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It's fifty years ago this summer that the classic aerial conflict of World War II was fought over the skies of Old Blighty. Lucasfilm takes us back to when almost all of Europe was under the German jackboot and Hitler planned to invade Britain...

The first stage of the invasion is the destruction of the RAF. This crucial conflict will last all summer, pitting 530 RAF fighters against 2000 German fighters and bombers.

As in Battlehawks 1942, you're not restricted to one air force: besides flying the RAF's Hurricanes or Spitfires, you can strap into such Luftwaffe aircraft as the Me-109 and Me-110 fighters, as well as four German bombers. Each aircraft has its own unique cockpit display, flight characteristics, weapon payload and demands. On bombers you can assume control of any of the gun turrets, or be the bombardier.

Training Flight ... gets you into the game gently with missions such as fighting off a few drone Messerschmitts, or on the German side practising your low/high level bombing and fighter escort.

Combat Flight ... offers a choice of eight historically authentic missions - now the baddies shoot back. A pilot roster can be kept on disk so successful pilots can be used as wingmen in future missions.

Custom Mission ... allows you to create your own conflicts, pitting a user-definable number of squadrons against one another over definable targets for the Germans to bomb (including ship convoys out in the Channel). Missions can be saved to disk.

Play Campaign ... lets you take command of either the RA or the Luftwaffe and recreate/rewrite aerial history. For the Brits it's a small matter of defending the country from four times as many aerial forces, for the Germans all that's required is to pummel the RAF into the ground. Pilots stored on the Pilot Roster can be brought in and there's medals to be won.

Like the Custom Mission option, Play Campaign allows you to create different formations for the planes and different aircraft roles and targets for the forthcoming mission. A campaign is exactly what it says, a very intensive series of conflicts which are definitely *not* for the faint-hearted (or the novice!).

At any time during the mission a replay camera can be switched on to record a set number of seconds of combat. The actual replay of the film is a pretty advanced form of VCR with the usual Stop/Play and Fast Rewind/Forward options along with the ability to move around the mission world viewing the battles from any angle includng Chase Plane view, ground view and even a novel view from a bomb as it hurtles towards a target. Particularly impressive combat films can be saved to disk for posterity and shown to fellow pilots back at base via the Review Combat Film option.

Other features which are a significant improvement over Battlehawks 1942 include a handy map facility for planning missions during the campaigns and general navigation when lost. On the map screen, there's also a radio for locating the enemy.

If flying around in a flimsy wooden crate with no more protection than a heavy leather jacket appeals to you, you're crazy. Their Finest Hour perfectly conveys the bravery of the WWII pilots as they engaged in extremely close-quarters combat with heavy machine guns spewing out lead in all directions.

The graphics are mediocre; close up they look like C64 UDGs! But there's plenty of detail to compensate, and they somehow suit the era, creating a real newsreel feel. There's also a brilliant video option which even Steven Spielberg would envy.

Actual gameplay rewards persistence. Unlike F-29 simply zooming off into the wide blue yonder doesn't provide that must fun. The appeal of this game is in its realistic recreation of skies packed with aircraft, all fighting one another with plenty of your own aircraft about. Even more substantial is the massive tactical challenge.

I can't honestly say I was madly addicted to this, but the incredible amount of thought which went into the program is obvious. Over the long-term I'm sure it can beat F-29 with its depth and flexibility, so it's thumbs up from me.

As usual, Biggles Robin has gone mad over another flight sim, and to anyone but an ardent flight sim fanatic the graphics will look very chunky and devoid of the stunning graphic quality of games like F-29.

However, it only takes a few goes to realise that the game's packed with features and otions to keep the flight sim crowd more than happy.

It's a nice mixture of detailed, deep simulation and accessible aerial arcade action. It's not an F-29 or Falcon for complexity, but that's a good thing as I didn't have to worry too much about plane handling when I was up to my neck in Huns and bullets flying all over the place! A pricey game but great value for money for flight sim nuts.

F-29 may be *the* simulation for the latest in high-tech aerial hardware but Their Finest Hour is real seat-of-the-pants stuff and it's so much more enjoyable getting in close to blast the enemy. What I love about ths game is the incredibly realistic sensation of very close-quarters dogfighting with masses of enemy planes, each aircraft having its own way of attacking and defending. What's more you've got a choice of eight aircraft to choose from.

As in Battlehawks, the fractal graphics work a treat with planes belching smoke when hit, bits flying off and flames appearing as they spiral into the ground. With detailed cockpit displays, a beautifully presented manual and user-friendly option screens Their Finest Hour offers superb quality from the moment you boot up. And this is without me going on about the sheer depth of it all with campaigns and dozens of missions. Brilliant!

Presentation 93% Brilliant 190 page manual, great menus and keyboard/joystick/mouse control options.

Graphics 87% Disappointing up close, but at a distance they work well with plenty of flexibility.

Sound 78% Authentic sounding engine, gunfire and ricochet FX - but only if you have a Megabyte of memory.

Hookability 89% A good few hours is needed to get the hang of things but once up in the air, the planes fly with remarkable simplicity.

Lastability 95% Could spend ages just training on the eight missions, and then there's combat and a full-blown campaign to keep you busy!

Overall 91% A hugely complex well thought-out game which is nevertheless very easy to play.