Dynamix 1992
Genre: Simulation
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

'Aces of the Pacific' is a very good air combat simulation which takes place in the Pacific in 1941-1945. A large variety of combat missions, airplanes, periods to start and realism settings guarantee almost infinite replayability.

Dynamix 1993
Genre: Simulation
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

That 'Aces over Europe' is kind of a sequel to 'Aces of the Pacific' becomes obvious at first sight. Graphfically nothing has changed, just some more sounds have been added; each plane has its own engine noise now. But nevertheless it's better than 'AotP' because most of its minor flaws have been removed.

Sega 1989
Genre: Simulation, Action
Rating: 4/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

A conversion of an immensely popular arcade game, Afterburner does everything in its power to deliver the same feeling, but fall short. A long time ago, when I still visited arcade halls, Afterburner was one of my favorite games, but also one of the hardest to play, due to the long line of people waiting for their turn. It was one of those games where you sat down into a seat, which moved with you as you turned the airplane, flew up or down. The soundtrack, a cheap copy of the Top Gun music, blasted from all sides.

Core Design 1994
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Banshee is a very late arrival in the genre of shooters. In 1994, the gaming industry started moving everything towards 'three-dimensional' games, and classic concepts like this one slowly died out. Thankfully, this genre (at least the subgenre of 'vertical shooters') got one final hit with this game.

Image Works 1989
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Blasteroids, along with Phobia and Spidertronic, was one of the first three original games I owned. Ironically enough, I owned it before I even got an Amiga. Oh well - looking at a box cover can be fun, too.

Sega 1984
Genre: Action
Rating: 2/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Buck Rogers... when I hear that name I instantly think of this stupid, annoying, just plainly dumb robot-thing... Twiki... Argh! I guess it was supposed to be cute, but well - it's not relevant here anyway. The whole series... comic... movies - everything ist just not important here. The only thing this game has got to do with Buck Rogers at all is just that there is some kind of spacecraft involved and there's a bit of flying around in space. That's just about it.

Novalogic 1993
Genre: Simulation, Action
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Normally, I don't like flight sims. They're usually overloaded with options to make it feel 'realistic'. So when I try one and I'm not able to take off without extensive study of the manual, I stop playing immediately. But Comanche is different! It's on the border to the action genre. The flight model is not too realistic, the controls have been reduced to the necessary things. I still consider it a simulation though, because it doesn't rely exclusively on fast reflexes, but finishing missions involves a lot of tactics.

Starbyte 1991
Genre: Action
Rating: 2/6
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

I'm not really sure how I got to own this game... my guess is it came from one of these sales where the stores would just throw whatever they have left of unsellable stuff on a huge table and be happy about anyone ridding them of anything. So the price would have been low, and the expectations about the same. At least I have no recollection of being seriously disappointed.

Novagen 1990
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Commercial
System: Atari ST

The 21st Century (hint: this is meant to be the future . Interplanetary travel has become normal. Many planets in the nearby solar systems have been colonized. Nations have grown to the size of whole planets.

Parallax Software 1994
Genre: Action, Simulation
Rating: 5/6
Licence: Shareware
System: PC

"3D shooters" are embarassing in general, this typical German designation alone gets on ones nerves fast. In combination with that pimply teenager who murders at home while mummy is gone shopping, these accumulations of appropriate cliches become almost unplayable.