SUPERHUEY

By Ricky Finn AMuse (NYC)

Imagine that you are stepping into a new, experimental, state-of-the-art
helicopter. You fall into the plexiglass moulded seat and grasp the
controllers. The newest, most technically advanced controls appear
before you. You flip a switch and the cockpit lights up like the Fourth of
July. Meters and gauges surround you. There are so many lights flashing that
you feel like you are walking down broadway. You check all of your gauges, 
everything is ready. You turn on the ignition and the loud humming of the 
engine almost deafens you. Twelve-hundred RPM, you are ready to engage the 
clutch. Now the "thwoop-thwoop" of the rotor blades can be heard. You 
increase the throttle, increase the lift, put the nose down and slowly you 
rise. In seconds you're traveling at two thousand feet. If you want to 
experience the above buy a real helicopter. If you want to stay home,save 
some money, and cut out the above thrills, get Superhuey. Don't get the 
wrong idea, I like this helicopter simulator but it was unfortunately almost 
directly ported over from the Commodore C-64. Although it does use some of 
the ST's features like the mouse, these tend to inhibit the ease of use 
instead of enhance it.

For instance, the mouse is used to control two different mechanisms at the 
same time which can get very difficult, not to mention very confusing. A 
joystick/mouse capability like the one found on Commodore's Mindwalker would 
be much more useful here. For this game, a joystick option alone would have 
enhanced it significantly. To get to the finer features of the game, those who
appreciate accurate simulators will like Superhuey. The initial takeoff 
procedure is accurate to a real helicopter (speaking from the little that 
I know on the subject) one must wait until warm-up temperature is reached 
before increasing the throttle (this though, can take up to two full minutes 
while you stare at the screen). Once the warm-up temperature has been reached, 
you can increase the throttle until the RPM is 1200 and so on. The point, as 
previously stated, is that all of this takes time. If you just want to boot-up 
and go, you will not be able to. In fact, first you must sit and watch the 
title screen for over two minutes. Graphics leave something to be desired but 
the cockpit is somewhat nicely detailed. Moreover, the movement does look good
with both forward and bottom windows. The only problem is that the scenery
graphics are not worth looking at. One does get the feel of reality though,
during lift-off. The use of the ST'S dual playfields gives the illusion of
lift and also, speed. Full instrumentation is provided in keeping with the 
simulator accuracy. These instruments monitor everything from fuel levels to 
homing signal frequencies (used in the more complex missions). Instruments not 
only monitor the workings of the helicopter itself, but also measure external 
influences such as wind speed and the current climactic conditions outside of 
the helicopter. The simulator has four different levels of difficulty ranging 
from "flight school" to combat to rescue missions. At each level new skills 
must be learned so that by the last (rescue), one must not only be an expert 
pilot, but an expert navigator as well. The documentation provided helps to 
ease one along the way, but it gets very technical at some points. This was
probably done to convey an unnecessary importance to the simulator and/or
impress the customer. It does neither. It makes for heavy reading and does
not fully explain all details. I like the way it uses the technical terms
for most controls, but I found that at times a "more english" explanation
of each would have been beneficial. 

In conclusion, the final choice will still have to be made by yourself.
I can not fully recommend or "trash" this product. It has both its good and 
bad points, pretty much cancelling each other out. Most people that I have 
spoken with seemed not to like this simulator, but even with all the 
negatives that I have mentioned, I still like it. Until next time!