It's hard to place, but they're crisper and more vibrant somehow.

The graphics really are a notable improvement over the last version, and run admirably smoothly. This review covers the professional edition, which comes with four extra aircraft, some tools for editing scenery and the instructor's station that allows an instructor on one PC to monitor the progress and set up problems for a student on a second PC. Incidentally, Flight Simulator 2002 once again comes in two varieties: standard and professional. Fortunately, the option to include or remove areas is available. For the best performance, you have to say goodbye to over 2 GB of disk space. The bare minimum 750MB is only for those who want to spend much of their time aloft waiting for their CD drive to flush the next bunch of landscape onto the screen. If the figures were to be believed, this version of Flight Simulator didn't require much better specs than the last version - a first! Could it be true? Well, not really. The first surprise came with the system requirements. Will these be enough to keep Flight Simulator 2002 ahead of its major rivals, Fly! and X-Planes? In my opinion, it might just. This time round, Microsoft is mainly banking on three exciting new features: a new kind of aircraft in the shape of a floatplane (though pedants will point out that Flight Simulator 4 came with a floatplane) working air traffic control and auto generated scenery, including other aircraft passing through the Flight Simulator 2002 skies. Past options of adding a few new planes and some better graphics aren't going to cut it.

The only problem with a pedigree this long is that you have to keep coming up with ways of improving the product. In the harsh world of computer software where it sometimes seems that the average titles have a lifestyle as ephemeral as the mayfly, it makes a pleasant change to actually be eagerly awaiting the arrival of the ninth version, as Flight Simulator is back in its 2002 incarnation. Note: the professional edition was released at the same time, you'll find additional resources on its page.

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