Overview
F-15 Strike Eagle is an F-15 flight simulator released in 1985 based on real life missions in which the F-15 flew. In the 70’s and early 80’s the plane was used during missions in the Middle East and Asia, where it was used to destroy both ground and air targets.
The game was designed by Sid Meier with input from Air Force pilot John W. "Bill" Stealy in a custom language called SidTran. The game was developed by MicroProse and published by Amstrad CPC.
The game was the first part of a trilogy consisting of:
It was later released again by
ZX Spectrum in 1987 and again, in 1993, on the Game Boy and Game Gear. The game sold more than 1.5 million copies and was awarded Action game of the the Year in the same year it was first published.
Gameplay
The game consists of 7 missions which have you fighting against the Libyan air force. The player starts each mission taking off from the
U.S. Navy
Carrier, the USS. Nimitz and flying against Libya and their Russian-built air force.
The game has an arcade mode and 3 difficulty levels and features 3 types of both enemy aircrafts and SAMs. While playing, the pilot will have access to many tools available to modern pilots of the time including:
- Heads-Up Display
- Computer-assisted targeting
- Airborne radar
- Ground tracking display maps
- Chaff and flares
Game Features
The PC version of the game included a method of DRM that required the player to use a decoder wheel to start the game. In later versions, players were able to use "Mission Codes" in order to continue from where they last left off.
The later versions of the game also included a system that allowed the player to earn special rewards, promotions, and various medals for their action in combat.
This was one of the first games to give a player access to chaff and flares. This game was also one of the first games to experiment with wire frame rotation.
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