Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf 1992

Is it still worth playing?

A shoot em up released by Electronic Arts in 1992 for the Sega Genesis, with versions for the Super Nintendo and a much upgraded one for the Amiga. You pilot an Apache helicopter against General Kilbaba, a dictator invading a neighbor, in a conflict inspired by the Gulf War. The levels scroll in any direction from an isometric view outside the helicopter, and the game is less frantic than most shoot em ups, with more strategy. Missions destroy enemy weapons and installations, rescue hostages and capture enemy personnel while you manage fuel and ammunition. The Apache carries a machine gun, stronger Hydra rockets and Hellfire missiles, and the stronger the weapon the fewer you can carry, so you choose what suits each situation. A mix of action and planning, with ammunition to ration, still keeps each mission a puzzle as well as a fight.