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Dam Busters will be launched in two weeks' time to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of Operation Chastise - the historic bombardment of German dams.

The raid was made famous by the film starring the late Sir Michael Redgrave who played the part of Barnes Wallace - inventor of the bouncing bomb used in the raid.

US Gold describe Dam Busters as "their best game yet". That's high praise coming from the people who have brought out some of the best games for the C64 - titles like Zaxxon, Beach-Head and Solo Flight. It's another of their imported titles - from the little-known Canadian company Sydney Development Corporation.

This really is a first class game. In it, you play seven different characters - the key personnel required to fly the Lancaster to the dams and drop the bombs successfully.

The pilot part of the game is not quite as taxing as a straight flight simulation - but it's no pushover either. Controls to be mastered are a flight-accurate joystick, i.e. up for down and down for up. Standard flight controls like the altimeter, directional compass, artificial horizon, and airspeed must also be mastered if you are to keep the Lancaster in the air.

Two gunners have the hottest seats in the plane. The front gunner controls the twin 303 calibre FN5 machine guns and the tail gunner has four FN20 303 calibre machine guns. Shoot-'em-up fans will love this part of the game. Graphics are superb and reminiscent of Beach Head as those Messerschmitts scream in on you.

The front gunner has a second role to play - that of bomb aimer. To bounce the bombs successfully onto their targets two instruments must be used on dam approach. The Bomb Rotation Switch and the Aircraft Altitude Spotlight are used to drop the bomb at just the right angle so that it will skim across the water, bouncing over the defences and hitting the dam at just the right angle to pierce the several feet thick concrete.

The navigator keeps the Lancaster on course and chooses the targets at the beginning of the mission from a map of western Europe. As well as dams there are airports, military installations, population centres, and industrial complexes.

The navigator has one of the most difficult jobs in the plane as a very precise approach to the dam is required if the Lancaster is to drop the bomb successfully and, at the same time, avoid the heavy German defences.

There are two engineers on board. Depending on which skill level you choose to play, you control one or both. Engineer one is concerned with the functioning of the engines. Engineer two - who plays only in the Squadron Leader option - is concerned with the landing and taking off equipment.

The key to a successful mission in Dam Busters is to master all of the skills and switch between them constantly to check progress. As well as the different role screens there is also a screen showing the dam after the bomb has been dropped, with the water spilling through. A damage and status screen is also incorporated for you to monitor the state of the Lancaster.

This is the flight game. It has the edge over the straight flight simulation because of the historically accurate mission you are asked to undertake. You do not need to be a budding pilot to get into the game - though the graphics and multi-screen approach give it the feel of a top quality flight sim. The only disappointment is that US Gold could not get permission to use the Dambusters theme tune on the load screen. It would have been neat to listen to Dambusters as you fly home after a successful raid. Despite that, the game is excellent and I can thoroughly recommend it. The best flight game yet for the C64.