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As the name suggests, Spitfire '40 puts you at the controls of this famous aeroplane, as a newly trained pilot posted to a Spitfire Squadron in South East England during Wartime.

In many respects this game resembles the famous Aviator from Acornsoft, except that Spitfire '40 records your experience from one game to another, and allows you to move through the ranks, and be awarded medals for daring deeds. The aircraft can be controlled with or without joysticks, but I would not recommend using the keyboard because of the large number of controls necessary to manoeuvre the plane and chase enemy aircraft effectively.

There are three modes of play depending upon your flying experience. You can either practice taking off and landing, or gain some combat experience 10,000 feet up in the clouds. For the actual combat playing mode, you are given a specific mission. You then have to to get the plane airborne and locate the enemy aircraft. Once you have destroyed the enemy, you must return to base and land without crashing.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game, and it kept me occupied for hours. There are some great visual and sound effects, and the instruction manual is well written and presented. Providing that you have some joysticks, I would thoroughly recommend Spitfire '40 as a stocking filler this Christmas.