The Rise And Fall Of The Strike Series

[@Bransfiiiield]

It actually surprised me in going back to Desert Strike, just how ahead of its time it was. In some ways. I'm sure some other games likely did these things before - it's always the way - but Desert Strike was a) on consoles, and b) absolutely massive in 1992, so the impact is embiggened. It's open-world, though on a small scale. It's non-linear, though there's no real reward for doing things out of order. It demands more of the player than just 'go here and shoot' with some minor resource management for the wellbeing of your hover-blaster ("helicopter"). I don't think it should be understated how ahead of its time Desert Strike was. Just a shame so many of them are riddled in godawful Might Is Right nationalistic spew, BUT HEY.

[@KieronHoward]

There was a game on the Spectrum called Cyclone, there's some playthroughs on here if you have a look. Isometric 3D helicopter came where you had to rescue people from a ... cyclone. The winch mechanics look very similar to Desert Strike. In Cyclone you could adjust the viewing angle too.

[@ACatCalledSnow]

Great video Bransfield! The Amiga version of Desert Strike had great music. It also spawned games like Zeewolf. It's a shame EA never carried on with the series. Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2 on the PlayStation was clearly inspired by Desert Strike and was as close as we got to a successor.

[@AB1138-]

I loved Nuclear Strike! There's actually an Easter egg in the 1st mission. If you go out into the ocean, flying somewhere to the southwest, you will eventually find that little prison on the title screen!

[@crimcrusader8459]

A HD Remaster of the Strike Series of games is definitely in order here!

[@johtajakansio]

Closest I got to a Strike revival was Battlefield 3's online coöp helicopter mission

[@PrecisaS]

Holy fuckin shit. I totally forgot this game existed. I had nuclear strike and I absolutely loved it as a kid. Thank you for making this. ❤

[@maniac1075]

They're games that could do well on mobile. But what does EA care about offering full games without microtransactions and reasons to piss off consumers by having it not connect to EA servers?

[@MikeForce111]

The FMVs and live action cutscenes from Nuclear Strike are legendary, they still hold up great to this day imo. Great use of military stock footage.

[@MyNameIsAge84]

Excellent video. First time I ever played desert strike on my mega drive, little 9 year old me was blown away!

[@josecoon-adams4816]

I used to have nuclear strike 64, back in the day, it was fun, but the ps1 version is way better. I like the FMV's, they were awesome.

[@RobsonRoverRepair]

With Future Cop lapd being basically the follow up to Nuclear Strike, I'd say a transforming chopper was the direction of the franchise, and I don't think it would have worked then. Now however, I think you could have a very very good game based around the strike concept. Half way between Lost Planet and half way between Ace Combat

[@RichardCraig]

I like the reference to Ace Combat! I'd love to see a Strike game that's equally enjoyable from any perspective, whether it's 1st person, 3rd person, zoomed-out isometric, and whatever else, kinda like how 90's 3D racing games went crazy with camera views, but with a focus on making it uniquely enjoyable from each perspective, that could actually be the hook of the game.

[@MyNameIsAge84]

I never knew Future Cop had any connection to the Strike series!?

[@mattsmedley.onehandedgamin9029]

I so loved the 1st desert strike game on the mega drive.

[@davidmylchreest3306]

The explosions on Amiga Desert Strike are beautifully drawn

[@Bransfiiiield]

Agreed. They put the Mega Drive original ones to shame.

[@neilsanders2341]

I stumbled on Future Cop LAPD on emulator and loved it, so great to learn of it’s lineage. Thanks mate!

[@edsiefker1301]

No way is the Amiga version better. Just look at the footage when you say that, the Amiga version looks like a cartoon. The MD palate is nicer, and the art just looks more professional. MD soundtrack is perfect on the YM2612, there's a reason you opened the video with the MD theme. Sure, the Amiga version has digitized audio, but the synth sound effects are aesthetically superior.

[@kevinlowe0]

It's rumored that EA did attempt to revive the Strike series, but didn't come to an agreement with Pandemic Studios, who went on to produce the game as Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. EA then published that game's sequel.

[@Larry]

The strangest thing about the series is why didn't it ever recieve a 3DO port? EA shoved everything else they had onto the system, but never a Strike game. Unless Return Fire is somehow "it".

[@Bransfiiiield]

I totally didn't mention that Soviet Strike was being made for 3DO and they switched it to PS1 instead. Probably should have mentioned that.

[@Shishkebarbarian]

cause the 3do was DOA and EA cancelled the strike game in development for it in lieu of releasing it on the PSX

[@tonybarnes2920]

@@Bransfiiiield Right, because to make a new "3D" engine took longer than the 3DO was around, so we shifted to the 32-bit platforms that had a future.

[@MrJC1]

Played Desert Strike, Jungle Strike and Urban Strike back in the day. Great times. :D.

