Flight Unlimited
Virgin's cheapo White Label has a good record of bringing out games that are still worth playing despite being a couple of years old - a good example is Flight Unlimited. This isn't a crash and shoot spectacular, but a careful simulation of real flight. That doesn't mean it's a yawn, though. You begin in the FBO (Fixed Base Operation) building. Glide around the building to find the whiteboard where you can pick up training, take a flight by choosing one of the five aircraft from the plane table, travel elsewhere with the globe, or take on the challenge of the hoops courses - airborne slalom races in three dimensions.Once in the cockpit, there's plenty to keep you busy. If you've only every flown aircraft in games, it's quite hard work simply getting off the ground and keeping the plane in the air, but the effort is rewarding. Instruments are a little fuzzy after the crisp representation in Microsoft' Flight Simulator, but the views from the plane are excellently detailed and smooth with the bonus of a nice rotating view showing your flight path through the air.
As a Flight Simulator user I would have liked more ability to map your location, but overall, Flight Unlimited combines cheap with very cheerful. I'd recommend a joystick with some extra widgets on it - a throttle and a rudder - to get the best out of Flight Unlimited.
Overall - no quick thrills, but a great introduction if you think you might like to fly a real plane. Priced around รบ9.99 in the UK. 1 DOS CD.
Produced by Looking Glass Technologies. Check the web site at: http://venus.lglass.com
Reviewed by Brian Clegg