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A word of warning: step carefully if you come across a flight sim that warns you 'The program will continually access the disk during play'. From my experience of this tone, they certainly aren't kidding.

Still, I suppose you're asking for it when you try to cram in as many options as this does. There's the selection of planes for instance - old Chuck certainly doesn't short-change you here, offering a choice of eighteen, from Stealth bombers to the Space Shuttle.

The accuracy of the flight models seems a little dubious - flying a Stealth seems suspiciously similar to flying a biplane - but the choice is flying a biplane - but the choice is admittedly impressive.

The options don't end there though. Slaloms, take-offs, landings, races, stunts, formation flying - the decisions you have to make before you take off go on and on. And on. Even when you're into the game proper there're internal and external camera views to pick between, starry backdrops (!) to add or remove, and all sorts. It has to be said though, all this flexibility does add to the game's appeal, which is just as well considering what the flying is like.

You'll be amazed that a jet-engined plane can move this slowly. Yep, once again speed has been sacrificed for 3D detail and realism, and it mucks things up a treat. Jerky frame updates simply negate all the hard work put into the program. The strange cursor-style yoke control and slightly dodgy 3D don't help matters either. And then there's all that accessing...

I don't wish to sound too negative though. If you can put up with the snooze-o-load disk access and once-in-a-lifetime screen update (i.e. it updates once in a lifetime), this can actually get quite engrossing. Taking part in a 1940s slalom race is excellent fun, and the chance to land the Space Shuttle isn't to be sniffed at.

The problem is, there are so many excellent flight sims on the market, a new one has to be really special to make its make, and this one isn't it. Now if only the whole thing moved two or three times faster...

Arguably one of the most flexible flight sims, packed with options and some fun scenarios. Unfortunately though, the whole thing fails to inspire due to the decidedly unfriendly pace.