B-Wing (Distributed by U.S Gold) - RRP œ19.99
               (X-Wing data disk for PC)

                  Reviewed by Roy Sims

B-Wing is the second of the Star Wars: X-Wing data disks to be
released by Lucasarts following Imperial Pursuit last year. To be
able to play B-Wing you need X-Wing installed on your hard disk.
As with the first data disk, B-Wing gives you a new (fifth) Tour
of Duty and also provides you with a Top Ace pilot who has
completed all the previous missions (X-Wing and Imperial Pursuit).

For those of you who don't know, X-Wing is a Space Combat
Simulator based on the Star Wars movies. The original release
allowed you to fly the X-Wing, Y-Wing and A-Wing fighters as
featured in the Star Wars film trilogy. The first data disk
release continued the plot and gave you 20 new missions to battle
through. B-Wing offers the same, except that you now have access
to the B-Wing fighter that made its debut in the final Star Wars
movie 'Return of the Jedi'.  The B-Wing heavy assault starfighter
has more on-board weapons than any of the other rebel space
craft, and its shielding capabilities are also very impressive in
comparison.

Like Imperial Pursuit before it, B-Wing gives you access to hints
before each mission in an attempt to make it slightly easier than
the original X-Wing missions. Personally I can't say that they
make an enormous difference, because there is still the rigid rule
of 'do it 100% or fail' which makes it very difficult to succeed.
This is really the only down side to any of the X-Wing products.
They all look and sound great (although the bitmap artwork used
between missions is a little ropy at times) but they are a bit too
hard for most people.

The missions in B-Wing apparently lead up to the rebels'
occupation of Hoth - the ice planet that featured in the second
movie 'The Empire Strikes Back'. The next major Star Wars game
from Lucasarts will be 'TIE Fighter' and this is supposed to pick
up the story from there, except this time you will be flying for
the Empire!

To conclude, B-Wing is very much more of the same, which isn't a
bad thing as X-Wing and its data disks are some of the best
examples of Star Wars merchandise I've ever seen. The ship has all
the familiar features of the other rebel ships, but the
configurations are very different. For those who love Star Wars
then the entire X-Wing range is a must, but you have to be
particularly adept at arcade games (a joystick is a must) to
actually succeed in the fight against the Empire.

(I'm still waiting in hope for the Star Wars RPG (West End Games)
to be computerised for the PC. In the meantime, how about a modem
link option between X-Wing and TIE Fighter so that two players can
have a dog fight in space? Now that would be a blast!)





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