Strike series
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Strike is the common name of a series of video games created by Mike Posehn, John Patrick Manley and Tony Barnes released originally between 1991 and 1997 by Electronic Arts for a number of systems, but most notably for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis where the first three titles were released with great success. The games are Multi-directional shooters shown from an isometric perspective. In the game, the player controls a helicopter (although in the following titles some levels require the player to successfully control other vehicles such as a Hovercraft, a Stealth bomber, a Motorcycle and even on foot). The series is composed by five games, and despite their high popularity during the 16-bit era, plans for a revival are only speculative.
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[edit] Overview
The player controls a helicopter - an AH-64 Apache or a similar type - equipped with three ammunition types, and limited fuel and defense capacity. While there are refits for all items scattered around the map, armor is more easily repaired by capturing and delivering POWs or allied soldiers to a drop point. If either armor or fuel reach zero, the aircraft crashes and a life is lost.
Levels are composed of several missions that must be completed sequentially, as the defenses of more advanced objectives are much stronger. A typical level starts by requiring the player to rescue a MIA soldier who carries information, then destroy a radar or power facility, followed by disabling the defenses that were serviced by the target of the previous mission, then capturing an enemy general for additional information and finally destroying another building. Between the levels, cut-scenes with the story developing take place.
There are several kinds of enemies, from foot soldiers armed with nothing more than a handgun to powerful Anti-aircraft artillery and enemy helicopters. Each enemy has its own damage per round and firing speed capacities, and the player must balance their ammo, fuel, the target's ability and decide if it's better to deploy a powerful missile (such as a Hellfire in Desert Strike) to destroy an opponent, or save them and use the chain gun or weaker missiles to disable it. Generally, other than the occasional (usually useless) soldier, the player has no backup, and must deal with the opponents on his own, though both Soviet Strike and Nuclear Strike incorporated missions involving large amounts of allies.
The player can lose a game in several ways; by losing all lives, destroying the main drop point, killing an important person (allied or enemy) or having a SNAFU.
The series was militaristic in nature, with each enemy sprite having a corresponding information section in the pause menu, relating details of the real world weapon (or a fictionalised version, in the case of non-existent weapons, such as the Mohican helicopter from Urban Strike). The next generation titles, Soviet Strike and Nuclear Strike, featured plots based heavily on present day geopolitics, such as the instability of post-USSR states, or tensions at the DMZ between North and South Korea. However, in contrast, the games often displayed a quirky sense of humour, featuring numerous appearances by Elvis and even Santa Claus, as well as wisecracks from the player character in the earlier games (in Urban Strike, the player's character, on being told the villain is an evil genius, comments: 'Great, another evil genius. Why can't I ever fight an evil idiot?') Although ostensibly serious in nature, the games were often quite tongue-in-cheek in their execution.
[edit] Games in the series
[edit] Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
Released originally in 1992 for the Amiga, Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Super NES, and later (1994) for DOS Personal Computers. It was also released for most portable platforms; the Atari Lynx was the first, in 1993, followed by the Game Gear (1994), Game Boy (1995) and finally Game Boy Advance versions, the final in 2002. In August 2006, GameSpot reported that Electronic Arts would be porting Desert Strike to the PlayStation Portable as part of EA Replay. It is slated for release in the United States on November 7, 2006. [1]
The story follows the player, a AH-64 Apache (although the title screen for most versions seems to show a Comanche used in the game's sequel instead) pilot in a conflict inspired by the Gulf War. A year after the Gulf War, General Ibn Kilbaba takes over a small Arab Emirate and plans to start World War III, and the player must open way for ground troops by disabling most of his defense and offense, and finally take on the "Madman" himself.
[edit] Jungle Strike
This time, the player is at the controls of a RAH-66 Comanche in a crusade against the son of General Kilbaba, who allies with a notable drug baron to take his revenge on the United States.
Although called Jungle Strike, the first mission is played in Washington D.C., where the player must protect the presidential motorcade from terrorists infiltrated into the city. Later in the game, the player is also able to drive a hovercraft, a motorcycle and a stolen F-117 Nighthawk. In a double ending, the player returns to Washington to be decorated by Bill Clinton (who is actually credited in the ending sequence), and must deal with the threat inside the city for a second time.
Released originally for the Mega Drive/Genesis and the SNES in 1993, it was later ported to the Amiga (1994) and finally DOS, Game Gear and Game Boy in 1995.
As with Desert Strike, Jungle Strike will also be included in the EA Replay compilation mentioned above.
[edit] Urban Strike
The final 2D title, it was released in 1994 for the Mega Drive/Genesis, one year later for SNES and the Game Gear, and finally in 1996 for the Game Boy.
In a fictional 2001, a millionaire, former presidential candidate, and fanatic cult leader named H. R. Malone plans on toppling the government using a super weapon he is constructing, and the player must deal with this threat. It soon turns out, however, that the villain is really Carlos Ortega, the drug lord who was thought dead after Jungle Strike.
Like Jungle Strike, Urban Strike starts on a completely different setting than the name suggests, this time all over the North American continent (beginning in Hawaii). The biggest new feature were on-foot missions, where the player was required to leave the helicopter at certain points and enter internal environments armed with a rifle and missile launcher
Interestingly, Urban Strike predicts a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers in 2001 (although the method of attack differs).
[edit] Soviet Strike
Released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation.
Set after Desert Strike, but whether it occurs before or after Jungle Strike is unknown.
Upon the fall of the Soviet Union, an ex-KGB leader, known only as "The Shadowman", gathers a large military force to attempt to start a nuclear war, capturing various territories along the former communist bloc, and setting up various military installations. The player this time must free these territories and destroy the increasingly more dangerous weapons across five stages, ending with a climactic encounter with the villain in Moscow as he takes control of the May Day Parade and attempts to assassinate president Boris Yeltsin and the entire Russian cabinet, whilst at the same time launching nuclear weapons from the heart of the Kremlin.
This is the first Strike game to feature cinematic cut-scenes, introducing new characters such as General Earle, "Hack", Andrea Grey and Nick Arnold, your co-pilot - who seems to get into more trouble than he stops. Some of the cut-scenes have an innunedo about the murder of President John F. Kennedy, hinting that he was killed by the military-industrial complex.
[edit] Nuclear Strike
Released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and Personal computers, and in 1999 for the Nintendo 64.
An ex-CIA operative named Colonel LeMonde has stolen a nuclear warhead. It is up to the player to find the warhead before LeMonde uses it for nefarious purposes. Among the locations visited is the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. The playable vehicles include the Super Apache helicopter, a Harrier jet, tanks, and a hovercraft. Nuclear Strike also brought the RAH-66 Comanche back; this time it had a wingtip system setup, unlike in Jungle Strike.
New features include an on-screen radar and a playback option to replay old mission cutscenes. It features several new characters as well as many returning from Soviet Strike, General Earl, "Hack", Andrea Grey, and a brief appearance by Nick Arnold.
[edit] Future Strike
The final cutscene of Nuclear Strike includes a trailer for the next game in the series, Future Strike, including shots of a mech robot called 'Warrior'. Future Strike was never released, but it's believed that development of the game evolved into Future Cop: L.A.P.D., which features gameplay similar to the previous Strike games and a mech robot like the one seen in the Future Strike trailer. Whether Future Strike was simply re-titled and had plot elements altered to distance it from the previous Strike games, or if the development team started from scratch and built Future Cop from the ground up was never revealed.
[edit] Possibility for a Sequel
In the November 2006 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, the Quarterman reported of rumors that a new entry into the strike series would be made for the next-generation consoles.
