F-15 Strike Eagle

Do you dream of slicing through the vapor trails of a MiG or knocking out some Scuds? Gas up F-15 Strike Eagle by MicroProse and let's get it on!

Where Eagles Dare

Fly a supersonic F-15 Strike Eagle through seven challenging Sortie Areas over video versions of Libya, Kuwait, and Iraq. Your mission is to take out enemy weapons, airfields, bridges, and command centers. You can fly solo or for an added challenge team up with another flier in one jet as Pilot and Weapons Officer.

You pilot the F-15 from a forward-looking, first person perspective. A control panel in the bottom half of the screen features a full array of readouts including two Missile Warning Sensors, a Sortie Area Radar Map, and a Target I.D. Screen. The graphics won't knock you out, but they get you through your missions.

'Raq Up the Points

Armed with a cannon and missiles, you pull loops, rolls, and high-speed turns over the Middle East on your way to take out primary and secondary targets. En-route you can shoot down enemy planes and bomb Oil Rigs, SAM (Surface to Air Missile) Sites, and Air-bases. Nailing targets enables you to score points towards a promotion through seven ranks from Airman to General. High scores in a single sortie win medals.

As you gain combat experience you move up through four skill levels. At the top levels, Combat Pilot and Ace, you receive better weapons and gain more control over your aircraft -— but you have to shoot straigtiter and fly better, too.

Chair Force

F-15 Strike Eagle is basic video jet combat fare that offers quality flight time for any NES jet jockey. Let your fingers do the flyin'!

Strap yourself into the cockpit of America's hottest jet fighter, the F-15--Strike Eagle. Fly hundreds of different missions, each with primary and secondary targets, through six game worlds. A streamlined weapons console targets enemy planes so you can concentrate on flying and fighting. Enemy pilots and missile crews act and react intelligently. Pilot your F-15 on dangerous missions in the Persian Gulf. Locate and destroy chemical warfare plants, blast entrenched positions, and lead an all-out assault against the enemy's capital city.

THE GOOD

There are plenty of cool missions you can undertake and the digitized voices are pretty good, too!

THE BAD

The graphics are bland and the lack of detail makes it hard to tell if an object is an enemy.

THE UGLY

Although the voices are done very well. I can't really say the same thing about the sound effects.

Jet Fighter Simulation For Nintendo

MicroProse, a leading computer game company, is taking to the skies of Nintendo with F-15 Strike Eagle for the NES. Adapted from a popular computer flight simulator, F-15 Strike Eagle lets you pilot a U.S. Air Force fighter jet through a realistic flying environment. Unlike other flight games for the NES, F-15 Strike Eagle allows you to decide where to fly and what to attack - the game doesn't force you to follow a preset path.

Your simulated fighter has the flying characteristics of a real F-15, complete with the ability to fly loops and full rolls. You can hone your skills by flying training sorties, then tackle seven combat missions. If you're good enough, the air force will award you its highest honors.

You are in command of your very own F-15 jet fighter. You have a vast arsenal at your command along with the piloting of the Aircraft. NES pilots rejoice!

With the incredibly powerful technology available in the personal-computer industry of the '90s, flight simulators have established a deep niche in the computer market. So why is everybody rushing to bring out flight simulators for the black-and-white, battery-powered Game Boy? The only answer I can offer is that they can be surprisingly fun to play, as evidenced by last year's awardwinning Turn & Burn from Absolute.

Of course, MicroProse knows better than to try to cram a full-featured, "pure" simulator into a tiny Game Boy cartridge, and its new F-15 Strike Eagle doesn't waste too much time trying to prove itself in the areas of realism and technical specifications. It's a combat flight simulator that emphasizes shooting action, but still maintains a foothold in the physics of real-life dogfighting.

Developed for MicroProse by NMS Software Ltd. (previously responsible for StarHawk, Accolade's Game Boy shoot-'em-up), F-15 Strike Eagle sports sharp graphics and a functional soundtrack that carry the player through seven different dogfight/bombing-run missions, each of which can be tackled at three different levels of difficulty. The game's difficulty curve is as smooth as silk, hooking the casual player with a "milk run" over the fictitious Mesnia and gradually turning up the intensity as you get closer to the final battle over Ismailia. A password system gives you access to the more difficult missions after you've conquered the earlier ones.

Thankfully, the details of your fighter's control panel are surprisingly easy to see on the small screen. Many of the game's graphic elements are exaggerated for visibility's sake--the fat, round bullets that your weapons spit out are a perfect example--but never so much so that it interferes with the game's believability as a simulation experience.

The thing I like best about F-15 Strike Eagle is its simplicity. It recognizes the limitations of the hardware and works well within those boundaries. Like Kon-ami's Kid Dracula (described above), it's also an easy game to learn, yet it's subtle enough to withstand repeated play.