The Classic PC Gaming Era (1977-1989) - Enjoying Flight and Combat Simulator Games Today
Need more flight sims, tank sims, submarine sims and beyond to play? Here's a list of some of the best as well as some others you might not be aware of!
While flight simulators were often cutting edge software during their time, they tend to be extremely inaccessible to gamers today because they typically required detailed reference manuals and cards to operate even the basic functions required to progress and they also were programmed to be played with a combination of a joystick and keyboard (though some of the most advanced, like Falcon 3.0, were definitely made with a HOTAS throttle and flight stick combination in mind).
Graphically, they’re also quite unimpressive and even off-putting today, featuring primitive 3D polygonal aircraft and extremely monotonous sound effects and mechanics. The games that really hold up best from that era are the ones that had a more arcade-like, action-oriented sensibilities, and many still aren’t as easy to get into as an arcade title like Sega’s Afterburner.
So, we’re going to keep our list short and focus on a few gems that are still worth your time and trouble in the modern era.
Notable or Essential Games
The games we’re not going to cover are the following notable or essential titles:
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A2FS1 Flight Simulator through Flight Simulator 3.0 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 through 4.0 (series) (1979-1989) – Bruce Artwick and subLOGIC produced all of the Flight Simulator and most of the Microsoft Flight Simulator games (up through 1988’s version 3.0), and both series have so much in common they’re difficult to tell apart. These are serious flight sims mostly made for fans of commercial and civilian aircraft, and the extensive ecosystem of scenery disks helped to keep subLOGIC’s series going for many years. Artwick’s later company BAO produced Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0 in 1989 and 5.0 in 1993 before Microsoft took development in house. The Microsoft series is still going strong, with its most recent release debuting in 2020.
F-15 Strike Eagle (1984) – An 8-bit simulator from MicroProse featuring seven real-life missions as you fly a fighter bomber to take out air and ground targets. Great for its time, but quite limited today.
Silent Service (1985) – MicroProse’s classic World War II submarine simulation set in the Pacific theater. As with most of their games, it has a heavy focus on realism and open-ended play but is also made to be engaging and fun.
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Jet and Jet: Version 2.0 (1985 and 1987) – subLOGIC’s first combat-focused flight sim, featuring full polygon graphics, a chance to fly the F-16 or F-18 Hornet and support for Flight Simulator’s scenery disks. The sequel adds significant improvements to the simulation and control options. Jet was quite groundbreaking for its time but looks so primitive today that only serious sim fans will find it fun.
Chuck Yeager’s Advanced Flight Trainer and Advanced Flight Trainer 2.0 (1987 and 1989) – A major hit for Electronic Arts that established a series that would briefly rival subLOGIC and Microsoft, featuring legendary USAF pilot Chuck Yeager as a technical adviser, mascot and voice actor. The games also include simulations of his accomplishments. A particularly big draw was the ability to fly the then-revolutionary SR-71 Blackbird.
Falcon, Falcon A.T. and Falcon Operation: Counterstrike (1987, 1988 and 1989) – Spectrum Holobyte’s hardcore and incredibly detailed F-16 combat flight sim series started out with a strong foundation and kept getting better with each release. The series truly hit its stride in 1991 with Falcon 3.0.
Battlehawks 1942 (1988) – Lawrence Holland’s hit flight WWII simulator set in the Pacific Theatre and featuring four operations with twelve different aircraft. It was the foundation for a trilogy that also included Their Finest Hour and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, and a predecessor to Star Wars: X-Wing and an inspiration behind Chris Roberts’ Wing Commander.
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F-19 Stealth Fighter (1988) – A highly detailed 16-bit simulation by Sid Meier and MicroProse featuring an approximation of the F-117A stealth fighter that was famous in part for its night missions. Because the ship was classified during development but announced just as the game shipped, MicroProse included a hidden method for players to rename two files to unlock the F-117A’s actual appearance.
M1 Tank Platoon (1989) – MicroProse’s tank simulation achieved the high mark of being an amazingly realistic sim for its time while also managing to be a ho-hum experience as a game. Those who love the technical aspects of armored platoons will enjoy this one. Everyone else should stick to the slightly arcadier 1988 game Steel Thunder or some of the 1990s tank titles.
