Black Knight

STORY / GAMEPLAY
This combat simulator offers eight training missions (air combat, ground attack) in which you will be assisted by an on-board flight instructor to help familiarize with the Hornet controls and weapons (air-to-air AIM-7M, AIM-9M missiles, M-61A1 gun, AGM-88A anti-radar, rocket pods etc). Once you master the basics, Black Knight has 50 combat missions to select, like destroying SAM controlled radars, tank formations, weapon storage facilities, supply-support bridges or scramble air bandits). There is also a flight recorder (a VCR-type option) that keeps records from your mission(s) so you can go back and watch what went wrong or just the action ensue from many different angles.
Generally speaking, Black Knight is enjoyable and a reasonably accurate simulator, with beautiful visuals, smooth action and great sound.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The game's graphics are great and special attention has been given to the F-18 aircraft's physics and cockpit. Without a doubt, the most impressive part of the game is its cockpit. The game runs in SVGA and has high framerates (even on a slow 486), making it very playable for its time. The F-18 model (and the opposing MiG-29s) may not be the best around, but it still is designed with accuracy.
Apart from the greatly detailed cockpit, the overall sound is the next big thing in this game, with a lot of high-quality sampled stereo sounds like missile firing, afterburner boosts, explosions and more, along with high-quality speech from the control-tower, your wing-man and your instructor. You also have the option to select a few nicely-composed tunes during your combat flights.