Previous Next

Great idea, shame about the game. That just about sums up this brave effort to put you in the hot seat of a Red Arrows Hawk jet.

Database has obviously spent a lot of time developing the program - which is very well presented in packaging terms. But - and it's a big but - the actual graphic representation of the Red Arrows, on the Spectrum version is awful.

Database say that the program uses "3D graphics to soar to heights of realism never achieved before". If you make claims like that, you have to be sure the finished product lives up to them, right?

Well, there doesn't appear to be any 3D effects on the Spectrum Red Arrows game. What you see through the cockpit of your Hawk is the usual blue slabs for the sky, green slab for the ground and superimposed red aircraft to represent the Arrows' formation.

Now, everyone knows about the colour clash problems on the Spectrum. But should half the aircraft you are following disappear when it banks and have half in the sky slab, half in the ground. Or is this just a simulation of what happens to your eyesight when you are subjected to high G-forces?

Database say they created the program with the help of the Arrows' pilots and have a special high-score competition running with the game. You could win an all-expenses paid trip to the Red Arrows' base.

But I don't think even the prospect of a day out with the Arrows would make me want to shell out nearly £9 for this game.