Red Storm Rising (1988) – A popular MicroProse submarine simulation based on Tom Clancy’s novels and helmed by Sid Meier. It’s still considered one of the best submarine sims ever made and its focus on modern warfare and making tactical decisions to stave off World War III keeps the game tense and engaging.
Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain (1989) – A prequel to Battlehawks 1942 where you can fly as both the British RAF and the German Luftwaffe during the famous 1940 Battle of Britain. Much like its predecessor, it strikes a firm balance between realism and fun.
If you haven’t played these games and this genre sounds interesting to you, you probably ought to check them out (though be warned – they are quite primitive by today’s standards and have been greatly overshadowed by the games that came after them).
Games I’ll Feature in the Book
The titles I’ll additionally feature in the book edition of The Greatest Games You’ve (Probably) Never Played Vol. 1 include:
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Apollo 18: Mission to the Moon (1987) – A fun but simple minigame-style sim from Artech (Ace of Aces) about a fictional mission to the moon. It plays similarly to an Olympiad or Cinemaware-style game where each sequence has different controls and objectives.
F29 Retaliator (1989) – An interesting 16-bit combat flight sim from Digital Image Design and Ocean featuring two then-experimental aircraft in test missions and three tours of duty set in the Pacific, Europe and Middle East theaters. Even better, there’s an arcade mode called “Zulu Alert” where you just focus on shooting down planes.
Games You Might Want To Try
In addition to the titles above, there were many excellent games released throughout the decade that are worth checking out if you’re interested:
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Hellcat Ace, Spitfire Ace and MIG Alley Ace (1982 and 1983) – Three simplistic 8-bit combat flight sims from Sid Meier and MicroProse where you fly dogfighting missions in World War II and the Korean War.
The Dam Busters (1984) – An early arcade-style flight sim from Sydney Development Corp. about a World War II bombing crew. It’s quite dated graphically, but the gameplay is interesting. Partially based on the 1955 film of the same name, which is well-known today for being an inspiration for the Death Star trench run scene in Star Wars.
Solo Flight (1984) – A game from Sid Meier and MicroProse about… delivering mail? It’s a more relaxing sim from an era where most games were about combat, but it’s also quite detailed, including weather models and considerations about fuel economy.
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Tomahawk (1985) – An 8-bit combat flight simulator from Digital Integration where you fly an AH-64 Apache helicopter. The simulation is simplistic relative to other flight sims, but the action is decent. It was originally released for the ZX Spectrum in the UK, and that version and the Amstrad CPC port are probably the most popular versions.
Project Stealth Fighter (1987) – MicroProse’s earlier 8-bit attempt at making a detailed combat flight sim centered around the still-classified F-117A. In some ways, it’s more fun than F-19 Stealth Fighter, but it’s also a lot more challenging due to its simplistic wireframe graphics.
F/A-18 Interceptor (1988) – A decent Amiga polygon-based flight sim from Intellisoft and Electronic Arts where you can fly both the F-16 and the F/A-18 Hornet (which is quite formidable).
F-14 Tomcat (1989) – A Commodore 64 exclusive from Dynamix featuring the popular U.S. Navy fighter. The lengthy career mode is quite detailed and the simulation elements are strong, but the gameplay is quite dated due to the hardware limitations.
As Our Series Continues…
In the coming weeks, we’ll talk about sports games, gameroom games, puzzle games, unusual games and so much more.
And while you’ll definitely see some titles from prominent North American publishers like Sierra On-Line, Infocom, Activision, Electronic Arts, Brøderbund, SSI, MicroProse, Lucasfilm Games, Epyx and Sir-Tech in the mix, you’ll also see references to games from the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Spain and Japan.
If you’ve missed the earlier entries in the series, which cover ASCII games, adventure games, wargames, strategy games and role-playing games, you can find the entire archive at https://greatestgames.substack.com.
Anything I don’t share here will be in my upcoming book, tentatively titled The Greatest Games You (Probably) Never Played Vol. 1. Subscribe to this newsletter so you won’t miss it!