I think the вЂSteel TalonsвЂ™ ammo fire effect would have been a much better option for this game, to be honest but thereвЂ™s nothing too off-putting about it. You do get the lovely hum of your craft, and the curiously вЂlaser-likeвЂ™ quality of the enemy aircraft guns in the sky. Which is probably to be expected, given itвЂ™s a war sim requiring a fair amount of concentration. Sound-wise, you do get some nice intro and outro music, but thereвЂ™s no soundtrack as such in-game. ItвЂ™s a nice touch which certainly heartens back to the era in which this game is based. Rounding out the visuals are some very impressive digitised real life photographs, representing different reports you receive (wins or losses). The mixture of both sprites and polygon-based graphics means you donвЂ™t get the ruggedness in animation that you see in вЂHard DrivinвЂ™. Your own guns look pretty awesome whilst firing, and the whole experience is very smooth.

But you canвЂ™t, because those enemy planes are out there! The foes look great, albeit a bit pixely when up close. In fact, this game could easily have been a basic, passenger flight simulator, given how peaceful it is just to sail over the land and stare up at the clouds. You can watch the happenings outside the plane from a variety of angles, and everything out there looks pretty stunning. The plane itself is lovingly represented in a traditional way, right down to the old style whirring dials. We should address the visuals first, because they are clearly the most significant factor in this game. It's one of the most realistic 'war-like' games of all the militaristic titles on the Lynx (and there are more than a few of those). Basically, you have the goal of shooting down rival crafts, whilst around you surrounding are the beckoning skies, the never-ending clouds, and the hum of distant enemies in their flying machines. Ostensibly, what we have here is an astoundingly presented early war-flight game, which puts you in the cockpit of a delicate aircraft kitted out with a machine gun. Just try replicating THIS title, Game Gear and Game Boy yes, IвЂ™m looking at you both. It just beggars belief that the game was even possible, let alone imagined in someone's mind.ДЄs a purely technical achievement, 'Warbirds' is as much a Lynx benchmark as 'Stun Runner', 'Battlewheels', 'Blue Lightning' and 'Lemmings'. No one would have truly believed, at the time of its release, that ANYONE could have pulled off an early aircraft fighting game like this on a handheld. Along with 'Chip's Challenge', this is possibly one of the most well known Lynx titles in existence, and for very good reason.

Warbirds in review