Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
62K plays 1993 #Shooter
Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf is a shoot 'em up video game released by Electronic Arts (EA) in 1992 for the Sega Genesis. The game was released on several other formats such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, including a much upgraded version for the Amiga home computer. The game was inspired by the Gulf War and depicts a conflict between an insane Middle Eastern dictator, General Kilbaba, and the United States. The player controls an Apache helicopter and attempts to destroy enemy weapons and installations, rescue hostages and capture enemy personnel, while managing supplies of fuel and ammunition.
Lead designer Mike Posehn had no video game experience prior to developing Desert Strike. Inspired by Choplifter, he aimed to create a nonlinear game with smoothly animated vehicles. Posehn developed a camera system with momentum to mimic realistic helicopter movements. Three-dimensional (3D) modeling was used to generate the vehicle sprites, which were later touched up on the pixel level with color.
From Wikipedia's article Desert Strike, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Keyboard controls
| Lynx | Player 1 |
|---|---|
| D-pad | ↑↓←→ |
| B | Z |
| A | X |
| Option 1 | A |
| Option 2 | S |
| Pause | Enter |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
Live chat
Connecting…
Keyboard controls
| Lynx | Player 1 |
|---|---|
| D-pad | ↑↓←→ |
| B | Z |
| A | X |
| Option 1 | A |
| Option 2 | S |
| Pause | Enter |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
4.0 Great job!
Players 80 · 344 votes
No critic scores found for this game: this is the players' rating.
Review scorecard
- Graphics 4.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Sound 4.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Control 4.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Fun Factor 4.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
Overall fallback: Players 80 · 344 votes. The same 80/100 overall rating fills missing categories using the face scale; these are not separate category scores. Player rating; no critic scores available.
What the reviews talk about
Key wordsfranticfaithfulinnovativefrustratingvariedrealistic
What the critics said
The magazine however said that "All things considered, Desert Strike couldn't be a better game", praising the "fast and frantic" action and "just-one-more-go appeal".
— CU Amiga, 1993
Mike Weigand of Electronic Gaming Monthly likewise deemed it "A fairly faithful portable version of the 16-Bit military classic."
— Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1995 (Mike Weigand)
MegaTech magazine praised the graphics and gameplay, and said it was "one of the best shoot 'em ups on the Megadrive".
— MegaTech· about another version
The reviewer claimed the Amiga version of the game ran more slowly than the Mega Drive version but overall felt the port was "a more than satisfactory translation".
— Amiga Action, 1993· about another version
Amiga Computing noted the improved graphics and sound over the Mega Drive version and praised the game as "EA's finest moment since Populous".
— Amiga Computing· about another version
Amiga Format commended the "Successful cross between a shoot 'em up and a flight simulator", graphics, sound, varied missions and "tremendous fun" of the game, although the reviewer noted some "occasional glitches" occurring in the sound and graphics.
— Amiga Format, 1993· about another version
GamePro gave the Game Boy version a positive review, saying it "has almost everything that made the original title great."
— GamePro· about another version
From the Reception section of Wikipedia's Desert Strike article, under CC BY-SA 4.0. The words are the critics'; their full reviews are on the publishers' pages.
Scores
- Computer and Video Games 1992 92% (Genesis) (other versions)
- Electronic Gaming Monthly 1994 7/10, 7/10, 6/10, 8/10 (SNES) ; ; 5/10, 5/10, 4/10, 5/10 (Lynx) ; 7/10, 6/10, 6/10, 7/10, 7/10 (Game Boy) ; (other versions)
- Mean Machines 1992 94%
- MegaTech 93%
- Amiga Action 1993 90%
- Amiga Computing 1993 93%
- Amiga Format 1993 87%
- CU Amiga 1993 93%
- The One 1993 93%
From the review table of Wikipedia's article. The face takes, first that applies: the Metascore for this platform, GameRankings' average, our average of the critics (one number per publication, a panel averaged), one review alone, the players' rating. Critics and players are never mixed.
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