Harrier Jump Jet | Microprose 1992 (Roland sound)

While I wait for the Razbam's Harrier for DCS World which I already preordered, I'm looking at some classic Harrier flight sims from the '90. First up is Harrier Jump Jet from Microprose released in 1992.

I have to say I love the frontend, all the interactive menu screens, that glorious Microprose vibe, the art style, it's greatly immersive. What happened to these in all the new sims?

The game had pretty good graphics at the time. When most flight sims were still flat shaded, Harrier Jump Jet had rolling hills with Gourand shading, although the view distance was limited and pop-up terrain was commonly seen.

Gameplay followed similar formula to previous classic Microprose titles as F-19, F-15 II or F-117. You choose your theatre of operations from 3 available ones - Falklands/Malvinas, Hong Kong and North Cape. When you sign up you can choose 2 Harrier variants - USMC AV-8B or RAF GR.7. They are basically the same. Note that both have 4 weapon stations under each wing in game while in reality only GR.7 has 4 while AV-8B has 3. RAF version also uses different muinitions in few cases although they serve the same purpose as US counterparts.

You have a wide array of weaponry - from basic A/A Sidewinders, anti-radar Sidearms, unguided CRV-7, guided Mavericks, Hellfires, LGB's, CBU's, slick and retarded unguided bombs, recce pods, gun pods, ECM pods. There's plenty to chose from.

Missions follow FRS (Fighter, Reconaissance, Strike) role - they vary from BARCAPs, air intercepts, reconaisance to CAS, SEAD, and straight up ground attack. You can fly from regular runways, small strips or LHD's.

As always you can study your achievemnts or mistakes at the debriefing map which should be well known to the Microprose flight sim enthusiast.

The flight model is a bit wonky. It's more realistic than in previous MP flight titles mentioned earlier but the jet-borne flight is a bit tricky. I haven't played the game much till recently, so you have to excuse my crash landing ;) I guess I have to practice more ...

Looking back at it after flying DCS Razbam's Harrier I can see many small details implemented from real aircraft. HUD symbology is pretty accurate for 3 modes NAV / VSTOL / A/G. Sidewinder employement is also realistic, you have 2 modes used in real aircaft modelled - BST (boresight) and SEAM (Sidewinder Expanded Acquisition Mode). One thing is even more accurate here than in DCS Harrier - the NAVFLIR image displayed on the HUD is in monochrome green, while in DCS Harrier is black/white (DCS World engine limitation, should be correctly implemented during Early Access).