Falcon

Falcon is a flight simulator for the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet, which on the Atari ST offered one of the most elaborate flight models of its time. The player pilots a modern fighter jet, handling takeoffs, landings, navigation, and air combat against enemy aircraft, with the game placing emphasis on relatively realistic aircraft behavior - reacting to speed, altitude, fuel, and damage - in contrast to the simplified arcade flight games of the era. The cockpit offers functional instruments including radar, an onboard computer for firing missiles, and a warning system for enemy lock-on, so a successful flight requires monitoring several gauges at once.

On the Atari ST the game ran in vector 3D graphics with filled surfaces, made possible by the platform's more powerful processor, and offered a clear cockpit view with functional instruments. The game also included a mission editor that let players build their own scenarios and objectives, significantly extending the title's lifespan beyond the pre-built missions. Players could also choose the simulation's difficulty level, from a simplified flight model suitable for beginners to a more demanding setting closer to the real behavior of the aircraft, making the game accessible to both newcomers and more experienced flight-sim enthusiasts.

Falcon, from studio Spectrum HoloByte, helped establish the Atari ST as a platform suitable for more demanding flight simulations, which had previously been the domain of more powerful computers. The game's success led to several sequels and expansions and helped popularize the genre of military flight simulators among the broader home computer audience, which had previously seen this type of game as the domain of specialized and considerably more expensive platforms. Today Falcon is interesting mainly as a reminder of an era when simulators were still finding the balance between accessibility and realism, and as one of the more technically demanding titles in the Atari ST's early catalog.

Why play: For those interested in the history of flight simulators, who will appreciate how the genre was still finding the balance between accessibility and realism on 1980s hardware.