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Just when you thought you'd seen a simulation for just about every plane in existence, along comes Cinemaware with one that celebrates the Fighter Aces of World War One. Wings simulate the three important activities of the air forces during the war: aerial combat missions, strafing missions, and bombing missions.

Before you can begin to fly in earnest you have to earn your wings by successfully flying a training mission. Now you can join 56th Squadron and begin to give the Hun in the sun something to write home about.

You start as a Second Lieutenant on March 2nd 1916. Success involves flying over 230 missions until Armistice Day on 10th November 1918.

Although this is much more of an action game than any of Cinemaware's previous releases, the interactive fiction element is still present. In this case it takes the form of the young officer's diary which relates events (some real and some fictional) throughout the war. These set the scene before each mission and also detail any advance in technology that affects either one side or the other.

As you might expect from a Cinemaware production, Wings has an impressive cinematic feel, from the dramatic opening sequence and credits to the shot of the members of each patrol peeling off at the start of a mission.

The whole package manages to create an effective atmosphere which is enhanced by a quality soundtrack. Wings has a lot more playable action than Cinemaware's other similar works, and even though there's a narrative sequence to it, the urge to continue playing is strong - even if you do manage to complete all the missions.

The only real problem is the seemingly endless disk swapping required if you don't possess a second drive! Still, for a more authentic experience of life in World War One, you'd be hard pushed to top this.

You should see an ST version some time in the middle of the next year. Any alterations will be down to lack of space as opposed to the performance of the machine, but major differences are unlikely.

PC owners should see something at about the same time as ST people. As ever, users of fast VGA machines with a decent sound driver will get the most out of this.