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In today's world of modern warfare, secrecy is paramount. It's unbelievable, then, that last year's Top Secret is this year's computer game. Neil Jackson takes air superiority to ridiculous heights and captures an enemy plane...

With the recent events in the Gulf, flight simulations have a bittersweet taste right now. Quite remarkable then, that Domark's new flight sim should be based on the plane which has for so long given the West the jitters. The Mikoyan Guryevich (MiG) Design Bureau produced the USSR's most fearsome fighter, the 29 (codenamed Fulcrum by NATO), and for a long time no-one this side of Moscow knew what it could do, or how fast.

Now things are a bit different, but no less worrying. The onset of Glasnost has meant that the Soviets are less tight-lipped about the MiG-29 and its stablemates. We now know that the Fulcrum is a highly capable, surprisingly dangerous plane - and we also know that the Soviets sold plenty of them to Iraq (during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war).

So you could look on Domark's MiG-29 Fulcrum as either an intelligence-gathering exercise or just a computer game, whichever you feel happier with. For now, let's leave the politicians to get reality back in shape, while we examine the fantasy.

MiG-29 Fulcrum depicts you as a Soviet pilot, at the start of your training with the stalwart machine. The simulation provides a whole training arena, which has a target bombing range, a lake with floating and static targets, and a small runway which produces an endless supply of Shenyang fighters for you to eradicate. You can continue to train until you decide you're ready to take the risk of hits. If you happen to "buy the farm" during your training, a new plane appears on the runway instantaneously and you can take off again. No such reincarnations in combat missions, however - failed missions must be redone from the srart.

The MiG-29 is an easy plane to get to grips with, and is a dream to fly. Beginners should learn to fly in the sim's simple mode, rather than its advanced counterpart, since the latter computes aerodynamics to an incredibly realistic level. This can be confusing if you haven't been told what to expect in true flight - lift is more elusive, for example, and more care needs to be taken in turning. Similarly, there is a choice of control devices - the mouse, keyboard or joystick. Of these, the mouse is the most responsive and accurate - and it leaves you a hand free for operating the many buttons "inside the cockpit". Joystick mode comes a very close second, but is less attractive, primarily because the Fire button works only the machine gun. To release missiles you need to hit the Spacebar, often causing a bit of scrabbling if you're holding the stick in two hands.

Once aloft, the MiG can be thrown around to a severe degree, with no trouble in recovery. It can even perform the tailside manoeuvre it's famous for - a high vertical climb followed by cutting the revs, which causes the plane to drop backwards, straight down. Master the recovery here, and you're almost a professional. Mess it up and you're history.

When you've got the training in the bag, and you're sure you can cope with the relatively simple weapons systems, it's time to test your mettle under real pressure. There are five main missions, with the final mission set - rather chillingly - in the Middle East. You can embark on any of these missions in any order, except for the final mission, which you can only attempt if you have a score over 500 before you start. Points are scored for each target you hit successfully, and for your safe return to base. During your career, you fly a reconnaissance mission to identify a NATO submarine trapped in ice, an incursion into Red China over the Great Wall, an attack on a terrorist convoy, and carry out wholesale destruction of oil refineries, storage dumps and even a fast-breeder nuclear reactor!

En route, you're very likely to come across some form of enemy activity, usually another fighter. Sea Harriers, Shenyangs, Mirages and other (enemy) MiG-29s keep tabs on you constantly, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Using the MiG-29's advanced in-helmet Head-Up Display (HUD), you can lock on to virtually any airborne target which is in range. The keypad keys select the view from the pilot's seat, and the Return key forces the missile systems to track any targets in the current view direction. You can then return to the straight-ahead view and bank over hard to pull in behind your opponent.

Armed with AA-8 Alamo missiles, your MiG is a worthy combatant, but missile release timing is critical. The familiar red target-lock shows your best chance of a hit, but most of your opponents require at least two good belts before they go down. As a last resort, you can use the built-in machine guns, but their range is limited to around one kilometre in the air. Flying at Mach 1 while firing bullets at a moving target is rather like dropping stones from the Severn Bridge onto a matchbox on the river below - difficult to do, but immensely satisfying if it works!

MiG-29 meets all the flying standards set by other flight sims and often surpasses them. In terms of control, it's as good as F-19 Stealth Fighter and F-16 Combat Pilot and far better than Falcon, Fighter Bomber and F-19 Retaliator. However, it has less flashy front-end graphics than most and doesn't have nearly such an exciting missions section as Stealth Fighter. A few extras, on top of the basics, might have been a nice addition.

