Super Nintendo Entertainment System Urban Strike (USA)
1Urban Strike is a video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. It was initially released for the Mega Drive in 1994, with ports to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Gear in 1995 and to the Game Boy in 1996. It is the third game in the Strike series, after Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf and Jungle Strike
Urban Strike takes place in 2001 and centers around the antagonist H. R. Malone, a millionaire media mogul, ex-presidential candidate, and fanatic cult leader.
As the plot begins, one of Malone's men is revealed to be "Agent Ego" (played by co-Designer, Tony Barnes), a spy for the fictional "Strike C.O.R.E." organization and a former co-pilot from the events of Jungle Strike. Ego reports to his superiors that Malone is planning construction of a superweapon with which to destabilize the U.S. government, and that valuable components are being collected in Hawaii. However, he is unaware that Malone has penetrated his cover, and Ego is killed with a car-bomb. The player character takes the news of Ego's death very personally.
The first mission takes place in Hawaii, where the player character intercepts Malone's attempted theft of giant mirrors and sees to the rescue of a plastic surgeon being targeted by assassins. After the mission's completion, the plastic surgeon reveals that "Malone" is actually Carlos Ortega, the notorious South American drug lord that was presumed to have been killed at the end of Jungle Strike.
After further missions in Mexico and San Francisco, Malone finishes the superweapon and fires it at New York City, causing mass destruction and chaos. As the player flies out to control the damage and rescue civilians, Malone fires the weapon twice more, allowing Strike C.O.R.E. to track its location: a facility located near Las Vegas. After infiltrating the facility and capturing Malone, the madman attempts to kill the player by detonating a time-bomb strapped to his chest, but the player drops Malone onto his own superweapon as it detonates, destroying them both at once.
Urban Strike is a helicopter based shoot 'em up, mixing action and strategy, retaining its predecessor's core mechanics, and expanding on the model with additional vehicles and settings. This time, the campaign takes the player all over the North American continent, beginning in Hawaii and moving through locations in Mexico, San Francisco, New York, and Las Vegas.
The main model helicopter used in this game is known as the Mohican, which is designed for speed and combat. A larger, heavier model called the Blackhawke (designed for large-scale rescues) can be flown during the first two levels, and an experimental Ground Assault Vehicle (GAV) can be stolen and piloted in the third level. A new feature introduced in this game is on-foot missions, where the player is required to leave the helicopter at certain points and enter internal environments armed with a rifle and missile launcher.
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 Mohican helicopter is armed with machine guns, 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.
The player's craft has a limited amount of armor, which is depleted as the vehicle is hit by enemy fire. Should the armor reach zero, the craft will be destroyed, losing the player a life. The player must outmanuever enemies to avoid damage, but can replenish armor by means of power-ups or by airlifting rescued friendlies or captives to a landing zone. The Mohican has a finite amount of fuel which is steadily depleted as the level progresses. Should the fuel run out the Mohican will crash, again costing the player a life. The craft can refuel by collecting fuel barrels. The helicopter also carries limited ammunition, which must be replenished by means of ammo crates.