Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (1992). Play online

Summary

Playing Desert Strike on the Game Gear drops you straight into an overhead isometric view where you pilot an Apache equipped with a machine gun, Hydra rockets and Hellfire missiles, each limited in ammo. You must dodge anti‑air guns, missile launchers and tanks while keeping an eye on fuel, ammunition and armor gauges.

Fuel and ammo are scattered throughout each scrolling stage, and rescued soldiers or POWs boost your armor when you bring them back to a landing zone. The game’s open, multi‑directional maps let you plot non‑linear routes, and a hidden “SNAFU” system adds optional side missions for extra challenge.

Visually, the helicopter and vehicle sprites were first modeled in three dimensions before being hand‑refined pixel by pixel, giving the title a surprisingly smooth feel on the handheld’s tiny screen.

Critically, the game topped sales charts as EA’s biggest seller of its era, praised for marrying intense action with resource‑management strategy. The Game Gear version carries the same mix of arcade thrills and tactical depth despite the console’s modest hardware.

Storyline

The game opens with a self‑proclaimed general Kilbaba invading a wealthy emirate in the Persian Gulf, installing himself as dictator and fortifying the region with military weapons and nuclear facilities. The United States dispatches a single helicopter, piloted by the unnamed player and a co‑pilot, to infiltrate and strike Kilbaba’s forces.

Four missions unfold. Air Superiority tasks the pilot with destroying enemy airstrips, support sites and rescuing a pro‑American spy. Scud Buster requires locating a chemical weapons plant, destroying scud launchers and evacuating civilians and POWs. Embassy City involves rescuing a UN inspection team, destroying a biological weapons plant and missiles, freeing hostages and attempting to eliminate Kilbaba aboard his heavily guarded yacht. Nuclear Storm ends with protecting an oil facility, disabling a nuclear power plant, capturing a scientist, stopping a bomber loaded with bombs and watching Kilbaba die in the burning aircraft.

The final scene shows the pilot and co‑pilot standing in the White House Rose Garden, greeted by President and Mrs. Bush who congratulate them.