You don't see too many flight sims on the good old C64 nowadays. Plenty of platformers, budget blasters, arcade adventures and dud film licences, but serious simulations are remarkably thin on the ground. If you're already read our ace feature (and if not, why not?) you'll know some of the aviation antics of the past scorched home with flying colours, but what about these two?

There's a lot to be said for games featuring older kites. No guided missiles, no radar scanners, no chaff to release when the going gets hot - just good, honest dogfighting. Spitfire 40 almost makes the grade, but (like its aeronautic inspiration) is showing its age performance-wise.

As you can see from the screenshots, the graphics are basic to say the least. What you can't see, through, is the update - it's slower than a Sinclair C5 with a flat battery! This makes it difficult not to oversteer, as you end up centring the joystick before the screen's finished updating.

Worse still, there's no time accelerator, so flying from A to B takes age - get that kettle on, you'll need it! Having separate screens for cockpit and control panel views is a little odd too.

On the 'plus' side the flight mechanics are pretty good, but while winging my way through an empty sky like an elephant on a pogo stick I couldn't help wishing I was playing one of the better flight sims from this month's feature.

Now this is more like it - a lot more care and attention has been lavished on Strike Force Harrier - and it shows.

Set in war-torn Central Europe (before the Soviet Bloc collapsed), your task is to take out the Warsaw Pact HQ deep in occupied Germany. Graphics are crisp and clear - the ground's a little sparse, but too much detail would kill the frame update.

I never understand how some reviewers can make categorical statements about a plane's realism. Personally I've never flown a Harrier, so can't be certain regarding its handling qualities, but it feels reasonable enough to me. The controls are a little heavy (the Harrier Jump-Jet is supposed to be one of the world's most manoeuvrable planes, after all), but given the limitations of the home computer it doesn't do a bad job.

Like most complex sims, you need to persevere if you're to master the controls (this isn't G-Loc after all), but if you're prepared to stick at it you should find it quite rewarding. There are better flight sims on the C64 (if you can find 'em) but Strike Force Harrier is a worthy purchase in its own right.

Neither game is particularly outstanding, but look at the price! Personally I'd rather pay the extra and get a really good sim (you'd be playing it for ages after all) but the choice is yours.