Falcon MC - F16 Fighter Simulator

Falcon MC - F16 Fighter Simulator



Author: George Glaser

Date: June  , 1993

Keywords: Review game software program flight

Text:
Wow, Top Gun school on the Mac!  Falcon is a War Bird enthusiast's
dream come true.  It is so authentic, that if it were not for additions
such as ''Instant Action'' and ''Auto Pilot,'' the amateur flying ace
would be overwhelmed by a realistic profusion of simulated lights,
buttons, switches, REO, HUD, and much more. Spectrum HoloByte describes
it best. ''Falcon MC is the most realistic combat flight simulator for
the Macintosh. It effectively and accurately reflects the performance
and capabilities of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon within
the limitations of a personal computer.'' This is not a brainless,
arcade style, point and shoot game. Falcon is complex and uses every
key on your keyboard. The quick reference/keyboard Chart must be kept
in sight. I taped it to the bottom of my monitor. A printed ''Thin
Skin'' rubber keyboard overlay would be a welcome option. The manual is
well written and well illustrated. It is 186 pages of necessary
information, but ''Don't be distressed by the heft of this book. Falcon
MC is a complex game, and requires a thorough discussion of its
features. But it doesn't require a thorough reading of the entire
manual to play.'' If you are not ''into'' combat aircraft and
semi-detailed knowledge of their weapons and control systems, than this
game would not be for you! The feature that I am anxiously waiting to
try is head-to-head. This allows you to play against a real person on
another computer. ''Dog fighting against the computer can get old.
After a while you get to know all its tricks. But a human opponent, in
a plane fully as capable as your own, is a far more entertaining
challenge. The head-to-head option in Falcon MC lets you duel against a
real pilot. And if the pilots are mismatched, you can pick different
difficulty settings and armament loads for each'' (Falcon). Connection
to another Mac may be by direct connect, network, or modem.  
The installer is straight forward. The single 1.44 floppy disk contains
the entire compressed program which takes about 2.5meg of hard disk
space. Launching Falcon MC took about three seconds. The window is not
resizible and set at about 9" diagonal size; this probably keeps it
running fast, though. The interface seems to follow proper Mac
standards. The game performance was very good. The speed and the color
graphics are a welcome change from Falcon 2.2. 

The requirements are: Mac II, SE/30, LC, Quadra or Performa. System
6.0.5 or later, 4MB RAM, 32-bit QuickDraw, 16-color (4-bit) video card
(or better). Hard Drive,1.44MB floppy drive (800k disk available).
Recommended options are one, or better yet, two Advanced Gravis
MouseStick IIs and a modem. This evaluation was done on an LC III with
14" monitor, 4 MB RAM, System 7.1, and one Gravis MouseStick. At a
street price of $42, Falcon MC is a bargain for the serious
Combat-FlightSim gamer. Using one MouseStick increased my enjoyment
value of the game by 200%. The Falcon manual Illustrates the use of
single or double Gravis MouseSticks. Falcon and Gravis Mouse-Stick seem
made for each other. Using two MouseSticks eliminates hunting and
pecking at 18 keyboard buttons. While being fired upon, this would be
incredible! When you add the price of two Gravis MouseStick s to the
price of Falcon MC, the total is $178. Professional desk top flight
simulator software and control systems, for pilot training, start at
about $2500 and have little to offer over a Falcon/double MouseStick
setup. 

Flacon MC is published by and available from: 
     Spectrum HoloByte End-User-Sales
     2490 Mariner Square Loop
     Alameda, CA 94501       
     (800)-659-Game.
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