History: Parasoft Interactive released A-10 Attack!, an A-10 flight simulator for the Macintosh. A-10 Attack! Sold many, many copies, and therefore was a giant hit on the Macintosh. What always results from success in a game, well almost always, is the sequel or mission disk, if the product is a flight combat simulator.

Plot: Guerrilla forces have taken over Cuba, and the A-10 Warthogs must suppress them.

Missions: Defend the Naval Air Station at Guantanamo Bay. Escort damaged aircraft over occupied territory. Destroy the resources needed to keep the enemy going. There are primary and secondary objects that we remember from the classic Microprose games from the not too distant past. Many missions involve 15 to 20 vehicles. Things get hairy with dozens dropping paratroopers, planes, and even taxi cabs all in the same local area.

Theater: One theater composed of 15,000 square miles over Guantanamo Bay. There are only 12 missions to fly.

You fly: A-10 Warthog: The largest flying airborne arsenal.

Aggressors: MiG-29,

Weapons: You shoot over 20 different bombs, and guided missiles and dumbfire rockets in addition to controlling the devastating under nose Avenger cannon.

Sequel: This is the sequel to the successful, award-winning A-10 Attack!. Cuba is a stand-alone game that does not require the original game to play. You need A10 Attack! To enable the mission planning and editing capabilities for the missions in A-10 Cuba!.

Editor: Does require the original A-10 Attack mission editor to design stand alone missions.

Flight Model: Advanced physics model simulates the rigid body motion and aerodynamic characteristics of the planes. The designers have incorporated accurate flight dynamics into the model for a very realistic simulator. The advanced physics model is applied now to all objects moving in the local area.

Difficulty: The game has a sophisticated set of seven combat, two sound, and four controller preferences. The combat preferences can make the game easier with optional indestructible aircraft, unlimited cannon rounds, easy aiming, sun blinding, wind, mid-air collisions, blackouts and redouts. The game is an easy one to learn and it is easy to just get in and fly the game.

Interface: The instrument panel is highly detailed and allows you to push buttons on it. There are multiple heads up display (HUD) modes. A handy key command layout card makes the complex key commands, which involve almost every key on the keyboard, easier to remember. Support for Thrustmaster, joystick, mouse, keyboard, and MacFly makes hooking your favorite controller up easy. Unfortunately, CH Products’ Flighstick PRO does not appear to be supported.

Graphics: The high resolution 3D game engine is somewhat disappointing when compared to PC graphics. The ground is composed of very large colored polygons of very few colors. The surfaces are light-sourced so shadows and darker surfaces appear on polygons away from the sun. The sun is a circle with eight triangular polygons around it to simulate rays. Surfaces have no texture mapping and appear flat and featureless. Texture mapping was left out to increase the speed and performance of the animation which clicks along without any hesitation. Water is a flat aqua blue with no reflections, translucence, or ripples. The sky is clear with no clouds. Control surfaces on the planes do not move and there are no rear view mirrors.

Utilities: The online help menu and lack of a paper manual force you to continually leave the game to review the command controls for a particular maneuver or feaure. A paper manual would have been a better alternative.

Muliplayer games support up to eight pilots over Ethernet, LocalTalk or ARA. The four network combat arenas for head-to-head combat in teams and free-for-all (FFA) modes include Southwest Arizona desert, aircraft carriers in water with cruel winds, enormous fantasy pillars extend from floor to ceiling, and asteroid battle in low gravity.

Conversions: Plans to convert to PC DOS and Windows 95 and 3.1 are iffy at best.

References:
Peter Smith, Computer Games Strategy Plus, issue 70, September, 1996, pg. 18. Anthony Lukban, PC Games, volume 4, number 3, March, 1997, pg. 76, 82%.