Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
was
released in the first half of 1992, a year after Operation Desert Storm had
ended and with the Middle East still fresh in mind. The plot involves a Middle Eastern despot invading a small Emirate and trying to gain
weapons of mass destruction. Some could
accuse EA of shamelessly cashing in on these appalling events. Whatever, it turned out to be the most successful game they had yet produced.
On my shortlist I had the Sega Mega Drive original and conversions for the Sega Master System, Super Nintendo and Commodore Amiga.
The
Sega Mega Drive was the first version of the game and was released
early in 1992 with the first conversions arriving later in the
year. It could be described as the definitive version of the game with
great graphics and sound, and slick controls. Although I had never played it before if felt familiar. It then dawned on me it played pretty
much like cross between
Cyclone and Raid on Bungeling Bay.
I
played the Master System version next which, it has to be said, was not very good. It could
not compete with any of the 16-bit versions here and was quite
basic in all areas.
 |
| The Master System is a poor mans Desert Strike. The helicopter doesn't even have a shadow. |
I
really liked the look of the SNES version at first, with its nice big
helicopter sprite. I quickly realised it was only big due to the lower resolution
graphics. The display has a zoomed-in look and therefore doesn't show
as much of the play area as the Mega Drive version. Little touches are
also missing such as the wake from the ship you start the game from.
Gameplay is more or less the same as the original.
 |
| Desert Strike on the SNES. Plays pretty much the same as the Mega Drive game but at a lower resolution. |
The
Commodore Amiga version appeared in 1993. To quote the manual - 'when
it came to designing the Amiga version of Desert Strike there
was one question on everybody's lips - what can be done to improve the
game?'. For starters they used the Extra Half-Brite Graphics mode to
display 64 simultaneous colours. Some graphics assets such buildings, targets and especially
explosions have been greatly improved. Music is better and it features sampled sound effects and speech. The presentation is also
much slicker. The Amiga conversion does have its drawbacks though.
Firstly, the game plays a lot slower which can be a blessing or a curse
depending on the situation. There is also disk
loading which is absent on the consoles. Lastly, the controls are
compromised - where the Sega controller has a multitude of
buttons, an Amiga joystick has only one (or rarely two) fire buttons.
This means cycling through weapons and accessing the map
are via the keyboard.
 |
| Mega Drive [left] vs Amiga. The jets on the Sega look a bit odd to me. |
Of
the above I felt the Amiga and Genesis titles came on top. Each had its own advantages and disadvantages so I was unable to split them.
Rather than forming a coalition to send Kilbaba packing, the powers that be decided that all is needed is one man and his chopper. Desert Strike plays over four 'campaigns' divided into several
missions. The first is called 'Air Superiority'. Your missions
here involve destroying radar sites, power station, airports,
command centres, and finally picking up a secret agent. Although the
missions can be played in any order it is recommended playing in the
order given as destroying the radars and power
station reduces the range and accuracy of enemy anti-aircraft weapons.
The Secret Agent has copies of the Generals plans and his whereabouts is
only shown after destroying the command centres and capturing the
commander within.
Before
you begin the game you must choose your co-pilot. There are several to
choose from, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. One is
marked MIA and can be rescued during the game - he's located next to a downed aircraft on the first level.
 |
| Choosing you co-pilot on the Mega Drive [left] and Amiga [right] |
I
must take issue here with the sprite of your gunship. Although the
game box, manual and in-game stills reference an AH-64 Apache, the
main sprite only half resembles one - the front half. It looks like
they have grafted on the back end of an RAH-66 Comanche with the ducted
fan tail rotor and high tailplane. The Apache has a conventional tail
rotor and low tailplane. I'm guessing this
was to simplify drawing the many frames of animation.
The game proper starts with your chopper sat on the back of a frigate and you must head
east towards the desert. You navigate the area by using the map / status screen. The map shows your objectives as well as the position of ammo crates, fuel, MIAs, missile and gun emplacements. You can also get a reminder of completed and remaining objectives. The screen additionally displays remaining fuel, weapons and armour, lives left and the number of MIAs you are carrying.
 |
| Status screen on Mega Drive [left] and Amiga [right]. |
Your gunship is armed with, from least to most powerful, a chain gun with
1,178 rounds of ammunition,
38 Hydra rockets and 8 Hellfire
missiles. The weapons can be fired in the general direction of the target with the
accuracy determined by your selected co-pilot.
Ammunition
supplies can be replenished by collecting ammo crates that are scattered
around the play area. The finite amount of fuel you
carry can be topped up in the same manner. Fuel and ammo pickups are displayed on the map screen, even those hidden in buildings.
The
enemy territory is heavily defended with Rapier surface to air
missiles and anti-aircraft guns. Tiny enemy soldiers carry rifles
(they also shoot at MIAs) and portable SAMS. There are also mobile
VDAs (armoured vehicles carrying AA guns) roaming the map.
Every hit reduces the armour on your helicopter - you get a buzzer (Mega Drive) or warning speech (Amiga) when it gets too low.
Armour is also depleted if you fly into rock outcrops,
high buildings, power lines and other tall structures - the chopper
flies at fixed altitude so you can't fly over them.
Armour can be increased by picking up MIAs that are dispersed around the map and taking them to a dropzone. Six MIAs can be wedged into the Apache at one time.
Very rarely armour pickups can be found (usually hidden in buildings). These pickups do not show up on the map.
 |
| Rescuing some MIAs and dropping them off at the LZ for more amour (Amiga) |
Once
a set of missions has been completed it is back to the frigate for the
next level. Your Apache is limited to three 'lives' which are
replenished after each campaign. You also get a password so there is no need to start from scratch.
 |
| Stormin' Norman sets out your objectives for the second campaign (Mega Drive) |
 |
| And the further you get the tougher the enemies (Mega Drive) |
There's a lot to like about Desert Strike whichever version you choose to play. The handling and momentum feel just right as does the camera which always has the helicopter facing into the screen. It would be fun as just a straight shooter but the limited fuel, weapons and armour adds some strategy. An excellent game all round.
Gameplay from the Mega Drive