[@shabmaster7128]

Jungle Strike is among my favorite games.

[@SolarMechanic]

8:48 Portangent is my favourite Welsh holliday town.

[@Bransfiiiield]

waaaait a second

[@goranisacson2502]

Urban Strike was funnily enough my "nostalgia" since it was the first one I played on my friends Genesis, I've only ever played the earlier games on emulators, but it was still interesting walking down memory lane for these games that I only ever read about in magazines except for when I swooped through skyscrapers and fog-covered bridges, and generally learned how to manage vehicles unlike anything I'd played before. Did not know Future Cop was nearly a sequel though (and had forgot Nuclear Strike even existed), so that's at least something new I learned today. Along with EA Replay being a thing, that is also hars to come across these days. Very much gonna keep my eyes open for that one in the future, really sounds like it's got a lot of value in that small collection.

[@jameskerridge7075]

Fantastic to have you back ! , loved the video !

[@aionarkhe5260]

As another comment has posted, I got to play Urban Strike before any other entries and I have to agree with what you said about how much better it would have felt for everyone else. After playing it, Desert and Jungle felt almost watered down in comparison. Still amazing games, I own a physical copy of each game in the series but Urban is by far my favorite.

[@jellymop]

It’s crazy because I loved Soviet and Nuclear Strike as a kid. I put so many hours into those games. But when you’re a kid, you like everything new and cool lol.

[@rifleman101]

I loved Nuclear Strike as a kid, and now. Also loved future cop! I should see if i can find a copy...

[@lukasgruber1280]

Always felt Renegade Ops published by SEGA was a spiritual successor of the series. It was released on Xbox Live Arcade when allready then it was regarded as too minor for a full retail release. Third person arcade shooters no longer beeing "AAA" material is probably the reason EA abandoned the series.

[@AB1138-]

This style of game is definitely more in the realm of indie games. But even now AAA is turning into MP-Focused live services & mobile games. Or in Sony's case a preference to make every game as huge as possible a production with no room for smaller projects. Also strike series came out pretty early in relation to the development of home consoles. Even towards the end of the series the psx couldn't deliver in terms of resolution, frame rate, amount of assets on screen, etc. There was some more possible with the formula. I think arcadey gameplay aspect was tired to that hardware limitation. It'd have taken too much time and effort to turn it into a super tactical game, and it was a little too rushed to take advantage of open-ended sandbox and gameplay opportunities. There were a ton of these in a brief span then, nothing.

[@Shishkebarbarian]

Renegade Ops is awesome! luckily you can still get it on PC!

[@tonybarnes2920]

I quite like Renegade Ops. It's funny, I was playing it at E3 the year before it came out and the creators said they were "influenced by a game you've probably never heard of called Jungle Strike". I laughed and explained, "of course I know that one... I made that one." The thing about Renegade Ops vs. "Strike" is that Renegade is pure arcade. There's no resource management and the majority of it is pretty linear compared to Strikes. Great game though.

[@Fuuntag]

Thanks for making this. Also solid view to like numbers, 1 in neary!

[@heavymetallabrat]

I loved the strike series. I played hundreds of hours. I love the choice to add paramilitary and military jargon to the series. Mercenary groups are used by countries the world over and not including them affects immersion. We need a modern strike game.

[@uniqueflowsnake]

The mention of raid on bungelin bay made me feel so old when I got a rush of memories of playing it on C64. :D I barely know what I was supposed to do in that game, but had loads of fun anyway.

[@Hopalongtom]

Ahh the days when EA was a beloved Video game developer.

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

Desert Strike and Apocalypse were among my most played games til I got my PlayStation in '97 Absolutely iconic sound effects!

[@dylan.t180]

Love your videos thanks so much for your uploads mate

[@Ciderpunk-jj5es]

Most gamers dismiss them, but with my circumstances I really appreciate the mini consoles. Mega Drive Mini is a lovely bit of kit, but I'll always feel disappointed by the slightly sanitized games selection. Any three EA games would have made it a damn site more interesting, and one of the three needed to be a Strike game. So... Yeah.

[@balthazarasquith]

Amazing games and great video man

[@elbarto6668]

We NEED a FPS-RPG Remak wo you Fight with Dinosaurier! *#JurassicStrike**!*

[@koboldparty4708]

Holy shit, future cop actually existed? I had a demo of it, I think, but lost the disc, and I was halfway convinced that it was a fever dream.

[@RichardCraig]

I've been trimming my ROM collection lately, and this video convinced me to both: 1) play more of the Genesis originals, and 2) delete the PS1 games from my collection. 😅

[@OnSilverWings]

I just got done playing jungle strike on emulator for retroachievements and then got watching videos like this. i cant recall using the hovercraft. I always brute forced my way through the bridge and cheated lol. I consider jungle to be the best with urban bring good but different. While desert was great it was short and very samey.

