Will Strike rise again? Original dev hints at spiritual successor

Blasting enemy soldiers and dealing out fiery death from an isometric perspective as a badass attack helicopter — that was one of the great joys of the '90s. And few games captured that thrill like the Strike series, with classics such as Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, and Nuclear Strike.

But time moved on, or maybe the market just got oversaturated — who knows — and apart from a few charming indie takes that have popped up recently, the once-beloved chopper-shooter genre has pretty much vanished. However, there's now a small glimmer of hope that Strike could rise again, albeit in the form of a spiritual successor.

The designer behind the original games has expressed interest in bringing the series back to life, claiming to have some solid ideas for how to evolve the franchise: keeping the iconic action vibe with fast-flying helicopters, while modernizing the mechanics for today's gamers.

It's all about preserving the intensity and tight controls that made the originals so popular — but updated with current design and tech. That said, this project is still some years away, to be clear.

In a conversation with Time Extension, Barnes said:

"I've been asked at least once a month for the past 10 years or so — maybe longer — when am I gonna redo Strike? When is there gonna be a new Strike? And it has always been kind of a back burner thing for me.

"As I've said to people before, I could probably roll out of bed and sleepwalk through making a new Strike game. But, because of that, I always end up veering towards the non-Strike things.

"Recently I equated it to people asking Prince over and over again to do Purple Rain 2. People did for a long time and eventually he made Diamonds and Pearls, which is essentially Purple Rain 2. Eventually I'll make my own Diamonds and Pearls, but right now, there are about four games in the queue ahead of it. Luckily, though, they've all been meandering in the background at the same time, so over the next year or so they'll be out."

Until then, we'll have to make do with games like Megacopter — a fun little diversion, sure, but clearly not in the same league as the old-school Strike games.

Are you looking forward to a new Strike revival?