However, that doesn't mean MiG-29 isn't brilliant. The feeling of true flight is unsurpassed, even by F-19 Stealth Fighter. Absolutely every aerodynamic principle is covered, without making the plane unflyable. Real planes are not excessively difficult to fly, and sims shouldn't be either. MiG-29 shows that realistic physics can be applied to a game environment without making the whole thing slow or overly difficult.

Sound effects in MiG-29 consist of explosions, your ever-revving engines and a few warning beeps and tyre-squeals. Not amazing, nor appalling - they do the job, and little else is really needed. As for the music, the short intro tune is pleasant, but you're unlikely to listen to it more than once. This isn't because it's uninteresting, however; it's because you need to press the Spacebar to load the game, cutting off the tune in mid-flow.

MiG-29 is the result of two years of intensive work by Jonathan Newt and Dave Payne, the game's designers. To them fell the task of gathering as much MiG information as possible and then double-checking, cross-referencing and finally incorporating it all into a flight sim "engine" which had already been created for an earlier program. This might seem like an incredibly difficult and perhaps dangerous task, but it was simple enough for the two designers - their team SIMIS has previously been responsible for a number of "real" flight simulators for British Aerospace, so it was easy enough for them to obtain a lot more data on both aerodynamics in general and Fulcrums in particular. After designing the system and writing it on the PC in a high-level programming language, the team worked with Paul Stein to produce the ST version over another 22 weeks.

Jonathan Newth spoke exclusively to ST Format and passed on some of MiG-29 Fulcrum's less obvious tips, foibles and tactics.

1. There are two sets of MiG flying characteristics - the simple model and the real aircraft model. What's the difference? The simple mode is more like other flight sims. It gives a generally correct response by using special condition tables to produce approximate handling characteristics. However, fly outside the flight envelope and the plane is not guaranteed to respond exactly the same as a real MiG would.
2. The real aircraft model takes into account all the flight surfaces - wings, fuselage, flaps, gear position, rudder, etc - and works out, in real time, how various forces act on them. Altitude, velocity, angle of attack, centre of gravity, acceleration and torque are all calculated, and the plane responds exactly as it would in real life.
3. Enemy planes have realistic flight envelopes and they will not exceed them. For example, Harriers VIFF (vector in forward flight) by directing their thrust nozzles forward while flying, and they land and take off vertically. They're tough to beat, but not impossible.
4. Unlike in other sims, the enemy craft in MiG-29 have finite weapons resources and you can use this to your advantage. Harriers have only two air-to-air missiles each, while the other planes have four each. Each enemy carries 250 rounds of cannon ammunition - and uses it if you get too close!
5. Your aggression factor is considered in the early missions. If you hide below radar range and don't attack aircraft before you reach the target, the enemies try to simply herd you out of the area. Attack them and they attack you.
6. Enemies have limited fuel, as well as weapons. Loitering costs fuel, so you may be able to force an enemy to return home simply by wasting his time. Then you can bring him down as he tries to land - but make sure you can still get home, too!
7. Runways tend to generate aircraft indefinitely, so take them out at the earliest opportunity, or you may never get any sleep.
8. A green target lock in the HUD sight shows a 30-40% chance of a hit. You're advised to wait for a red lock which shows an 80-90% probability. Enemies know if they're being locked and they break away if they can, so stick with it.
9. MiG-29 isn't quite true to life in one respect. Select autopilot on your plane, lock on to an enemy aircraft, then press J and you can see through your enemy's cockpit window. It's a good way of working out how they manoeuvre to get you in their sights. Steal their tactics, because they work!
10. Similarly, you should use the enemy window view to see whether the enemy is approaching head to head with you. Be wary if he is, because (a) he'll be firing cannon like crazy, and (b) he may run straight into you and kill you both!
11. Look out for secret targets which are not indicated in the mission briefing. If you can get a target lock on something, it's an enemy!

Buy MiG-29 Fulcrum and an excellent, unmissable flight sim is yours. The novelty of flying a Soviet warplane soon wears off, and before long you are unaware of whose side you're on, what the plane is, or anything other than staying alive and airborne. Fast, smooth vector graphics whizz by at the twist of the mouse and they are eminently controllable. It's this that makes MiG-29 so good. The missions are exciting and varied, even if they are a little "standard", but then most real-life missions are fairly similar anyway.

Most flight simulator aficionados are already reaching for their wallets, just at the mention of MiG, but for those of you who are considering your first flight sim, fear not. MiG-29 doesn't disappoint. It's an excellent, rewarding game for newcomers and old hands alike, and it's sure to keep your head in the clouds for a long time to come.