F-16: Combat Pilot

F-16: Combat Pilot was voted the best flight simulator of 1990 by the European Computer Leisure Awards. It was developed and published by Digital Integration Limited and was released in the late eighties.
As in real life, flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon is extremely complex. Within the cockpit of the Fighting Falcon, the user is assigned to different squadrons and must be trusted to carry out many missions with them. Each squadron is based in a different part of the world, and the squadrons’ respective missions reflect their locations.

There is, first and foremost, a training squadron, which comes highly recommended before play in real combat situations. There are many controls to familiarize oneself with. Beyond the training squadron, there are five combat missions: an air to air craft mission; one targeting military ground bases; an anti-tank mission; an attack on bridges and factories to inhibit supplies; and a high speed reconnaissance mission.
After completing all of the above missions, the user will have the option of attempting the Operation Conquest mission, which is a compilation of all the missions together, and is most challenging. The goal of the conquest scenario is to force the enemy to surrender by destroying supply lines, killing their squadrons, and reducing their morale. This is basically the equivalent of a player/manager in sports games, since deploying the various squadrons and assigning them tasks is all up to you…plus you have to fly them. With each success, you will be promoted to better squadrons and more challenging conquest missions.
To accomplish these tasks, the user must be familiar with the great many available weapons, some of which include: the AMMRAMM, Aim-9L, MK82, MK83. MK84, HARM, Mavericks, and a 20 mm cannon. The enemies to be dueled include the HIND helicopter, the Flogger, the Foxhound, and the Fulcrum.
The user can choose between a variety of options when beginning the game. He can play the missions, as previously illustrated, or can choose to duel a human opponent in multi-player mode. The weather conditions can be set, and the user can denote which of the massive amount of weapons will be loaded for each mission. He can also choose to take the preset ordinance, based on the groundcrew’s recommendations.
In summary, F-16: Combat Pilot is a highly detailed flight simulation with a lot of potential and replay value. It is very complex and training or extensive studying of the manual is recommended. It features great game play and fast action, and fairly realistic flight experiences, as well as dog fighting play. It is recommended for hardcore fans of the genre.