Kennedy Approach

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Kennedy Approach

Developer(s)	Andy Hollis
Publisher(s)	MicroProse
Release date(s)	1985
Genre(s)	Simulator
Mode(s)
Rating(s)	83% Zzap, issue 5, page 106
Platform(s)	Amiga, C64, Atari 8-bit
Input	Keyboard, joystick

Kennedy Approach is an air traffic control simulation computer game released in 1986 by MicroProse.

[edit] Game play

The player plays the role of the air traffic controller, i.e. the operator in the ATC center, that gives orders to aircraft so that they can land, as well as take off and enter their correct flight corridors. The purpose of the game is to manage the flights that are presented to the player without the flights being delayed or exiting/landing in the wrong places. The aircraft either come flying in on the screen and have preset exit or landing points or show up as wanting to takeoff with an exit point. It is the player's job to determine which aircraft gets to fly where and when they may land or take off.

The aircraft cannot be too close to each other, so the player needs to make sure that they are passing each other on different flight levels or with sufficient distance (three grid dots north/south or east/west) between them. When an aircraft is in danger of crashing or is exiting at the wrong location or altitude, the aircraft will inform the air traffic controller. Aircraft do not change course/altitude unless the player tells them to. Incoming aircraft not given clearance to land, however, will go into a holding pattern and wait until given clearance.

To start with, there are few flights at the same time, but at higher GS levels, there are many flights that need management at the same time. Also storms which the aircraft can not pass through show up and some aircraft have very little fuel and have to land fast or they will crash.

At least in the Atari version, the conversations between the controller and the aircraft are read out on the TV loudspeaker. Although they are quite ritualized and formal, and the blocks of words which make up the orders are clearly distinguishable, synthesized speech was no mean feat for a home computer.

[edit] Trivia

There are five airspaces in the game: Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Washington, D.C. and New York City.
- The Denver map includes the Rocky Mountains to the west, over which planes cannot fly below a certain level.
- The Washington, D.C. map includes the flight restricted zone over the U.S. Capitol, through which planes may not fly at all.
The Dallas/Fort Worth map in the game has an inaccuracy. Love Field is portrayed as northeast of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, when in fact it lies to the southeast.
Three types of aircraft are presented in the game: Cessna light planes, Boeing 747 jets, which fly twice as fast as the light planes; and the Concorde, which flies twice as fast as the 747's.
Four airlines are depicted in the game: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Air France, which operates the Concordes. Light planes are referred to simply as "November" flights, reflecting tail numbers.