Hover Strike | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Atari Corporation |
Publisher(s) |
|
Producer(s) | Leonard Tramiel |
Designer(s) | Hank Cappa Harry Kinney Lance J. Lewis |
Programmer(s) | Cary Gee Craig Suko Denis L. Fung |
Artist(s) | Chris Thompson Donald Wang Ed Pearson |
Writer(s) | Elizabeth Shook |
Composer(s) | Brad Wait |
Platform(s) | Atari Jaguar |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Shooter |
Mode(s) | Single-player, co-op |
Hover Strike is a shooter video game developed and published by Atari Corporation exclusively for the Atari Jaguar first in North America in April 1995, then in Europe on May of the same year and later in Japan around the same period, where it was published instead by Messe Sansao. [1] [2] [3] Taking place in a future where the Terrakian Pirates have seized control of a colonized foreign planet, players are tasked with piloting an armed hovercraft vehicle in an attempt of rescuing the captured colonists and obliterate the invading alien forces from the surface of the planet before the Federation armada arrives.
Conceived as an update to Atari's 1980 arcade game Battlezone , the project originally went under the title Battlezone 2000 and was one of the first games to be greenlit and announced for the Jaguar prior to its launch, along with Cybermorph and Tempest 2000 . [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] After being showcased during the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1994 under the original title however, [9] [10] it was renamed to Hover Strike at one point during its development, likely due to it drifting away from the original source material.
Hover Strike received mixed reception from critics after its initial release, with many being divided in regards to multiple aspects of the game such as the presentation, visuals, sound and gameplay. As of April 1, 1995, it is unknown how many copies of the title were sold in total during its lifetime. [11] A remake, Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands , was released months later for the Atari Jaguar CD and featured several enhancements compared to the original, although both shared the same overall storyline.
Hover Strike is a futuristic semi-open 3D shooter game similar to Battlezone and T-MEK in which players pilot an armed hovercraft vehicle in order to complete a series of 30 missions, each one taking place across on different terrain types, as attempts to overthrow the Terrakian Pirates from a colonized foreign planet and rescue the remaining captured colonists before the Federation's armada arrives into the location to decimate the invading alien forces. [12] [13]
Before starting, players can choose between three difficulty settings and tackle either mission in any given order at the selection screen, which involves destroying a number of enemies and structures that are specified as main objectives at the briefing screen, however pressing the Option button during the mission selection brings the setup menu where various settings can be adjusted such as controls and sound configurations, in addition of saving their current progress. [12] [13]
After choosing a mission, players are immediately dropped into the playfield to fight against the enemies and destroy the main objectives to clear the mission, while power-ups and ammo can also be found by destroying carriers to restock their arsenal and the hovercraft's energy and shields respectively. [12] If the players does not re-energize the hovercraft, it will self-destruct and it can also be destroyed by enemy fire if its shield are not regenerated and once all lives are lost, the game is over, though players have the option of resuming progress by loading their saved game into the last mission reached, but the number of lives used is also kept. [12]
During gameplay, the action is viewed inside the cockpit of the hovercraft and controlling it is done by pressing A to accelerate, B for shooting photon energy and C for braking, while pressing left and right rotates the craft to the respective direction. [12] Most of the enemies in the game are low flying aircraft that follow and shoot at the player. Moving the reticle is done by pressing up or down to shoot the photons, while pressing Option during gameplay alternates between each of the available sub-weapons and pressing either 1 or 3 on the keypad fires them. [12] Pressing 2 will lock the reticle onto the closest enemy and pressing 5 cycles between multiple targets, while pressing 7 or 9 changes between different camera angles. [12] Pressing either up or down with both A and C engages the vehicle into forward or reverse modes. [12] [13]
Terrain plays an important role in the game, as the craft automatically hovers over it and surroundings like the hills are useful for cover to avoid enemy fire, although falling off or colliding with high mountains or ledges are harmful to the vehicle. [13] Most of the enemies in the game are low-flying aircraft that follow and shoot at the player's craft and there are also turrets and enemy hovercraft placed on the battlefield, in addition of environmental hazards. At any given time, players can abort the mission they are currently in by pausing the game and pressing any fire button to bring a setup menu, but collected power-ups will be removed and items collected during the mission are restored to their previous level upon doing so. [12]
The game also has a two-player cooperative mode that is accessed by plugging in a second controller into the console, with one player controlling the hovercraft while the other player becomes the gunner, as they have full-range when controlling the reticle but only has access to weapons controls. [12]
