Falcon 3.0

Falcon 3.0 was, for its time, one of the most ambitious attempts to bring the real handling of an F-16 fighter jet to a computer. It wasn't a game you switch on for twenty minutes. The package included a hefty manual that behaved more like a training handbook, and the player had to learn to work with the radar and its various modes, the head-up display, the multifunction displays, weapon management, and countermeasures. The reward was the feeling of piloting a machine with its own logic, not an aircraft controlled with two buttons.

The game offered several theaters of war and, above all, a dynamic campaign in which the front line shifted according to the results of your flights. A destroyed bridge, a scattered convoy, or lost air superiority fed into the further development of the conflict, so missions weren't just a lineup of scenarios but part of a bigger whole. Alongside that stood quick combat and instant action for those who just wanted to fly. Technically Falcon 3.0 was demanding; the polygon graphics and complex simulation could tax even powerful computers of the day, and the game was among the titles people bought better hardware for. It also included the option to play against another human over a modem, which was a small revelation in an era before common networks.

At the time Falcon 3.0 was regarded as the benchmark of the so-called study sim, that is, a simulator that doesn't try to be accessible but faithful. Expansions for other theaters and other aircraft kept the game alive for several years and set a standard that later flight simulators measured themselves against. Today the entry barrier is high, the controls rely on dozens of keyboard shortcuts, and without the manual the player gets lost within the first minute. But whoever fights through it gets a simulation whose depth can still be taken seriously decades later. This is especially evident in the moments when the player first locks a target on radar themselves, fires a missile from long range, and watches the opponent vanish from the screen. That kind of moment can't be experienced in simpler games.