Commodore Format


F15 Strike Eagle

Categories: Review: Software
Publisher: Kixx
Machine: Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Commodore Format #31

F-15 Strike Eagle (Kixx)

F-15 first hit the C64 way back in 1985 (so Trent tells me!) and it still holds its own against the competition today. It's a flight sim that takes you not just on a tour of the skies but on seven complete missions in the Middle East. You are given a flight plan that includes a map of the area, a description of the primary target and some hints to help you along the way.

The most terrifying thing of all is that you seem to be alone in the skies. What I mean is that there are none of your compatriots flying by your side to help you out. Everything in the game, except your own plane, is under the control of the enemy, and that includes the airspace. So, to use that old cliché, if it moves shoot it; and if it doesn't move, you might as well shoot that as well.

It's such a pity that tape boxes aren't that big, 'cos Kixx haven't been able to fit the keyboard overlay that was with the original pack in the cassette box. Of course you can make your own with some cereal boxes, some double-sided sticky tape, a pair of safety scissors and a box full of brightly-coloured marker pens. But that takes far too much time and patience (mind you, it's always worth trying to con a dim-witted girly into making you one).

If you don't make an overlay, you're going to have to have a photographic memory - like me - to remember all the different key commands for the controls.

Frame Rate

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's my Dad after Mum has made one of her infamous chillies for supper. Luckily the last time it happened was the evening that I was kept late at school for extra curricular activities (if you know what I mean). But F-15 certainly flies higher.