Super Strike Eagle

"Cheated Death Again!"

Introduction: It's 1993. America is basking in patriotic and economic prosperity and the UN has established itself as a major force in the world. So major, in fact, that it has a rogue F-15 fighter pilot hitman to send out and coerce all those unaligned nations back into the UN. Super Strike Eagle is a superb arcade airplane war game that set the precedent for all future air-war games. This game tests your skills as a F-15 UN hitman against rogue nations like North Korea, Libya, and Iraq with nothing but a few trips back to base to refuel, repair, and rearm. Super Strike Eagle was a game ahead of its time and thanks to its makers from Microprose, Strike Eagle was born the cream of the crop from the mother of all flight simulators.

Graphics: 10

Super Strike Eagle was actually one of two games developed by Microprose to be made for the arcade. What we got from this is a 3-D based game with some of the best SNES air-war graphics of the age. There are several views in this game ranging from inside the cockpit during mission briefings and dogfights with MiGs, but also an overview flight map where the player can find his way all the while avoiding heat seeking missiles and enemy planes. Then there are the objective targets where you fly to a target on the overview map and switch to a 3rd person view of your jet while engaging various targets that are protected by SAM and Flak sites. These areas range from battleships, to targets in desert, urban, and jungle environments. The graphics are so good that it is not hard to go back and play this game after being spoiled on later versions of flight sims that feature more theatrical and detailed environments.


Gameplay: 10

The gameplay is what makes this game. You are given several different types of gameplay in your F-15 which never makes this game boring. Also, you are given primary and optional targets along with a free-roam mission setting so that you can quickly go in and complete a mission or force the enemy to fight its wars for the next 100 years with sticks and stones. Enemy airbases launch patrolling fighters to attack you and you can destroy these airbases to stop the fighters from taking off. You will engage these fighters in a typical NES Top Gun cockpit style (but with much easier precision than Top Gun) as well as destroy enemy targets from a 3rd Person perspective of your plane. You are only given one life to complete the entire game (since this game was adapted from its arcade title), but you will have a few bases on which to land and get your F-15 back up to par. Incoming missiles can be deflected by your radar jammers or strafes and you will engage enemies with the fighter's machine guns and sidewinders.



Sound: 9 "Bandit Splashed!"

The music stays out of your head during missions which keeps the realistic pace of the game going. You will get the same tune once you enter a briefing for a mission which is very upbeat and non-dramatic. The game effect sounds are very good although there is no variety and as well you get plenty of alerts in your game for when your plane is low on fuel or taking too much damage.



Story: 8

Not much of a story to go along with this game because it is an adaptation from its arcade version. However you are given substantial briefings on what your objectives are, and the missions develop into more difficult situations as you progress through the game. Targets become more difficult and you have to start playing serious strategy to maneuver around such obstacles as blowing up nuclear power plants. Your progress will be displayed as the nations you punish submit and add their flag to a 17th Century fort located at the UN Headquarters in Manhattan. That same fort will honor your departed soul and lower its flags to half staff while playing "Taps" when you die in a mission.


Replay Value: 10

The variability you are given in this game makes it one of the best SNES games to go back and play. There is so much to do and you are given so much time and space to do it in that you could never replay a single mission the same way if you wanted to. As a fan of flight sims, I can only think of one game that would match the qualities that this game has. While today's flight sims depend on their multiplayer servers to keep a game alive, Super Strike Eagle offers so much single player variety that today's games have yet to discover!


Overall Rating: 9/10


Final Recommendation: If you are a fan of flight sims, then this game is a must own. It was one of the final products of years of flight sim development and out does many of today's sims. When I was a kid growing up in the 90's I would rent and re-rent this game over and over until finally SNES was outdated by the introduction of N64 etc and I ended up purchasing the same copy. This game was way ahead of its time and is now a classic.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/08

Game Release: Super Strike Eagle (US, March 1993)