Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf

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DesertStrike MDTitleScreen.png

Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear
Publisher: US/EU Electronic Arts JP Electronic Arts Victor
Developer:
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up, Simulation (both are listed on the box; Sega of Japan master list only lists Shoot-'em-Up)

















Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf, called Desert Strike: Wangan Sakusen (デザートストライク 湾岸作戦) in Japan and better known simply as Desert Strike, is an isometric-projection shoot-em-up by Electronic Arts released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1992, and subsequently ported to other platforms. It is the first game in EA's so-called Strike series of isometric shoot-em-ups.

A terrorist violently takes over a small Arab emirate and plans a major nuclear strike, to which the president of the United States orders a helicopter team in the Special Forces to intervene. You are in control of one such helicopter.

Mega Drive Gameplay

Each of the game's four levels is a separate mission with different objectives. To complete the objectives, you are given ammunition of varying power levels (shot by pressing A (Hellfires and Jink), B (Hydras), or C (Guns), listed in order of decreasing power). Though the game uses an isometric projection, the control behaves more like a full 3D game, where using Left and Right rotates your chopper, Up moves you forward in t he direction you're facing, and Down moves you backward. Hitting  START  allows you to access a map, a summary of the mission, and mission status.

Credits

Rather than having a static title screen, the MD version shows a repeating animation of the helicopter flying with the game title on top while the credits appear on the bottom of the screen.

  • By Mike Posehn (implying he is the creator)
  • Programming: Mike Posehn
  • Game Design: Mike Posehn, John Manley
  • Art: Paul Vernon, Gary Martin, Amy Hennig
  • Sound and Music: Rob Hubbard, Brian Schmidt
  • Technical Director: Carl Mey
  • Producer: Richard Robbins

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
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Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf

Mega Drive Version

Mega Drive, US
DesertStrike MD US Box.jpg
Cover
DesertStrike MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
DesertStrike MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, EU (Classic)
DesertStrike MD EU Box Classic.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, JP
Desertstrike md jp cover.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, BR
DesertStrike MD BR Box.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, KR
DesertStrike MD KR Box.jpg
Cover

Master System Version

Mega Drive, EU
DesertStrike SMS EU Box.jpg
Cover

Game Gear Version



Strike games for Sega systems
Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (1992) | Jungle Strike (1993) | Urban Strike (1994) | Soviet Strike (1997)