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Another offering from Mirrorsoft, this time thirty years on... errr... or is it 40 years back? This time travel business gets very confusing. In any case, the time is firmly fixed at Summer 1940 and you are a Flying Officer at the controls of a Supermarine Spitfire stationed "somewhere in the South East of England". On loading, the program offers three choices - practice, combat and combat practice.

The latter places you several thousand feet in the air with Jerry right on your tail - but don't worry about it too much, as their hits won't count. This is just a practice session to get used to the controls and the manoeuvres you'll be needing in real combat situations.

Combat starts you off on the runway, with orders to intercept and destroy a number of enemy fighters at a certain altitude and bearing - but this time, if you get shot, you tend to fall out of the sky. Maybe what you need is lots of practice, which allows you to get used to the take off and the considerably more difficult landing procedure. Landing safely is an important part of the game, as you only get the flying hours and kills recorded in your log book if you do so.

The scenario is pretty straightforward the, but what about the authenticity of the controls and the actual feel of the simulation?

For once, the instrument panel is given a separate screen of its own, with an authentic Spitfire layout. You can toggle between this display and the cockpit view - from which all the shooting goes on - by firmly pressing the spacebar. All the expected instruments are there - and one or two others besides, such as an indicator showing the positioning of the rudder.

Actual control of the aircraft is implemented with a combination of keyboard and joystick. Roughly speaking, you point and fire with the joystick, and take care of flaps, brakes, throttle, and undercarriage via keyboard.

The final keyboard control shows you a map of the South East, with you and the Hun shown on it - and the location of your airfield.

The controls are detailed enough to take some learning, but gentle enough so that mistakes are not punished too hard - quite a good balance, particularly for younger budding pilots.

Speed is adequate rather than breathtaking, but I can assure you that it seems at least a whole order of magnitude faster than the Commodore version of the same program.

1. t a bad buy, particularly if you're looking for something that'll be a challenge without being too difficult.