Urban Strike

"A threequel with bugs..."

Introduction

Urban Strike was the third of the Strike series games to appear on the S.N.E.S., following from versions on other formats. The first was Desert Strike, then Jungle strike and then Urban. The latest of the series is Nuclear Strike, on newer consoles. All formats featured pretty much the same game, although the Game Boy version of Desert Strike was a cut down version of the S.N.E.S. version, with levels removed. I assume that the same is probably true of the other Game Boy versions.

Gameplay

Following on from the previous games, Urban Strike puts you in command of an attack helicopter, against a powerful master villain. Nothing has changed in this respect from the previous games then. The main helicopter is armed with large bunker buster missiles, hydras (a medium power missile, but more plentiful) and a cannon, which can be rapid firing with the right co-pilot, but always has plenty of ammo. There are three basic elements, flying around shooting enemy buildings/troops/helicopters/boats, picking up cargo which you have to carefully fly to a location, and picking up people, ferrying them back to a landing pad, often while under enemy fire. The helicopter levels are interspersed with on foot levels inside buildings, where you play the co-pilot, who has to run around shooting troops, automatic cannon and rescuing hostages.

The flying levels are definitely fun, with the controls fairly responsive, and the momentum given to the helicopter makes for a greater challenge in control. The larger rescue helicopter you play on a couple of levels is not so much fun, as it has no hellfires and flies generally a lot slower. The other vehicle available is a kind of ground tank. What is nice is the way that you take the helicopter to shoot out enemy tanks and then get to commandeer one to take out the rest of the tank battalion. The alternate vehicles offer a little diversity to the main levels, but it would have been nice to drive some more exciting craft like speedboats or a fighter plane. I felt that in Desert Strike there was far too much emphasis upon the collection of fuel and ammo, and that has been toned down in this game. You can usually complete the level without having to go ammo hunting, although running from enemy helicopters with only a poxy cannon to fight back with is good fun to get the tension going.
The on foot levels are not as much fun. In fact, I gave up on the first one, having found the bugs and difficulty too much to bear. In four goes at the level, which is slow and poorly designed, I failed twice by being shot, and twice by the fact that the last automatic cannon I had to destroy disappeared and wouldn’t allow me to complete the level. Something similar happened later on in the game when I had killed all the enemies and had to board a shuttle car to get to the mastermind’s base. First the shuttle disappeared from the map, and then I couldn’t do a thing to get on it. Which led again to me having to give up.

Story

You and the Strike Core are sent to various US destinations to thwart the plans of Malone, a powerful man who on the outside seems to be a man who lost the presidential campaign and has introduced ‘angel’ patrols to clear the streets of criminals (oh the irony) of course he is actually a crazed psychotic loon. In the fairly smart and stylish intro he kills both his son and agent Ego, a fellow pilot from the Jungle campaign. If that idea sounds idea sounds familiar to players of the previous games, then it is, of course it’s pretty much just an excuse for some helicopter shooting action. The ‘story’ takes you all around the USA, from Hawaii to New York. I’d like to point out at this point that the game may upset some people, its set in 2001 and the New York level features a WTC with a huge hole blown in it. True, the level involves rescuing a group of survivors, and it should be pointed out that when the game was written 2001 was another 5 or so years away. Don’t let that put you off, as with a code you can easily skip the level if you want to. You won’t miss much if you do.

Graphics/Sound

Graphics are little changed since the first strike game, and are pleasing enough. The helicopter is fairly well drawn, but the men that you are meant to pick up are poorly fleshed out stick men. They slowly walk around with two frames of animation, which gets pretty annoying when you have to sit and watch 8 badly animated chaps walk out of your helicopter to the safety of a building. Sound is limited to some chopper noises, and a few whoosh noises from the missiles. The main theme for the game is quite good, but only lasts a minute, leaving you in silence to enter the rather long passwords. The stand out level for graphics has to be the penultimate section of the game where you fly around a night time Las Vegas with neon lights shining out and the sky illuminated by the cannon fire of the enemy ground tanks.

Playtime/Replayability

I’ve played this game on and off for about a fortnight in between exams, usually in half hour bursts. Some levels take longer than others, such as the walking ones. I think the replayability is pretty high, as the tasks to be achieved throughout the game remain the same, so each new level is basically made of the same objectives, just a bit harder and in a different context. Some levels are rather hard, and some can be easily passed by. Once I passed the first walking stage, I cleared the next couple of missions first time in one sitting.

Final Recommendation

Not the worst game I’ve ever played, not perfect either. If you fancy a bit of blasting, with a little bit of thinking thrown in and want more of the same that was offered in previous games then go for it. Oh, and you might need something quick and simple to relieve the annoyance from getting shot down, I used the first couple of levels of Pilotwings just as a simple tension buster.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/05/03, Updated 06/05/03