Desert Strike

"The first in the well-known Strike series"

One of the great action games from Electronic Arts. Though it’s Genesis, the sounds and graphics are very realistic. Though the controls may aggravate a few, everything else proves enjoyable.

Gameplay: The game is around medium difficulty, but the controls can be very hard. For the first part, flying is a little annoying. Though it flies just like a real Apache, it is very hard to control. You can choose two different ways to control it, but the default one is best in my opinion. But it is a little difficult to avoid buildings and enemy fire if you can’t move quickly. For the next part, picking up things with the winch and hitting objects can be annoying as well. While picking up things, you have to be lined up perfectly to get the winch to hook it. And on shooting you have to be lined up to the object or you won’t hit it, unless it’s an enemy. If it is an enemy, then your copilot will automatically shoot at it as long as you’re facing its general direction. Also, you get to pick your own copilot. This means that you can pick one with great accuracy or with superb flying abilities, depending on how you feel. Though it seems a little demanding, once you get used to the controls you don’t have to worry about anything. 7/10

Sound: This area is leveled out perfectly. The sounds are some of the most realistic that I’ve ever heard. Though most of them are explosions and gun fire, they still please. The music isn’t very loud, but it goes with the game well. The only time you hear music is before you go out on the missions, during the missions, and at the end. It’s usually only very low during the missions. Anyway, you’d probably rather hear the carnage of the battlefield’s than the music; though a volume adjuster would’ve been greatly appreciated. 10/10

Graphics: Another area that is based on real life. They did most of their imagery from real weapons and vehicles. Though most of the backgrounds look the same, unless it’s night, the other things, such as vehicles and items, look good. I think that the explosions look the best and most realistic. If you press start, then you get to see the cockpit. They made that look pretty realistic as well; though I’ve never seen the inside of an Apache, it looks real enough for me. 10/10

Story: This story has a very good military twist on it. It starts out by a madman that is threatening to start Armageddon. To counter this threat, the United States decides to make some preemptive campaigns to cripple him. You have been chosen by the President to fly these missions. So you must go to different areas of the Middle East and destroy equipment and rescue certain scientists, getting closer to the madman with each mission. Since these missions are very dangerous, they decide to send you. Isn’t that something? 10/10

Replayability: This is a good area. There are many reasons why you would replay this. You might want to look for a secret somewhere or try a mission differently. You could even play through to challenge yourself by not picking up any armor or extra lives or etc. I couldn’t make it through without a few things, but the people who are hard-core might try going through without picking up even ammo or fuel. Also, there is a copilot that you have to find on your own with no help or guide that is a challenge to find. 10/10

I gave this game a 9 because it’s mostly perfect. The only thing that is still annoying is the controls. I recommend people buying this because it’s a really good action game and is pretty difficult.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/04/00, Updated 07/04/00