Desert Strike Return to the Gulf Atari Lynx
Everything you need to know about Desert Strike Return to the Gulf
The game Desert Strike Return to the Gulf, a very popular top-down tactical warfare/shooter game in its day, would see ports released on many consoles and home computers such as the Commodore Amiga in the early 90s. Perhaps the best known versions are the which came out for the SNES and Sega Mega Drive, and the aforementioned version for the Amiga, but this game would also have a port for the Sega Master System, published by Domark and released in Europe in 1992.
There were quite a few Mega Drive games that also saw simplified ports on the 8-bit master system in the later years of their lifespan, some didn't turn out as good as others, but surprisingly, SMS Desert Strike, although understandably not as technically or aesthetically Impressive as its 16-bit counterparts, it is still designed in such a way that the system handles it very well.
Desert Strike Return to the Gulf Gameplay
In this game, you take control of a heavily armed Apache helicopter and undertake a series of daring missions to sabotage a Middle Eastern madman's plans to go to war with the United States. General Kilbaba, our antagonist, has taken control of a Gulf state, operating from a heavily defended and fortified base.
With an armed force, top-level military defense weapons and nuclear missiles at his disposal, the general represents a serious threat to the security and freedom of the States, so the president orders his unique helicopter, operated by two of the most qualified pilots in the air force. , to infiltrate the Kilbaba base, destroy its forces and neutralize the threat.
Desert Strike Return to the Gulf se desarrolla en cuatro etapas diferentes, que en este juego se denominan «campañas», en las que debe emprender y cumplir varias misiones, que se le proporcionan en una pantalla informativa previa al nivel en un orden recomendado. Estos van desde la destrucción de sitios de radar y torres de comunicación, hasta el rescate de prisioneros de guerra y rehenes, la destrucción de aeródromos, plantas, ICBM y scuds, la localización de agentes secretos y la liberación de la embajada estadounidense, todo en la preparación para el enfrentamiento final con el propio Kilbaba para salvar el día.
There's a lot of shooting and bombing involved in Desert Strike Return to the Gulf, but while you're doing all this, you should also keep a few other things in mind; that is, the armor, ammunition and fuel of your helicopter. A full round of fuel will only last you more than half a minute, so from the game's pause menu you can locate nearby fuel drums (as well as other things like ammo boxes or enemy forces) on your map.
Within each campaign, you can also find and rescue hostages (your Apache allows you to airlift a maximum of 6 on board) and fly them to a designated safe location on the coast, thus restoring a quarter of the helicopter's armor per rescued hostage. .
The game plays out in a three-quarter isometric view and offers three different styles of control: from the cockpit, from above or with boost; each with its own feel and strengths; the latter allows for more precise positioning, but is generally a little more complicated to work with, while the second option is the easiest to use, but does not allow maneuvering in reverse. The aiming system is also something that takes a little getting used to, as some of the sprites are quite small and you have to time your positioning and distance carefully, otherwise your weapons may tend to go over the intended mark.
Otherwise, you should come to terms with how to control the helicopter and use its weapons in no time given the Master System controller's simple layout; the D-Pad to fly in the desired direction; Button 1 to fire your basic railgun, button 2 for hydra missiles, or button 1 and 2 simultaneously to launch a super strong Hellfire bomb! The stronger the weapon, the less capacity the helicopter has to store it, so it does require knowing what type of ammunition is best to use for a given situation.
Using the Pause button on the console, you can visit the map screen and check the current status of the helicopter, as well as review your mission objectives and see which ones are still pending. The game doesn't come with any real difficulty settings and is generally quite challenging as you don't take much damage before you catch fire, so rushing in with all guns blazing isn't usually the best strategy! It's usually helpful to ambush enemies from behind and progress through the level in such a way that you leave an ammo box/fuel drum or two near the location of your later missions.
You can also choose one of a few different co-pilots, whose use of weapons and deployable ladders/winch for retrieving hostages/items differ slightly, which may have a minor impact on the overall challenge of the game.
One of the nice things about this game is that outside of your main missions, you are still free to try to destroy as many enemy forces or rescue as many hostages as you can. you in a post-level cutscene where you are told good news (e.g. missions accomplished, hostages rescued) and bad news (e.g. enemy forces/hostages remaining or killed). The game provides a short and handy password feature to record your progress until the start of the last campaign you reached.
Graphics
The graphics are great, for a Master System game. The sprites and map layout are simplified in terms of size and detail from those seen in the 16-bit versions, but it is done in a way that nothing significant is sacrificed and the system can run and handle the game very well. . The game flows very smoothly, with animations of your helicopter's blades spinning or its body spinning looking great. Enemy weapon skins are highlighted so you know their particular attacks and threats, and how best to fight them.
Each campaign takes place in a stretch of the Gulf at different times of the day, so you get different background colors for a bit of variety. The sandy landscapes with sections of roads, stone buildings, airfields and other various facilities look very nice and colorful with some good details.
Perhaps aside from a few small humans and pickup sprites that make targeting a little tricky for the less experienced Desert Strike Return to the Gulf player, there are few faults to be found in the game's overall presentation. You can clearly see much of what's going on around you, and the map screen lets you easily track your position and know where to fly to find whatever you're looking for next.
Although cut to fit on an SMS cartridge, this version of Desert Strike Return to the Gulf still retains some of the cutscenes, such as the prologue telling the story of Kilbaba's rise to power and a brief summary of the events leading up to the game, and his pre-campaign briefing aboard his aircraft carrier. It all comes together for a wonderfully polished and well-presented game.
Music and Sound
A small selection of energetic background music for the title screen and prologue scenes, the informational and end-level summary screens offer some nice catchy beats, while the rest of the action is accompanied by the whirring of blades of his helicopter and silent 'boops'. of gunshots and louder whirs of missile launches and explosions. The sound effects work well enough for every major action in the game, and are almost as good as old-school SMS systems can offer in terms of audio capabilities.
Final reflection
Overall, this is a splendidly well-crafted game that has a lot of fun and challenge, will give you a good few hours of play time and may be worth revisiting long after to try to get the best result in a campaign as possible . While I would ultimately recommend the SNES, Mega Drive or Amiga versions above all others, if you still have that old Master System hanging around and want to get something else for your collection, for shooter lovers aerial/strategic warfare, Desert Strike Return to the Gulf will be a valuable addition to your SMS library.
Game technical sheet
Genders)
Shots
game modes
1 Player
Cooperative
Nope
Format(s)
Cartridge
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