Top Gun for Choppers
Despite its age and apparent lack of detail and sophistication, this is actually a pretty neat little helicopter simulator that, although it pales in comparison to the likes of Gunship, makes for an entertaining old-school experience. Players are thrust into the surprisingly roomy cockpit of the titular experimental combat chopper and charged with taking her for a spin in several different game modes. The best place to start is the flight school, which teaches you the basics of taking off, landing and handling. Once you have mastered these essential skills,it's time to head to the reality mode where you will put everything together in a high intensity combat mission that requires you to fly out to an enemy base and bomb the living daylights out of it. You also have an arcade mode where the goal is simply to knock as many enemy aircraft from the skies as you can, before they take you down in a blaze of glory and flaming wreckage. The game shares much in common with later releases from the same company, Super Huey and Super Huey 2, and although it's less than spectacular stuff, taken on its own terms, it's actually pretty entertaining stuff and has a fair bit to offer the armchair pilot. Given its age, there is a lot of detail on offer here and it does take some time to get used to the controls, but once you're in the air, piloting your chopper is fairly easy and even feels a little bit realistic. There is a lack of variety in the misisons and modes, which is probably the game's main downfall but while it lasts, this is a simple but fun little shooter/simulator.
