HARRIER 7

 HARRIER 7 is a strategy/arcade game from Avantage, a division of Accolade. The
Avantage game lineup features IBM/C64 disk formats and low prices. In addition
to HARRIER 7, MENTAL BLOCKS, SHOOT 'EM UP CONSTRUCTION KIT, and FRIGHTMARE have
been released. HARRIER 7 offers questionable graphics, four game speeds,
keyboard or joystick control, and copy protection. This review is for the
Commodore 64/128; IBM-PC version notes follow.

 Of the three Avantage products I've seen, HARRIER 7 is by far the worst,
although the IBM version played much better than the glitchy C64 version, thus
verifying the ancient adage: You usually get what you pay for.

 HARRIER 7 offers a single, twofold mission: Destroy seven enemy rocket bases,
while protecting the aircraft carrier that serves as your home base. Your craft
is a McDonnell Douglas VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) Harrier jet, armed
with cannon, bombs, Exocet missiles, and anti-missile flares. Your opponents are
MiG-21 fighters, flak, and other Exocets.

 You begin with three Harriers, each of which is lost when you run out of fuel
or have absorbed too much damage before returning to the carrier. The enemy
fires Exocet missiles at the carrier, and when the planes on it have been
destroyed, the carrier will sink, with you soon to follow. Planes can be added
to the carrier, depending on the aggressiveness and accuracy of your attack,
thus preserving it longer.

 The C64 screen display consists of the action screen, which scrolls to the
right. Below are weapon icons, radar, message window, fuel gauge, and score. The
map screen shows the location of the seven enemy bases and the carrier, the
current status of the mission, and serves as a Pause feature.

 HARRIER 7 can be controlled with either the keyboard or the joystick.
Keystrokes "A" and "Z" control altitude; "N" and "M" perform clockwise and
counter-clockwise loops; and the Spacebar fires the currently selected weapon.
Keys 1-4 select a weapon, "F" drops a flare, and "S" activates the map screen.
The stick duplicates the flight controls, and the button fires.

 HARRIER 7 comes on a flippy disk (IBM, C64) that is copy-protected on both
sides. The games loaded quickly, after which there was no disk access except for
the high score screen.

 The C64 version of HARRIER 7 is not very good. The graphics are barely
passable, and that's only when they're visible: The screen flickered all but
constantly; when it didn't, it appeared to be in 3-D, even though the package
doesn't include special glasses. Much of the time the Harrier flew by itself, as
though under remote control; it certainly wasn't reacting to the keyboard or the
joystick.

 HARRIER 7, at least in its C64 incarnation, is not worth $14.95.

 IBM-PC VERSION NOTES

 HARRIER 7 looks and plays much better on an IBM than it does on the Commodore
64. There was no screen flicker, and the limited (CGA) colors were several
degrees brighter and sharper than whichever colors appeared intermittently on
the C64 screen. This version requires 256K and supports the IBM PC/XT/AT and
compatibles, and PS/2 Models 25, 30, 50, and 60, as well as Tandy 1000 series,
3000/4000.

 Although the test computer was an IBM-compatible '386 equipped with a VGA card
and multisync monitor, HARRIER 7 defaulted to a CGA color scheme; neither VGA
nor multisync were used to their full capacity. Still, the colors were clear and
the graphics and animation were smooth and free-flowing, with nary a glitch. The
program operated identically at 6Mhz and 20Mhz clock speeds, and no
software-controlled game speeds were available, unlike the Commodore version
(which had four).

 The keyboard is the only controller for HARRIER 7, whether or not your IBM has
a game port. The keystrokes are the same as in the Commodore version, although
you can select a different set (Control and Alt for altitude, left and right
Shift for loops), or define whichever keys you like. Additional keystrokes
toggle sound effects, return to the main menu, and exit to DOS.

 The HARRIER 7 package comes with one, copy-protected 5-1/4" flippy disk. The
instruction card explains the workings of both versions. The IBM version of this
game is more or less worth the fifteen bucks, something that cannot be said for
the junk on its flip side.

 HARRIER 7 is published by Avantage and distributed by Accolade.

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