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Relive the excitement of WW2 with daring raids over Europe... in a bus. Rob Mead pilots MicroProse's latest flight sim.

The B17 Flying Fortress became a legend in its own lifetime during WW2. Supplied to the US Air Force, the B17 quickly established itself as a formidable offensive weapon - its large payload and ability to withstand considerable structural damage endeared it to battle-weary pilots in many different theatres of combat.

B17 Flying Fortress is MicroProse's latest ambitious flight sim and places you in control of this legendary aircraft. Your role is to successfully lead a small formation of aircraft against Allied objectives in Occupied Europe, wreaking as much damage on the German war effort as possible.

You don't just play the pilot, though. There are nine other crew members on board your B17 who can be controlled either by you or your ST. This means you get involved in every aspect of the way the bomber operates.

At the beginning of the game you can either dive straight into your first mission, or take part in a series of smaller training missions. These enable you to get the hang of the different aspects of your complex aircraft, as well as discovering the relative strengths and weaknesses of your crew. It's a good idea to move the crew around the different compartments of the aircraft, so they build up skills in all the different aspects of bomber flight - navigation, bomb-aiming and defence, for example. A well-trained, competent crew is essential for maintaining morale and crucial during combat - and injured bomb-aimer can then easily be replaced by another member of the crew.

Once you're fully trained up, it's time to embark on your first mission. A feeling of real trepidation comes over you as you cross the channel and feel your aircraft being buffeted by the first waves of enemy flak. However, the fun really begins when your flight comes under attack from enemy fighters. At this point you can take control of any of the B17's eight guns located in various positions around the aircraft. The German planes first appear as specks in the distance, but approach rapidly firing tracer and cannon at your aircraft. Keeping track of them in your sights is not easy and you only have a few seconds to shoot at them before they disappear out of sight. You needn't miss out on the action, though - simply press one of the dedicated function keys to jump to another gunner's position and take over there. If you don't want to participate in the battle then press Alt and M to see a film director's view of the most exciting pieces of action, including the German fighters' perspective.

As you approach your target, you can take over the bomb-aimer's job. This involves holding your objective steady in the cross-hairs of your Norden bomb-sight until the Bomb Release Cue light illuminates. Only then can you be sure your bombs are going to hit the target. This is the trickiest job on the aircraft and even your ST's crap at it most of the time, preferring to drop the bombs in the sea than on the heads of the bally Hun.

Since you usually fly without fighter protection, your aircraft often sustains heavy damage before it even gets anywhere near its target. Engines catch fire, crew members are injured and control of the aircraft can be lost as a result of wing damage - it's even possible for gun emplacements or the bomb doors to jam.

Luckily, you can deal with most eventualities thanks to the on-board fire-extinguishers and manual controls for unjamming fault equipment. Sometimes the damage is too much and you have to bail out, leaving injured crew members behind.

There's certainly plenty for you to do in B17. Where most flight sims only give you the chance to fly the plane, Flying Fortress enables you to do everything. It's all a bit bewildering at first as you toggle between the different positions trying to decide what to do. If you like shoot-'em-ups, you could play the tail-end Charlie and hammer away at incoming enemy aircraft without getting involved in the other bits.

Piloting the B17 can be a bit dull. It's not like flying a fighter where you get to do somersaults and stomach-churning dives - you just have to sit there, follow the navigator's waypoints, wait for the bombs to drop and head home. It's a bit like going on a charter flight really - you have to keep an eye out for the odd engine fire and keep a sick bag handy.

Like most flight-sims on your ST, the scrolling in B17 is not all that it could be - bomb-aiming or taking pot-shots at enemy fighters is made a lot harder by the constant disk-accessing and the jerky movement of your targets or gunsights. However, it all adds to the challenge and the combat sequences feel extremely realistic. For example, take up a particular gun position and you can only move your guns in a certain trajectory before your view is obscured by the bulk of your aircraft. The enemy also closes in extremely rapidly and you can feel the terror welling up inside you as you realise you vulnerable you and your crew are - it's a thrilling and addictive ride.

Control of the gameplay in B17 is a mixture of keyboard, mouse and joystick moves. The mouse is used to access the various in-game menus, while the keyboard is used for the different aircraft controls and views of the action. The joystick controls the piloting, bombing and shooting elements.

Graphically, B17 consists of a mixture of static screens and filled 3D vectors - a standard feature on nearly all flight sims. However, the 3D sequences are well-animated and there's enough detail in the aircraft sprites to make the whole thing realistic. Unfortunately, the sound effects are more disappointing - the engines are reduced to a series of farty noises and the militaristic chip music sounds laughable - it's a bit like the Dambusters march being played on a kazoo.

B17 is an absorbing and challenging flight sim which is as much a test of your management abilities as it is of your flying and combat skills. It realistically conveys the excitement of those daring raids over Europe, with excellent graphics. MicroProse have another winner on their hands.

B17 is a challenging, original flight sim with plenty of thrills and spills.

The game's extremely daunting at first and you crash a lot.