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LOCATION: classified. Dateline: unspecified. Operation Harrier is a battle without a cause. Leave the politics to the guys in the suits: all you need to know is how to fly a plane.

Highly volatile enemy installations are causing a lot of aggression at HQ. You miss mom's apple pie but all leave is cancelled until somebody takes those installations out. And what better way to destroy them than in the only truly successful fixed-wing VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft ever made - the McDonnell Douglas Harrier jump jet.

So take a look around you. See anyone else in spitting distance wearing a heroic grin and a flying suit? Nope? Looks like you just volunteered.

Operation Harrier looks like a flight simulation and plays like a shoot-'em-up, but it's really neither of the two. There's no need to wade through pages of technical information to play it and lightning quick reflexes help, but they aren't the secret of success.

Instead Operation Harrier is the kind of blaster-cum-strategy game that anyone can pick up and enjoy. The map and scenarios are well-designed and the presentation is excellent. As the missions get harder planning becomes essential - simply going in and kicking ass just isn't enough.

Inevitably, there are the odd niggles - the combination of keyboard and joystick controls isn't ideal and the perspective occasionally leaves a bit to be desired. But Operation Harrier's main disadvantage is a direct side-effect of its appeal. You take it out of the box, have a lot of fun for a while - and then you put it back.

That's no problem as long as you rate entertainment high over long-term lastability, but if you don't it might not be enough.

Apart from a slight visual variation, the surest way of telling the ST and Amiga versions apart is by counting the number of disks. If you can see two, you have an ST.

Rotoscape was initially intended for the PC and for no extra money this version comes with practically every possible extra for your delectation and delight: CGA, EGA, VGA and Tandy graphics plus AdLib and Roland sound support.