I first played Gunship on a C-64 inherited from my brother, and I can still remember the countless hours I spent flying missions. From the jungles of Southeast Asia to the fronts in Western Europe, there's plenty to choose from and many different target types and weapons to destroy.
The graphics were top notch for its time, and sometimes I found myself losing track of the objectives and stayed out too long, costing points. Each mission begins with a brief, telling you of your primary and secondary objectives, and new targets appear as you fly, so every mission is different.
I first played Gunship on a C-64 inherited from my brother, and I can still remember the countless hours I spent flying missions. From the jungles of Southeast Asia to the fronts in Western Europe, there's plenty to choose from and many different target types and weapons to destroy.
The graphics were top notch for its time, and sometimes I found myself losing track of the objectives and stayed out too long, costing points. Each mission begins with a brief, telling you of your primary and secondary objectives, and new targets appear as you fly, so every mission is different. You have to take weather, time of day and wind conditions in consideration, and especially have to be watchful of enemy Hind helicopters sneaking up on your
tail! Success means a commendation and/or promotion, and even a chance to get the rare Congressional Medal Of Honor for the really heroic minded. Fail, and you might be lucky enough to escape from behind enemy lines after being shot down...or be killed in action.
I used to create different pilots and compete against my own scores, and to see how many different medals I could earn. Shorter missions (under 20 mins. or so) have a greater chance of pleasing the brass and getting you a decoration, and you always have the ability of rearming at a base if you're low on ammo and continuing the mission, if you haven't reached your objectives. Going for that extra hit on a bunker or headquarters is always satisfying, too. Just make sure not to accidentally subject friendly troops to your missiles, or your post mission de-briefing could be uncomfortable to say the least. When you are feeling up to it, you can volunteer for the really hazardous missions - each region has its own feel, and there are four in all to fly in - plus a "practice range" in the USA where you can get shot at, but not shot down.
Be especially careful in Middle Eastern missions, as less cover in the desert means you've got a bulls eye on your back and nothing is as frustrating as flying straight into a SAM battery and crash-landing behind enemy line!
All in all, this is a tremendous flight sim and one of the best games to grace the C-64 or 128 at any time. I was so impressed by it, that I looked for and IBM-compatible version for years after I upgraded, but I still have a great fondness for this version in particular on the venerable old 64. If there's a negative in this game for me, it's extremely hard to find. The scoring mechanism for mission results isn't all that clear, but believe me, you'll hardly notice. A worthy military flight sim that I can only classify as excellent. It's a testament to simple but involving gameplay in a world now dominated by complicated control schemes and high end graphics. This one, along with Red Storm Rising, remain two of the very best games I've ever played on the Commodore, and to see it included here is rather heartwarming, I must say. I hope anyone who plays this version enjoys it as much as I did, and it is truly addicting and great stress relief as well. It's hard to imagine any fan of the genre being disappointed here.
