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Silent Service casts you as a submarine commander during World War Two. You must hunt down convoys and sink them while avoiding the destroyers that guard them. The game switches between views from your periscope and strategic displays of your vessel, and maps may be accessed to pinpoint the enemy's location.

On-board sonar warns you of approaching destroyers and lets you know when the enemy has been hit by your torpedoes or gun. Options allow you to select practice modes or go straight into missions which include night attacks, surface raids, and cat-and-mouse actions with the depth charge carrying destroyers.

Successful hunting requires close shots but it is often better to keep your distance and manoeuvre into a position that allows an unaware convoy to steam straight towards you, saving you from having to chase it all over the Pacific!

The difficulty of your mission is determined firstly by your rank (which varies from midshipman to captain). Other choices to make life more dangerous include limited visibility, zig-zagging convoys, deadlier destroyers, and even the chance that some of your torpedoes are duds!

Submarine crews during the last war did not lead glamorous lives. They spent weeks at sea in cramped, unhygienic conditions in constant fear of attack from the surface, knowing that if hit by depth charges they faced a cold and terrifying death.

Supplies were limited by space, so illness caused by vitamin deficiencies were common, as were psychological problems because of overcrowding.

Each enemy vessel is worth "points" based on its tonnage. Therefore, tankers tend to be worth more than troop ships in your attempts to cripple the Japanese war effort. Destroyers aren't particularly heavy, but it's a good idea to sink these first - before they sink you.

Japanese convoys consisted of cargo ships, tankers, troop ships and escorts of destroyers. Of these, the tankers, with their vital supplies of oil, were the most important targets to the American subs.

The sonar equipment carried by the convoys was top notch and their gunnery was greatly feared. However, their surface radar and depth charges were not too efficient, allowing the subs to make devastating night raids on Japanese shipping.

Silent Service is one of those rare creatures: a strategy game for the Nintendo. It has a depth (no pun intended) that is normally found in 16-bit computer games. In that sense, the game is a refreshing change from platform and shoot-'em-up games.

The graphics are good and the array of options make the game easy to get into, but I found the game somewhat lacking in atmosphere and real excitement, especially as there can be long gaps between the action.

Despite this the game is a worthy addition to any collection and is up to Microprose's usual high standards.

I'm not usually a fan of this type of game - there are far too many controls and not enough things to blow up for my liking!

However, practice makes perfect, and once you get into the game, the action becomes quite tense as you start hunting down and destroying war ships before they get you.

The multitude of difficulty options gives the game plenty of lasting appeal and maintains the challenge. I wouldn't recommend this to an arcade fan, but if you're after something a little different, Silent Service is well worth looking at.

Presentation 81%
Attractive intro screens and option displays.

Graphics 78%
A bright and colourful game but the graphics are sometimes a little blocky.

Sound 76%
Plenty of atmospheric effects.

Playability 82%
Manages to create a tense atmosphere during combat sequences.

Lastability 86%
It's hard to imagine "finishing" this game, and it's one you'll come back to for a break from the more usual Nintendo fare.

Overall 82%
Although it lacks the immediate action of other games, Silent Service is an enjoyable and interesting sub-simulation.