Commodore User


Super Huey

Publisher: Cosmi
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Commodore User #20

Super Huey

Super Huey, which sounds like something you do after ten pints of Owd Roger, is a flight simulator. Not one of the many airplane kinds, but, in common with one of the present flavours of this month, a helicopter one. The difference being that a helicopter, as I'm sure you are well aware, is a rotary wing aircraft and hence flies differently.

Nevertheless, the general flavour of all flight simulators is there with cockpit viewpoint full of instruments panels telling you altitude, speed, direction, etc.

You get four modes of operation: solo flight, exploration, rescue and combat. The first is self explanatory, giving instruction; the second allows you to fly through uncharted territory and map it out; rescue sends you to pick up stranded personnel in a mountainous region; whilst combat is obvious. My main niggle is with the last of these. There's not enough combat, and when I was flying along ten feet off the ground my gunfire was going over the top of trees.

At least though, there is something to see on the ground in this program unlike many terribly serious ones which show a horizontal line dividing two areas of green and blue. You know the kind, they're American and often so good that the Russians buy them to discover military secrets about flight capabilities' of the plane.

Control is relatively easy because there aren't too many dials to keep an eye on, but the joystick does have tw moodes of operation: collective and cyclic. The sound is good with the rotor blades making a nice chopper noise. Personally, as flight simulators go, I'd stick with Fighter Pilot or go for one of the Spitfire simulators reviewed here, but this is pretty good and essential for helicopter enthusiasts. The exact same program is also available through Audiogenic at £8.95 (cass). I'll leave it to you to decide whose to buy.