Atari Corporation were already developing and planning to release an update of Battlezone for the Jaguar as early as August 1993, when the system was officially unveiled to the public. [5] [6] Originally titled Battlezone 2000 (not to be confused with Hand Made Software's 1995 Atari Lynx title of the same name), [5] [6] [7] it was one of the first fourteen titles to be greenlit for the Jaguar before launch, along with other titles such as Cybermorph and Tempest 2000. [4] The game was originally intended to be for only one player and it remained to be listed under its original title across various video game magazines. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] Battlezone 2000 for the Jaguar was first showcased to the public in a playable state at Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1994, where it featured several visual differences compared to the final release. [9] [10] [21] [22] However at one point during its development, it was renamed to Hover Strike, likely due to the change in direction of the project and had its last trade show appearance at Atari Corp.'s booth during the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in 1995, [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] with plans to be released early in the year. [28] [29] [30]
The production of Hover Strike was spearheaded by ex-Atari vice-president in software development Leonard Tramiel, son of Jack Tramiel. [12] Atari veteran Rob Zdybel also worked as one of the programmers. [12] The music and sound effects were created by composer Brad Wait. [12] Lead tester and level designer Lance J. Lewis referred to the game negatively in recent years, but stated that he had fun working on it. [31] [32]
Hover Strike was first released in North America in April 1995, [1] then in Europe on May of the same year and later in Japan around the same time period, [2] [33] where it was distributed by Messe Sansao instead of Atari. [3]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 45% [34] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
AllGame | [35] |
Atari Gaming Headquarters | 5 / 10 [36] |
Computer and Video Games | 69 / 100 [37] |
Consoles + | 70% [38] |
Electronic Games | C− [39] |
Game Players | 65% [40] |
GamePro | 13 / 20 [41] |
Hobby Consolas | 78 / 100 [42] |
Hobby Hi-Tech | 6 / 10 [43] |
Joypad | 85% [44] |
LeveL | 80 [45] |
MAN!AC | 54% [46] |
Mega Fun | 62% [47] |
Micromanía | 74% [48] |
Next Generation | [49] |
Player One | 90% [50] |
Play Time | 80% [51] |
ST-Computer | 75% [52] |
Última Generación | 38 / 100 [53] |
Ultimate Future Games | 18% [54] |
Video Games | 60% [55] |
Hover Strike was met with mixed reception from critics and reviewers. [56]
Next Generation reviewed the Jaguar version of the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "despite some interesting challenges, this is, unfortunately, a serious simulator misfire." [49]
A remake, entitled Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands , was released for the Jaguar CD add-on in October 23 of the same year. [57] The remake featured improved graphics and additional levels. In 1996, a year after both the original and the remake were released, the game's trademark was abandoned. [58] [59] In May 2017, the game's source code was made freely available on a Jaguar-dedicated Facebook group. [60]
I-War is a shooter video game developed by Imagitec Design and published by Atari Corporation exclusively for the Atari Jaguar in North America and Europe on December 15, 1995. It was the last title developed by Imagitec for the Jaguar before the company ended their relationship with Atari Corp., who would discontinue the platform in April 1996.
Soulstar is a hybrid rail shooter/third-person shooter video game developed and originally published by Core Design for the Sega CD in Europe on April 1994, then in North America by Time Warner Interactive on September 1994, and later in Japan by Victor Entertainment on December 22 of the same year as well.
Cybermorph is a shooter video game developed by Attention to Detail and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar first in North America on November 23, 1993, where it was included as the pack-in game for the console when it launched. It was later released in Europe on June 23, 1994 and finally in Japan as a stand-alone release on December 15 of the same year, where it was published by Mumin Corporation.
Defender 2000 is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar on December 1995. Part of Atari Corp.'s 2000 series, it is a remake by Jeff Minter of Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar's 1981 arcade game Defender, which drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids.
BattleSphere is a first-person space combat simulation video game originally developed by 4Play and published by ScatoLOGIC exclusively for the Atari Jaguar on February 29, 2000.
Iron Soldier is an open world first-person mecha simulation video game developed by Eclipse Software Design and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar in North America and Europe on December 22, 1994, then in Europe in January 1995 and later in Japan on March 24 of the same year, where it was instead published by Mumin Corporation. The first installment in the eponymous franchise, the game is set in a dystopian future where industries and machinery has overrun most of the surface on Earth, as players assume the role of a resistance member taking control of the titular mech in an attempt to overthrow the dictatorship of Iron Fist Corporation, who have conquered the world through usage of military force.
