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Spitfire 40 - as you may suppose - is a simulator of the Supermarine Spitfire in the war-torn years of 1940. The plan is for you to rise through the ranks to Group Captain and to obtain the coveted medals of the VC, DSO and DFC.

The first thing that the program does is to enquire whether you want to use a saved or original log. You can save your progress throughout the game - a very useful thing too if you are going to play it for any great length of time. There are three modes of operation for a flight: Practice, combat and combat practice.

Practice mode lets you learn the controls, handling and general performance of your craft without the general harrassment of enemy aeroplanes. Your performance at this can be saved for experience points.

Combat practice is a mode where you find yourself in the midst of a battle and can practise dogfighting without the bother of landing and taking off, etc. Your successes in this mode are not recorded. To do that, you must fly in proper combat.

Combat mode is the heart of the program. To save any status here you must take off, fly and fight, and land before saving. To start with, certain conditions and statuses will be displayed. This gives information such as the enemy's strength and position.

Flying the plane itself is similar to any other flight simulator, so I will skip that bit and concentrate on the excellent graphical display.

The graphics are based on two screens - the control panel and the forward view. The forward view is a 3D representation of whatever you should see in front of you. This is quite good apart from the sluggishness of some of the horizon drawing. The second screen is of the instrument panel. This is covered in copious dials and indicators and is much less cluttered than most of these simulators that try to put the external display on the same screen as the instruments.

The combat, which is the best part of the game is explained clearly and concisely in the manual. Enemy aircraft appear in different colours that indicate different skills and speeds. Get 'em in your sights and - Blam! Remember though that this is more than just a shooting game; it is a full simulation. Gripping stuff!