Surgical Strike

n/a

NTSC-U/PAL
NTSC-J
NTSC-U (BR)

Surgical Strike

System(s): Sega Mega-CD, Sega Mega-CD 32X

Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (JP), Sega of America (US), Sega Europe (EU)

Developer: The Code Monkeys, Stargate Films

Genre: Shooting^[1]^[2]

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1995-12-22^[2]	¥6,8006,800	G-6044
US	1995-06^[3]^[4]	$59.9959.99^[3]	4435
EU	1995-09^[5]		4435-50
UK	1995-09-22^[6]^[5]		4435-50
BR	1996-01	$?	157036

Surgical Strike (サージカルストライク) is a Sega Mega-CD game developed by Code Monkeys and published by Sega.

The game is interesting as it was due to be brought to the Sega Mega-CD 32X combo unit (at the same time as its Mega-CD counterpart^[7]), but was said to have been cancelled at the last minute (the US Mega-CD version of the game even goes as far to advertise the 32X upgrade). While this is true for North America, Europe, and Japan, the CD 32X game did see a release in Brazil, making it the only 32X Brazilian exclusive (although the game itself is still in English).

This was also the last first-party release for the Japanese Mega-CD.

Story

In an apocalyptic near future, the United Nations has created the Surgical Strike Team, an elite special forces unit that uses heavily armed hovercrafts to suppress guerilla combatants in urban battlefields. The team must take down a dangerous terrorist leader known as Kabul.

Characters

Branson

The commmander of the Surgical Strike Team.

Bulldog

The muscle-bound, cigar-smoking tough guy of the team.

Reed

A level-headed, veteran member of the team.

Ali

A team member who is captured by Kabul in the last mission.

JJ

The team's "strike commander," who provides reconnaissance and other intelligence.

Kabul

A high-tech terrorist whose many schemes for killing people are foiled by the team.

Gameplay

Hovercraft

Surgical Strike Team

Surgical Strike is a full-motion video game where the player clears cities of terrorist forces while piloting a hovercraft as a member of the Surgical Strike Team. Missions involve finding and destroying strategic targets while fighting enemy forces along the way. There are two difficulty levels (Normal and Hard). The player must choose the harder difficulty, which has more targets to find, to access the final mission.

The game is a rail shooter, but the player has a limited amount of control over the hovercraft. The hovercraft moves forward continually, but when it comes to an intersection, the player can steer it into a different direction by holding while pressing a direction on the D-Pad (with turning around). The available directions are shown as arrows at the top of the screen. If the player does not press a direction, the hovercraft continues traveling forwards (sometimes into a dead end). Missions take place on grid layouts, and the player can view a map of the battlefield with the objective targets by pausing the game with START . Objectives only appear when approached from the correct direction (indicated by arrows on the map). The location of objectives is randomized on each playthrough. The player is shown the map at the beginning of the mission and can choose the starting position with and and the initial direction of travel with and

The player moves the targeting reticle using the D-Pad. Enemies are highlighted by a yellow box to make them easier to identify; the box changes to red when the enemy is targeted. The hovercraft is armed with a Gatling gun, fired with , and missiles, fired with . Both weapons have limited ammunition. The Gatling gun is the main weapon and effective against soft targets; the missiles are more limited in supply and should be reserved for heavier targets that cannot be hit with the gun, such as tanks and helicopters. Shooting something cuts to a short cutscene of the target being destroyed. The player has a limited amount of time to hit an enemy before it fires back, costing shielding. Only one action can be performed per screen, so choosing to attack an enemy at an intersection makes one unable to turn (but conversely, the player cannot be attacked while turning). If there are multiple enemies, it is only necessary to shoot one to avoid damage.

The hovercraft's shield is shown as a meter in the bottom of the screen. It is destroyed if its shield is depleted, costing a "wingman." Navigating into a dead end or firing a missile indoors also costs a wingman. The shield regenerates over time. Because of the limited ammunition, the player must be careful to plot an efficient route and not waste too much time or ammunition. The game ends if the player loses all wingmen.

Missions

	The Desert Town
	The team must destroy Kabul's missiles, located in underground launch sites spread through the city streets. After destroying all of the missiles, the player must destroy the missile launch control center in the town hall. The entrance is on the east side of the building. Inside the building, Kabul initiates the missile launch and escapes, and the player is given a choice of three targets to destroy. Destroying the device in the bottom-right successfully stops the missile launch.
	The Mountain Fortress
	The team must destroy the tanks surrounding Kabul's hidden mountain fortress. The fortress has three sections joined by tunnels. After destroying all of the tanks, the player must enter the bunker and rescue the UN Secretary's daughter. The player must shoot the gas bomb to prevent Kabul from setting its timer; the targetable areas shift while he is talking.
	Island Paradise
	This mission is only played on the Hard difficulty. Kabul has abducted Ali and stolen her hovercraft. The player must pursue Kabul, who moves around the island on the hovercraft. After catching him multiple times, he crashes into a bar, where the player must shoot him and then shoot a ceiling fan to drop it on him.