[the_af]

Falcon 3 and 4 are major milestones in "serious" flightsims, and I toyed with both of them (3 more than 4), but I cannot say I completed a single mission with either.

MicroProse F-19 hit that awesome spot of some realism (laughable today, but it wasn't meant to be an arcade game back then), with a really easy flight model and cool missions and scenarios you could really complete. And besides knowing the keyboard mappings, you really didn't need a manual. It was thrilling to play mission after mission, getting all those medals, and having your character be promoted in rank. I spent a lot of time with that game -- probably flew as many missions as an actual combat pilot!

The only other flightsim I found almost as engrossing was Gunship 2000, with its "dynamic" campaign system, but it was way more difficult.

I find Tiny Combat Arena captures some of this thrilling but simple gameplay, but it currently lacks content (more campaigns, more maps, more things to do).