a far more thrilling and exciting simulation, leaving you free to fly and fight without fear of nosediving to earth every few seconds. If you really do want to attempt to fly the plane realistically, there are options to let you do so. But without practice you don't last long...

At the start of the mission the player is presented with a high-score table which shows a list of pilots, and the scores and honours they've so far acquired (the table automatically saves your pilot's progress). When you've typed in your name, you go to the level select screen, which has four grades of difficulty, from easy-to-fly rookie to the ultra-real ace.

When you've selected that, you can choose the area of battle - Vietnam, Libya, Persian Gulf and the Middle East. There's also a scenario option for the extra mission disks that are going to be released next year. Once you've chosen the conflict area, you're given a mission, and once you're briefed it's off into the air.

The screen display accurately shows a F-15 cockpit, with a colourful 3D view of the outside world. Pilots can also look left, right and out of the back of the cockpit, view the plane externally from all angles, and even select a missile's view (which is useless, but a great laugh when it's on its way to a target).

There's an autopilot (which lands for you, and even takes you to the next target), accelerated time and a training option, which helps novice pilots, or players who just want to treat the game as a combat arcade game and get highscores without having to worry about the complicated aspects of flying!

The fact that there's plenty to do makes F-15 II one of the most exciting simulations around. There's squadrons of enemy aircraft to fight with, and a lot of ground installations to keep you on your toes - watch out for SAM missiles and keep your finger on the chaff button!

On-screen presentation is brilliant, with clear and easy to understand radar displays and warning systems, making the simulation a joy to fly. The graphics are also utterly superb, with the sky and ground shaded beautifully to give an incredible feeling of depth. The ground even fades out the higher you get! It's certainly the most realistic 3D effect yet seen on a flight simulation.

The only disadvantage of F-15 II is that to really appreciate it you've got to have a fast VGA PC to play it on - but if you've got access to such a machine, this is *the* program to buy for it.

Stunning to look at, great to play and packed with many useful and exciting features - F-15 II is definitely top gun in the flight simulator stakes.