Played this as a kid and it is one of the my most nostalgic games. I highly doubt I beat the game back then. Almost beat the game recently; got to the last level, killed the targets and ran out of fuel on the way back to base. A sad way to go but close enough to winning for me. Maybe I will try it again at some point but I do not like the night mission levels because of the hard fuel limit and the way enemies are tightly clustered. I love the day missions because there is strategy involved in what targets to take out when, and when to return to base to replenish ammo, health and fuel. Ironically, the hardest part of the game is landing, which was the cause of most of my deaths.