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The war is on. As a member of the RAF's Mosquito arm you are responsible for taking the fight to the enemy, and a wide variety of missions will have to be successfully completed before you can call yourself Ace of Aces.

The first, stage is gaining complete familiarity with your aircraft. It is a fighter/bomber, like you capable of many roles in combat. Let's select the practice mission to start with.

We are flying over the Channel. From the cockpit the outside world can be seen (including the famous mid-Channel mountain range, hmmm) and the usual altimeter and artificial horizon give you vital information. The experimental radar in the corner spreads a green glow over the proceedings, its inquisitive finger scanning the empty skies ahead.

Switching to the engineer's view, we can see the port or starboard engines. You'll need to get here quickly if the fire extinguisher is needed or extra thrust is called for. This is also the place to activate the landing gear if, and it's a big if, you get back home again.

Crawl down to the bombadier's eyrie, where you'll see your remaining stocks of bombs, rockets and cannon shells. You can also switch out empty fuel tanks from here to improve trim and help economy.

Just behind the pilot's seat is the navigator's console. The map is updated with the latest intelligence reports and shows train, U-boat, bomber and V-1 movements. You can also spot impending storms - these you should try to avoid.

Now it's time for the real thing. Back in briefing you can choose which of the enemy forces to go for, V-1, U-boat and so on. You get a full intelligence report on strengths, weather conditions and likely air cover. You can also decide on the best mixture of weapons to carry - this can be vital. A last look at the map, and you're off.

In the air your compass directs you to the target. Anything requiring your attention is announced by the intercom blinking, and it is important to get to the area in trouble and fix the problem fast. So practice. If the bombadier calls it means that the target is in sight and it's time to lay those eggs.

When you are laden down with all those high explosives the plane is a bit sluggish. If you catch sight of the enemy you'll have to get them sharpish before they get you. If they do attack you might lose instruments, so you'll have to learn how to fly by the seat of your pants if you want to survive.

Once you have flown a mission the computer will allow you to repeat it immediately, or rewind the tape to select a new one. Disc owners, of course, will find changing missions less of a chore.

And so the night beckons. Once again the terror across the Channel is massing to attack the Allied cause.

It's time to strike back.

Perhaps I'm getting old, but the relentless gung-ho of these war games is wearing a bit thin. This one is otherwise OK.

It's quite difficult, and your aircraft handles a bit sluggishly in dogfights, making things a bit hit-or-miss. But there's a lot in this well-produced game, and the novelty is unlikely to pall before you've got the much-vaunted epithet.

There are two types of flying program, the simple to fly zappy shoot-'em-up game and the difficult, accurate simulator. This follows the Dambusters trend by bridging that gap.

Flying the Mosquito is no doddle without worrying about the odd ME109 trying to riddle your airframe with holes.

The business of swapping missions on tape is a bit of a bore. Perhaps it is because there are so many skills to master I found this a satisfying game.

I started to panic as an engine caught fire I felt chuffed as I downed a bandit. You will believe a program can fly.

Righty ho! All you budding Biggleses sign on here please. Thank you for volunteering to do your duty for king and country. You choose your mission, make sure your Mozzy is loaded with as much fuel and ammo as she can carry.

The graphics are quite distinct, although they could have been more colourful (I suppose it is night time) and I liked the way the various menus were presented.

As flight simulators go the flight bit is not so important, but there's the added pleasure of bumping off a few of the enemy. The opposing planes are a bit insistent, and it is too easy to wind up dead just when you thought you were winning. Ah well...