The Manchester Evening News led me to Canyon Glider, an online game at Miniclip.com tonight. It was okay, although I haven’t yet managed to finish the course, even at novice level.
The site has some good, if slightly tasteless shoot-em-ups in War on Terrorism One and Two. System requirements: Pentium II or higher, latest Flash plug-in, 128 Mb RAM (256 recommended), fast trigger finger and a keen eye.
But the game I found most addictive is Mission Mars. Like all the best games, it is deceptively simple. I’ve managed to get to level ten so far. Couple of hints: First, if you hit the spacebar repeatedly, just as a laser is hitting, it will set off a chain explosion that will take a building down by several storeys, or at least it does on a Mac. Second, don’t play too long or RSI sets in!