Strike Commander
DOS - 1993
Also released on: FM Towns
Description of Strike Commander
This sim is unique due to the fact that you are not playing the role of a military pilot like in other combat flight sims. Instead, you play as the commander of the Wildcats, a struggling mercenary squadron operating out of Turkey, flying F-16 fighters. Although you are based in Turkey, your mission will take you to almost every part of the world.
You fly, like the name suggests, mostly ground strike missions. However, you can always count of some air-to-air encounters in your missions. This adds another twist to the sim, because if you are intercepted in your way to the target, you will have to fight in a disadvantaged position (you're carrying all kinds of bombs, while your opponents don't). You are paid for completing your missions, and use the money to finance your group (i.e., buying more weapons). It is therefore advantageous to become adept at destroying targets using cheap weapons to maximize your profits (e.g. using Mk 82s instead of GBU 15s).
Graphically, Strike Commander was a generation ahead compared to its peers. Like all Chris Roberts' sims, Strike Commander also have a rather interesting story, although might not be as deep as the Wing Commander series. All these aspects are blended together to give a very pleasant gaming experience.
Strike Commander is not the "purist's" sim like Falcon 3.0. The flight, avionics and weapons modelling is not that convincing. However, it still offers a unique twist to combat simulations, and will give you a lot of intense dogfighting action. If you want to experience a sim that "dared to be different", you cannot go wrong with Strike Commander.
Review By HOTUD
Strike Commander has the following addons available: Strike Commander: Tactical Operations and Strike Commander: Speech Pack, don't miss them!
External links
Comments and reviews
mobilehead 2023-10-08 1 point
I think this was the first flight sim that had something more to it than just flying a plane. There was a story, there was an aim that was way different than the targets presented in the briefing. In that moment Origin broke some canons and presented an original idea that was only explored in the future.
laubo 2022-07-08 1 point
Yesssssss.smoooth sailing, God did I love the woman in the game, I had a little crush on her as a boy.
Firghet pilot tex not murderer 2021-01-15 1 point
Best game I have played till date, remember playing it for hours, no matter how many times I play this still love to play it, each time I play its bit different experience
Gamer 2020-11-03 -2 points
Best game I have played till date, it has replay value, got it along with, played in on 2x cd drive sound blaster sb-16 card, it was a treat to play this game, reading the manual and playing, learning to take off and land manually, gun fight, flying with wingman, blasting ground targets , it became more fun to play the game in difficulty level, till date play with keyboard, always enjoyed the revenge mission after "Hawk" is killed, never preferred missiles, played it hours together and enjoyed it every time
no more gog 2014-09-25 2 points DOS version
dont buy from gog,the money you give them is probably used to buy copyright licences. making more games no longer abandonware,and you will see all the cool games dissappear from great sites like this.donate to these guys
D-Noise 2014-01-23 1 point DOS version
This was also my first (serious?!) flight sim. Bought it together with X-Wing and my first PC - a DX2 66MHz/8MB/VESA local bus graphics, SB16 and 200MB SCSI. And this was at the time when everyone else still was on the Amiga 500. I broke new ground among my friends going from A500/Atari 1040 to PC!! :) This game was optimal together with the Thrustmaster!! The whole batch at a cost of around $5500 in Sweden...
GoG-ite 2013-03-27 -5 points DOS version
Just a notice: this is available on GoG.com now. So it's not abandonware any more. You might consider getting it there. It still is an awesome game!
John 2013-03-06 1 point DOS version
Waaaa Hoooo! This was my first flight sim - most amazing maneuver ever .... only had a GBU .... all other ammo expended .... air craft severely damaged, bingo fuel .... one last enemy and I can't leave the area until they're destroyed. Fly head on, full speed .... last second, pull up and release GBU ....... MISSION F****ING ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!!
Never finished the game - must finish it now that I found it again
stormr 2013-03-02 1 point DOS version
Wow! Brought back memories. Had got this game with a Creative "Multimedia Kit" , which had a 2x CD-ROM Drive, Creative Speakers, and SoundBlaster 16. State of the art for that time :D
Finished first without Joystick, and then once again a year or so later when had got a Logitech Wingman Light, with 2 buttons :)
rupert 2012-09-13 0 point DOS version
I played almost all the missions without a joystick! What a game! I love it! Really blew my mind.
Mohsin Ghori(mohsinAKG@Gmail.com) 2012-06-23 0 point DOS version
Hi, nice to c this 1s again here at net. 17,18 years back i had a self-experience of playing this SC, thanks for recalling my memories of past. i have completed all the missions of SC and enjoyed it a lot having joystick in my hand,hope origion will introduce SC-2 for windows and new operating systems as well. 4.99stars to Strike Commander!
Paradigm 2012-04-04 0 point DOS version
A great classic game from the DOS era. Sort of Wing Commander meets Privateer but with jets.
Virtually unplayable without a joystick though...and who has a joystick anymore? Does DOSBOX even support them?
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Share your gamer memories, give useful links or comment anything you'd like. This game is no longer abandonware, we won't put it back online.
Buy Strike Commander
Strike Commander is available for a small price on the following website, and is no longer abandonware. GOG.com provides the best release and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide.
Game Extras and Resources
Some of these file may not be included in the game stores. For Strike Commander, we have the following files:
31 MB (DOS)Other Releases
Strike Commander was also released on the following systems:
FM Towns
- Year: 1994
- Publisher: Electronic Arts, Inc.
- Developer: ORIGIN Systems, Inc.
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