Battlemorph is a shooter video game developed by Attention to Detail and published by Atari Corporation exclusively for the Atari Jaguar CD in North America and Europe on December 1995. It is the sequel to Cybermorph, a pack-in game for the Atari Jaguar that was originally released on November 23, 1993.
Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy is a horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed by Flare II and originally published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar first in North America on November 23, 1993. It was, aside from the pack-in game Cybermorph, the only launch title for the system in the region. It was also released in Europe on June 27, 1994 and finally in Japan on January 13, 1995 where it was published by Mumin Corporation.
Club Drive is a racing video game developed and published by Atari Corporation exclusively for the Atari Jaguar on November 28, 1994, and later in Japan by Mumin Corporation on March 24, 1995.
Black ICE\White Noise is an unreleased action-adventure video game that was in development and planned to be published by Atari Corporation on a scheduled December 1995 release date exclusively for the Atari Jaguar CD. It is influenced by the works of American-Canadian writer William Gibson such as Neuromancer and its plot is very reminiscent of The Matrix, which came three years later after the project was discontinued.
Gravon: Real Virtuality is a 1995 video game developed by Suma. The game originally was released for Atari Falcon and later ported to Microsoft Windows in 2013 and packed as a bonus game to Take On Mars. The famous game Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis is considered to be a spiritual successor to Gravon.
AirCars is a shooter video game developed by MidNite Entertainment Group and originally published by ICD exclusively for the Atari Jaguar in North America on June 18, 1997. It was one of the last licensed releases for the system.
Missile Command 3D is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Virtuality Entertainment and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar in North America on December 12, 1995, and Europe on December 15 of the same year. Part of Atari Corp.'s 2000 series, it is an update to Dave Theurer's 1980 arcade game Missile Command and the only officially released title that features support for the unreleased Jaguar VR peripheral.
Power Drive Rally is a racing video game developed by Rage Software and published by Time Warner Interactive for the Atari Jaguar in North America and Europe in 1995. It was also published in Japan by Messe Sansao on the same year. It is the sequel to Power Drive, which was released earlier in 1994 on multiple platforms.
Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands is a shooter video game developed and published by Atari Corporation exclusively for the Atari Jaguar CD in North America and Europe on October 23, 1995. A remake of Hover Strike for the Atari Jaguar, it was created by most of the original team who worked on the original game and both titles share the same overall plot, where the Terrakian alien race seized control of a colonized foreign planet and players are tasked with piloting an armed hovercraft vehicle in an attempt of rescuing the captured colonists and destroy the invading forces from the planet's surface before the Federation armada arrives.
Phase Zero is an unreleased action-shooter video game that was in development by Hyper Image Productions and originally planned to be published by Atari Corporation on a scheduled September 1995 release date exclusively for the Atari Jaguar. It was the only game in development by Hyper Image.
Zero 5 is a shooter video game developed by Caspian Software and published by Telegames exclusively for the Atari Jaguar on September 29, 1997. It is a remake of the 1994 Atari STe title of the same name and one of the last licensed releases to be published for the Jaguar after being discontinued in 1996 by Atari Corporation, who merged with JT Storage in a reverse takeover prior to its eventual launch.
Zzyorxx II is an unreleased scrolling shooter video game that was in development and planned to be published by Virtual Xperience on a scheduled 1994 release date exclusively for the Atari Jaguar. It was one of the three projects Virtual Xperience had under development for the system that would never be finished and released to the public. In the game, players would have taken control of two distinct fighter crafts across five stages taking place on different time periods while fighting against an armada of enemies. Despite never receiving an official release to the public, a ROM image of an early build of Zzyorxx II was released online in 2018 at the AtariAge forum.
Space War 2000 is an unreleased first-person space combat simulation video game developed and originally planned to be published by Atari Corporation on a scheduled November 1995 release date exclusively for the Atari Jaguar. It is an update by Robert Zdybel of Ian Shepard's 1978 Atari 2600 game Space War. In the game, players assume the role of a space knight to fight against other opponents.
Source Code for the Atari Jaguar game Hover Strike which was code named 'Tank'. There is another version of the source code floating about which is apparently for the CD version. Not seen any documentation for this but I think it's the cart version, originally from the Atari HQ CD