[@MrMaul80]

I loved these game and still have the 1st three.

[@Yesterzine]

One DS port you skip is the master system one which despite being an identical machine to the GG got an entirely distinct port. If I mention the game gear one was Tiertex and the sms one The Kremlin it should be obvious the sms one is better.

[@simonegiannotti7066]

Thank you. Nuclear strike was my love

[@Creshex8]

I owned Desert Strike for the SNES. They really needed to change the fuel consumption. It felt like you had maybe 2 minutes of fuel before you had to refuel. It was an irritating distraction.

[@speedeespeedboi9527]

Wow. Almost forgot about this game. I still didn't not finish soviet strike second mission

[@ArjunTheRageGuy]

If EA brought the strike series back, they'll probably put microtransactions in them

[@genomstudios2159]

YAAAYYYY!

[@hemangchauhan2864]

I remember there being a Strike inspired mech on Java J2ME phones , with similar enviro destruction and combat. It was on certain Nokia phones. I can't recall it's name.

[@willrobinson7599]

Cracking first game. Played on the megadrive then on the amiga Great video too

[@Daveycrits]

I miss this series so much; were there spiritual successors? I can't find anything.

[@Stellaris556]

Guess what. Cleared Hot is the spiritual successor of Strike series now.

[@Daveycrits]

@@Stellaris556 !! And Megacopter apparently? Thank you so much for commenting; as soon as I looked up and wish listed Cleared Hot it showed me Megacopter too.

[@Stellaris556]

@@Daveycrits 2 helicopter games in one search

[@Bluerage98]

Was thunder strike for the ps2 not part of the series? Growing up I always thought it was

[@Bransfiiiield]

Nah, that series was by Core Design and started life on the Amiga. I loved Firestorm, the PS1 game.

[@Bluerage98]

@@Bransfiiiield oh that's so funny, I had the SNES strike games and when my dad got us a ps2 thunder strike was one of the first games he got for it and I always assumed it was part of the series until this video

[@orinjayce]

Great video! Though I may be wrong. I'm not a KZbin scientist.

[@jeremygregorio7472]

The strike games were fundamentally 2D games and 2D games aren't popular anymore outside of the Indies. And there isn't enough money in the Indies to get ea's attention.

[@Shishkebarbarian]

bruh there's more 2d games coming out today than 3d...its exactly the "AAA or bust" culture and high development costs that drove many developers back to simpler, gameplay focused 2d games. hell even Square is getting in on the action

[@rafafigueroa33]

Why Soviet Strike Saturn port is better than PSX original?

[@wallaceshawn-zk8iw]

It became Mercenaries!

[@tonybarnes2920]

Not exactly. They were trying to make a sequel, that wasn't going well. They talked to the original designers, asking them to consult, but they were busy (I know because I'm one of them). Then, they changed "Desert Strike reboot" into "Mercenaries" and let that team run rampant. Both "Mercenaries" and the Strike series are better for that happening.

[@wallaceshawn-zk8iw]

@@tonybarnes2920 Jungle Strike was your favorite?

[@jeremygregorio7472]

American here. Our stealth fighters don't use steering wheels. They use paddle controls like the Atari 2600

[@Negameleon]

I feel a similar case regarding the inherent jingoism in the Ace Combat series can be made, that's a free video idea!

[@Bransfiiiield]

Actually have an AC project on the go, slowly. It's definitely a different take on the jingoism, in that it tends to come at it from the perspective of national defense rather than assaulting another sovereign nation. A very Japanese take, pretty much.

[@tonybarnes2920]

@@Bransfiiiield you know, while working on these games it we never sat around high-fiving each other singing, "Murica, FUCK YEAH!!!" and think, "what little country can we beat up on?!" We sat down, looked at the conflicts going on in the world and extrapolated from that a narrative to wrap missions around. No flag-waving bully agenda. 🤷‍♂

[@mullerandy]

Good review. You Sir, have a perfect "review voice". Lets hope that the YT algorithm picks your channel up.

[@caddilacjones2397]

I'll never forget those little guys that look like they are in their underwear.

[@Bransfiiiield]

Were they not in their underwear? That's how I always saw them too. Like they were asleep in the tent you just blew up, so ran out in their pants.

[@caddilacjones2397]

@@Bransfiiiield lol I hope they were

[@elbarto6668]

Nice

[@jong2359]

I truly couldn't care less about how today views yesterday. If you are incapable of playing the game without feeling guilty about "social duress" then you probably have some insecurity issues that run deeeeeeep.

[@Bransfiiiield]

I wish I was as cool as you

[@jong2359]

@@Bransfiiiield My dad died in an ice truck accident, how could you be so insensitive...

[@abigails4088]

I forgot these games existed!!!

[@andofernando]

Future piss 😂