text: desert strike desert strike : return to the gulf , commonly known as desert strike , is a shoot ' em up video game released by electronic arts ( ea ) in february 1992 for the sega genesis . the game was later 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 a lone apache helicopter and attempts to destroy enemy weapons and installations , rescue hostages and capture enemy personnel , while managing supplies of fuel and ammunition . the 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 , a phd in mechanical engineering , 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 . desert strike was a strong commercial success : it was a chart - topping best seller and at the time electronics arts ' highest ever selling game . the game also received a favourable critical response , with several magazines awarding scores of over 90 % . reviewers praised the game 's enjoyability , mix of action and strategy , graphics and sound . there was some controversy regarding the game 's subject matter , with commentators criticising it as in poor taste due the proximity of its release to the recently ended gulf war . gameplay desert strike is a shoot ' em up game in which the player pilots an ah - 64 apache helicopter . the game is less frantic than typical shoot ' em ups , with the addition of greater strategic elements . the action takes place on open , multi - directional scrolling levels viewed from an isometric perspective . the player views the action from outside the helicopter , rather than from within the cockpit . levels consist of several missions , which are based around the destruction of enemy weapons and installations , as well as rescuing hostages or prisoners of war , or capturing enemy personnel . the apache is armed with a machine gun , more powerful hydra rockets and yet more deadly hellfire missiles . the more powerful the weapon , the fewer can be carried : the player must choose an appropriate weapon for each situation . enemy weapons range from soldiers with small arms , to anti - aircraft missiles to tanks and armoured cars . the player 's craft has a limited amount of armour , which is depleted as the helicopter is hit by enemy fire . should the armour reach zero , the craft will be destroyed , costing the player a life . the player must outmanoeuvre enemies to avoid damage , but can replenish armour by means of power - ups or by airlifting rescued friendlies or captives to a landing zone . the helicopter has a finite amount of fuel which is steadily depleted over time . should the fuel run out the apache will crash , again costing the player a life . the craft can refuel by collecting fuel barrels : the player must therefore plan mission routes carefully in order to maximise efficiency . the helicopter also carries limited ammunition , which must be replenished by means of ammo crates . plot the game opens with a self - proclaimed general named kilbaba ( in the super nes version ) seizing control of an unnamed , fictional gulf state . installing himself as dictator , kilbaba quickly begins fortifying his position with military weapons and installations , including nuclear facilities with which to build bombs . the united states decides to send in a single helicopter , piloted by the player 's unnamed character and aided by a co - pilot , to infiltrate and destroy kilbaba 's forces in a series of swift strikes . in the final level , kilbaba attempts to escape in a bomber plane armed with nuclear bombs , but the player destroys him and his plane before it leaves the runway . in the ending , the player and co - pilot are seen at the white house , where they are commended by president bill clinton for their heroism . the game 's plot was felt by commentators to be a thinly disguised reference to the gulf war , while comparisons were drawn between kilbaba and saddam hussein , and between the game 's unnamed desert setting and iraq . development and release the game was developed by a team headed by mike posehn . in the 1980s , posehn had previously worked for ea as a software developer . soon after leaving ea , he obtained a publishing deal with the company for video deluxe . the success of the software spurred posehn to branch out and experiment with a flight simulator titled fly for the ibm personal computer ; however , international business machines cancelled the project . posehn later met with ea president trip hawkins who suggested that posehn develop a game for the genesis , which was soon to be released . he also recommended that posehn create a game similar to the apple ii game choplifter ; hawkins felt flying a helicopter and rescuing people was " cool " . desert strike underwent few changes from the plans outlined in the original design documents . the initial concept involved smoothly animated vehicles on an isometric playing field . the developers also aimed to include cinematic scenes , similar to the revenge of shinobi { { } } s introduction sequence . the game began development some time before any discussion of an american invasion of iraq , originally based on the lebanese civil war and titled beirut breakout ; this was later changed to the persian gulf region . a special point system intended to punish players was omitted ; the system would have deducted points from the player 's score if they destroyed objects that resulted in negative economic and political results . the control scheme was not well received at internal reviews of the game 's early versions , and posehn had to alter his original design to obtain approval for further development . john manley , an ea employee , assisted writing the game 's program . he and posehn collaborated to create the game 's sandbox format , which they nicknamed " snafu " . posehn wanted the game to have nonlinear gameplay , and manley felt having a storyline and puzzles would help the player progress . posehn disliked common gameplay elements like series of bosses and power - ups . as a compromise , the developers only included power - ups to replenish ammunition , armour , and other helicopter resources . to provide the player with options , the snafu system was designed to allow players to complete side missions in addition to main objectives . if the player alters the game scenario so that the objectives cannot be completed , the game instructs the player to reset the mission by returning to base . inspired by matchbox toys he played with as a child , posehn decided to make the size of the game sprites resemble toys . posehn contacted his friend , tim calvin , to assist with designing and creating the vehicle sprites . though calvin was a practising dentist at the time , he also