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FLIGHT SIMULATIONS are at the leading edge of multimedia computer technology and interactive home entertainment. Sims have begun to rival the look, sound and feel of the million-dollar flight trainers used by airlines and the Pentagon. At their best, they hook beginners on arcade-style gaming and assure veterans an authentic experience of flying the actual plane.
The following sampler of four sims for IBM-compatible PCs puts you in the cockpits of the world's highest-performance supersonic combat aircraft:
TOP GUN: FIRE AT WILL. Hoping to attract a mass audience to a flying game, sim specialist Spectrum Holobyte re-creates the most famous jet-era dogfight movie as a CD-ROM featuring an hour of live-action video, a cast of 20 actors and you - the player - as Maverick (the Tom Cruise role), F-14 Tomcat ace. When you're not trading quips with rival pilots or being chewed out by your CO, Hondo (James Tolkan, reprising his movie role), you fly in four campaign theaters: 10 training missions at Miramar, the Navy's Top Gun School; 11 missions over Cuba, to repulse Fidel Castro's attack on the Guantanamo Bay base and support a coup against his regime; 12 missions to halt North Korea's invasion of South Korea, and 11 missions to crush Libya. "Top Gun" succeeds in its intention of providing immersive entertainment for beginners. (Flight-sim veterans may not feel too challenged.) The extensive Instant Action option gets the novice flyer airborne and quickly engaged in shooting matches. The training missions - dueling with instructors and fellow pilots - are fun. And by the time you...