Strike Force is an arcade game released by Midway in 1991. In the same way that 1990's Smash TV is a modernizedreimagining of with two-player simultaneous play, Strike Force is a modernized reimagining of Defender with two-player simultaneous play. Strike Force was not widely distributed and was not ported to any home systems.
Gameplay
The game shares many features with the earlier Defender and Stargate in that play takes place in a horizontally scrolling play field above a planet's surface on which humans are under attack from alien invaders. In all three games the player gains points and other advantages from protecting and rescuing humans from these attacks. Strike Forceadds several new features; two players may share the screen at one time, the surface of the planet is littered with various special weapons that can be picked up and deployed, and humans can be "mutated" into small green creatures that will fight against the player. The mutants may use vehicles found on the planet's surface against the player. One weapon the player may deploy is the commando, who will hang off the bottom of the player's craft shooting at enemies, or drop to the surface to pick up humans, mutants, or weapons for the player. Many commandos can be in play at once. There are 50 planets in the game to clear, and randomly an enemy ship will drop down to a planet, which then starts flashing. If the player does not move to that planet in time, the planet is destroyed. Once on a planet under such attack, the player must destroy the ship, which is like a "mini-boss." There is also a weapons satellite, where the player can purchase weapons similar to those collected randomly from planet surfaces. After a certain number of planets is cleared, the player may attack the enemy base, in an attempt to destroy it and the end boss within. Destroying the base ends the game. If the player succeeds in destroying the enemy base, and managed to clear and save all 50 planets, the game gives one free credit to each player as a reward. Using that free credit and clearing all 50 planets again repeats this, ad infinitum.
Reception
British gaming magazine The One reviewed Strike Force in 1991, heavily comparing it to Midway's earlier arcade title Defender, stating "why not produce an updated Defender? You might as well say why not produce an updated Mona Lisa? Midway's tried - and it looks like painting-by-numbers. If you ever loved the original, don't torture yourself by playing this."
