Review GigaDeathNullGolem 3/5 · Jul 16, 2023
Some Improvements but Still mediocre
Ah, yes Desert Strike is that classic isometric shooting game, this is Jungle Strike. It is number 2 in the Strike series, let's see what it has to offer?
Well first of all one thing it doesn't have much to offer is actually jungles. You don't see one for quite a while (that's true at first anyway). Instead you get …
Ah, yes Desert Strike is that classic isometric shooting game, this is Jungle Strike. It is number 2 in the Strike series, let's see what it has to offer?
Well first of all one thing it doesn't have much to offer is actually jungles. You don't see one for quite a while (that's true at first anyway). Instead you get something better: variety. Urban, landscapes, even the White House lawn! Overall the variation in stages is a nice change of pace from the original. You also get switchable vehicles (at times) for a total of three extra vehicles plus your Apache.
The game has different look on SNESand genesis, I personally think the look and sound is better here.
Most other elements are close enough and I did not in fact notice any difference in the way the game controls (still hard and frustrating), weapons, or general strategy. Objectives remain the same and story is corny and bolted on. It's too bad the only time the game plays music is during mission briefings because it's pretty good chiptune-like sound for the Genesis.
It seems that maybe the main upgrade to the game is the addition of 3 additional vehicles - a hovercraft, a jet fighter, and a motorcycle.
The change in environments is an improvement. There is even a night mission where you try to look for the red lights of enemies with NV equipment.
The hovercraft is actually pretty good and controls okay. The jet plane and the motorcycle are an absolute nightmare. It's supposed to be a feature to have more things, but they make the game harder overall and they might as well not be included.
Overall, a really hard game to play legit. I can imagine someone building muscle memory for it though, but jeez.... The controls even for the easier vehicles are going to be frustrating. IT's a challenging game to hit things in general. The wonky way of going about judging the distance to your target is still present and still feels awkward. Beyond that, it's still not very rewarding or that interesting, driving the motorcycle and flying the plane was painful to experience, lol. But if you enjoy isometric shooting you'll probably find it worthwhile anyway.