I don't know how they did it, but the terrorists who were in charge of the Gulf War mess that you took care of
from the first part of this series, "Desert Strike", have actually managed to enslave Washington D.C. Led by the son of the
evil "Gulf War Madman" as they call him, the terrorists are twice more mad, twisted, evil and powerful than in the first game.
So what is the US government gonna do about it? No need to worry. As usuall they have a backup suicide
mission planned where they send a lone warrior against thousands of enemies, where all and fate of everyone
depends of his piloting skills....hehehe, yes, you! :)
Graphics [7/10]:
The graphics in this game looks impressive because of its side-view. It looks kind of 3d-ish, like in Mario RPG. That was the good side of it and now the bad one.
If you watch closely you'll see how Electronic Arts made very little variety in landscape and buildings. The whole city of Washington looks like a big golf corse.
I remember that Desert Strike, the first part of the series has a great variety of landscapes which are very detailed. I'm sorry
that I can't say the same for the sequel. EA definiitelly did not put enough effort to make some impressive graphics in Jungle Strike, which
brings me to another point, why the %$#@! is the name of the game called "Jungle Strike" when the action is nowhere near a jungle! ;)
Your chopper is a different type than the one from the first part. The animation while flying is almost identical though.
Music and Sound [5/10]:
There are very few sounds in this game, and virtually no music while playing! You can only hear sounds
of yours and enemies' weapons, which are cannon fires, rocket fires, the sound of your chopper's engine,
explosions, and the sound produced when you bump into buildings! Considering that this game was made in
1995 there really is no excuse for no music at all while playing, and for so few sounds.
Game Play [8/10]:
This game is extremely hard. There's around 10 levels in this game and you only have 3 lives. From
level one the enemies fire heavily at you. By the time you reach level 3, you'll have only one life left
by average, and the enemies get smarter and smarter, it's really hard to make any progress.
The SNES controller is not perfect for control in Jungle Strike, but with a little practice you get used to it.
Your chopper can move in almost all directions and side-ways. Unfortunately, it cannot fly straight and move side-ways.
There are a few realistic and non-realistic factors in this game. You do not have unlimited ammo and fuel, you always have to
search for it and reload. The non-realistic part is when your armor is very low, chopper heavily damaged, and you pick up a
"Fix your chopper in 2 seconds - fixing kit" from the ground. :) It's just a box that you need to find, pick up, and it fixes your
chopper in 2 seconds, most of the damages dissapear and it's like new....maybe I'm overreacting a bit, it's just a video game. :)
Challenge and Replay [9/10]:
There's no save game option. As soon as you lose all lives you go back to level 1, no matter where
you died and what level it was. :) Yes, I know, that can be really frustrating, but it gives this game a high
replay value and it raises the challenge level. Don't let this bother you, eventully you'll master this sucker and
it won't matter. ;)
Conclusion/Overall [7.5/10]:
If you are looking for a game to play for a really, reeeealllllly long time, pick up this title. Never mind almost no variety
in graphics, no music, and so few sounds, this game has the goodness where it counts, the gameplay, challenge, and replay value.
If you're not sure then rent it first. It's not better than Desert Strike in my opinion, but it sure is a darn good game to have
in anyone's SNES games collection.
