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I first bought the game in 1996, and became hooked to it almost immediately. The game has an excellent, compelling set of single player campaigns (the original JF3 came with 2 campaigns -- one in the Gulf of Mexico and the other in South America). The Enhanced Campaign CD added the F-14, 3dfx glide acceleration, and lots more terrain (up to a total of 11 million square miles). Graphics: - At the time, JetFighter 3 had arguably the best graphics for a modern combat flight simulation. The biggest thing that drew me to it was its incredibly expansive terrain maps, which seemed like they went on forever. Cross-country flights are actually possible in JF3. With the Enhanced Campaign CD, you get even more. - Aircraft have excellent 3D models for what was available at that time. It was my first combat sim in which I could actually see the ordnance (missiles, bombs, etc) on the aircraft pylons. The 3D models are also detailed enough that the canopy is transparent, and you can see the pilot, cockpit and instrumentation from exterior views. Flight model: - The flight model is acceptable for arcade play,. There are some ssues with the accuracy (i.e.; what the airplane should be doing at various attitudes and angles of attack). If the airplane is banked over to one side more than 90 degrees (i.e.; your cockpit is somewhat facing the ground), the aircraft doesn't pitch towards the ground as it should; it remains level. No real aircraft ever does that (not even modern fly-by-wire aircraft with tons of flight control computers). - Otherwise, the aircraft behave as predicted and have acceptable handling qualities of an arcade-like flight simulator. You will need a joystick with the old-fashioned sound card/MIDI interface that uses a throttle. If you run the game in Windows 9x, it will work with USB joysticks, but in my experience, I haven't gotten a USB throttle to work with this. The Gravis Blackhawk (older, MIDI/sound card style joystick with the older connector) works just fine with this game. Realism: The game involves enough elements of realism that it takes a little more effort than a very basic arcade shooter, but not too much more. You have to select missiles, bombs, etc, and select master modes (air-to-air vs. air-to-ground modes) to tailor the aircraft's avionics for the type of fight you are in. The controls are very simple, and the tutorials take you through everything. The game features an arcade-style radar that gives you a 360 degree picture of threats around your aircraft. It is not a realistic aircraft radar (ivolving scan patterns, pulse repitition frequencies, etc). Yes, you do land an F-22 on a carrier, (no, the F-22 is not a USN aircraft). What to look for: - JF3, standard CD (black/white art): This is the original version without 3D acceleration - JF3, enhanced campaign CD: Requires the JF3 CD mentioned above. Adds F-14, 3dfx acceleration, new campaigns and new terrain. -- JF3 Platinum: Includes the two items above. Usually sells for a lot more. -- JF3 Classic: Essentially a re-make of JF3 Platinum. Usually far cheaper. I would recommend this one over any of the others.Read full review
Hands down the best modern-jet simulator I have used. I am a big Flight Simulator guru (FS 2002 - FSX, etc.) This game will ONLY work on older Win95/2000 computers, unless you know how to use a modern emulator. I have Win 7 and got it to work with an emulator. After 10+ yrs of not using the game, I have been so excited to play it again. The game is old, but at the time it was the next-level simulator. It had the most missions and variety than most simulators during the 90's. Most games had 5-10 aircraft you could fly, but only about 20 levels. You beat the game quickly and it was all over. This game, only 3 aircraft, and well over 200+ challenging levels, not so easy to beat! I also fly professionally and it is still so fun to go back to the retro game!
REAL JUNK , TOO OLD TO PLAY ON WIN. XP , WONT EVEN PLAY IN COMBATIBILITY MODE. DONT BUY IT UNLESS YOU HAVE AN ANTIQUE COMPUTER
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