had experience with 3d modelling . he rendered 3d models on a computer and reduced them to the desired size . different views were obtained by rotating the models along a single axis . calvin added colour to the sprites to meet the production staff 's specifications ; most required black , white , red , and blue , as well as four shades of colours like green and brown . calvin eventually felt the rendering process was a waste of resources and attempted to create sprites on the pixel level himself without 3d models . the developers , however , preferred the sprites created from the models over calvin 's freestyle ones . posehn had a difficult time working within the genesis 's output resolution of 320 × 240 . he wanted to show as much of the playing field as possible without losing the details of the sprites ; he felt a lack of graphical detail would make them less interesting . posehn developed a dynamic camera system to help maintain what he felt was the right balance between the size of the field in view and the size of the game objects . the camera travels on an elliptic curve as the helicopter rotates to change the direction it travels ; this puts whatever is in front of the helicopter more in view on screen . posehn also integrated momentum to the camera movements to smooth transitions . he spent several months working on the physics for the screen and helicopter to ensure realistic movement . instead of using completely accurate physics , posehn chose to model movement that he believed players would assume a helicopter would have . he believed players would be put off by physics that didn 't match their perceived movement . after the success of the genesis / mega drive version , work began on a conversion for the amiga , with gary roberts ( known for a john madden amiga conversion ) and david ( responsible for myth ) in charge of development . the developers retouched and redrew the graphics and added additional sound effects taken from military training videos . conversions for other systems include the atari lynx , super nintendo entertainment system , master system , game gear and game boy . the game was also ported to the game boy advance , ten years later in 2002 , as desert strike advance , and was re - released in 2006 for the playstation portable as part of a budget compilation . reception commentators have felt the game was an attempt to capitalize on then - recent , extensive news coverage of the gulf war , which had focused on the use of advanced , impersonal weapons ( such as aircraft and guided missiles ) to destroy enemy weapons and installations . some commentators considered the game 's subject matter in bad taste , with one magazine reporting an incident of veterans burning copies of the game . desert strike was an immediate commercial success , going straight to the top of sales charts . the game remained a top - 10 best seller for months after its release , and was at the time electronic arts ' highest selling game ever . mean machines praised the sophistication and tactical freedom found in the game , as well as its longevity and graphics . the magazine deemed it one of the best shooters on the mega drive thus far , as well as the best game released for the console that month . computer and video games felt the game 's subject matter was somewhat in bad taste , but praised its depth , soundtrack and sound effects . the magazine felt the game was " essential " for mega drive owners . ace praised the balance of action and strategy , as well as the variety of missions . the magazine felt some of the graphics , particularly the explosions , were a little weak and complained that the fact that the helicopter is not fully rearmed and refuelled after the loss of a life was unduly frustrating . megatech magazine praised the graphics and gameplay , and said it was " one of the best shoot ' em ups on the megadrive " . retro gamer included this " thinking man 's shoot- ' em - up " among top ten mega drive games . amiga action felt the game was not particularly innovative , but praised its open - ended gameplay , graphics and sound . 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 computing noted the improved graphics and sound over the mega drive version and praised the game as " ea 's finest moment since populous " . the reviewer also acclaimed the game 's " brilliant playability " . 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 . cu amiga praised the amiga version 's improved graphics and sound , particularly the explosions , though the reviewer derided friendly units ' invincibility as unrealistic and complained of poor enemy artificial intelligence . 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 " . the one praised the mix of action and strategy as well as opining that the amiga version was a strong improvement over the mega drive game . the magazine said the game " plays like a dream " and was " one of the best shoot ' em ups available for any games machine " . the four reviewers of electronic gaming monthly gave varying praise to the lynx version 's controls and graphics , but concurred that on the smaller portable screen desert strike loses much of its impact and playability , as it is difficult to identify enemies or even see the bullets the player character fires . gamepro gave the game boy version a positive review , saying it " has almost everything that made the original title great . " they particularly praised the graphics and extensive , realistic sound effects , remarking that they were very impressive given the limitations of game boy cartridges . mike weigand of electronic gaming monthly likewise deemed it " a fairly faithful portable version of the 16 - bit military classic . " legacy desert strike was followed by four sequels jungle strike , urban strike , soviet strike , and nuclear strike that expanded on the basic gameplay it established . the design staff made efforts to retain game mechanics they felt embodied the core of the original . they believed removing those elements would result in a loss of focus of what attracted fans . as the series moved to more advanced consoles , posehn became less involved in the programming side of development . jungle strike and urban strike , both released for the genesis , featured additional vehicles and locations . soviet strike , released for the original playstation and the sega saturn in 1996 , featured 3d graphics , as did nuclear strike , released on pc and playstation in 1997 and the nintendo 64 in 1999 . a fifth sequel provisionally titled future strike was planned , but the game was eventually released as future cop : lapd , a mech - based shooter game .