Software:F-15 Strike Eagle (video game)

From HandWiki
Short description: 1984 war video game
F-15 Strike Eagle
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
  • MicroProse
  • FIL (Thomson)
Designer(s)Sid Meier
Composer(s)
  • Ken Lagace (NES)
  • Mark Cooksey (GB/GG)
Platform(s)Atari 8-bit, Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Thomson, PC-88, PC-98, Arcade, NES, Game Boy, Game Gear
Release
  • 1984: Atari 8-bit
  • 1985: Apple II, C64, PC, ST
  • 1987: Amstrad, MSX, Spectrum,[1] Thomson
  • 1991: Arcade
  • 1992: NES
  • 1993: Game Boy, Game Gear
Genre(s)Air combat simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

F-15 Strike Eagle is an F-15 Strike Eagle combat flight simulator originally released for the Atari 8-bit family in 1984 by MicroProse then ported to other systems. It is the first in the F-15 Strike Eagle series followed by F-15 Strike Eagle II and F-15 Strike Eagle III. An arcade version of the game was released simply as F-15 Strike Eagle in 1991,[2] which uses higher-end hardware than was available in home systems, including the TMS34010 graphics-oriented CPU.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot (Atari 8-bit)

The game begins with the player selecting Libya (much like Operation El Dorado Canyon), the Persian Gulf, or Vietnam as a mission theater. Play then begins from the cockpit of an F-15 already in flight and equipped with a variety of missiles, bombs, drop tanks, flares and chaff. The player flies the plane in combat to bomb various targets including a primary and secondary target while also engaging in air-to-air combat with enemy fighters.

The game ends when either the player's plane crashes, is destroyed, or when the player returns to base.

Ports

The game was first released for the Atari 8-bit family, with ports appearing from 1985-87 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, and Amstrad CPC. It was also ported to the IBM PC as a self-booting disk, being one of the first games that MicroProse company released for IBM compatibles. The initial IBM release came on a self-booting 5.25" floppy disk and supported only CGA graphics, but a revised version in 1986 was offered on 3.5" disks and added limited EGA support (which added the ability to change color palettes if an EGA card was present).

Versions for the Game Boy, Game Gear, and NES were published in the early 1990s.

Reception

F-15 Strike Eagle was a commercial blockbuster.[3] It sold 250,000 copies by March 1987,[4] and surpassed 1 million units in 1989.[3] It ultimately reached over 1.5 million sales overall,[5][6] and was MicroProse's best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987.[7] Computer Gaming World in 1984 called F-15 "an excellent simulation" with "excellent documentation". It stated that "the action is fast and furious ... the graphics are excellent".[8] The game won the "Action game of the Year" in the magazine's 1985 reader poll.[9] In a 1994 survey of wargames the magazine gave the title two stars out of five, stating that "the first 'classic' fighter simulation" was "well loved in its time" but "extremely dated".[10] Antic approved of the Atari ST version's graphical and speed improvements, and ability to save progress.[11] Compute! listed the game in 1988 as one of "Our Favorite Games", stating that it "makes jet fighter combat nerve-wracking and fun at the same time".[12]

Reviews

  • Jeux & Stratégie #46[13]

References

  1. ↑ Strike Eagle at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
  2. ↑ "F-15 Strike Eagle". http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7746. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Worley, Joyce (December 1989). "Mega Hits: The Best of the Best". Video Games & Computer Entertainment: 130–132, 137, 138. 
  4. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (March 1987). "Computers in Flight; Gunship". Computer Gaming World (35): 10–13. 
  5. ↑ "Management, Trevor Chan". Enlight Software. n.d.. http://www.enlight.com/eng/html/about_md.htm. Retrieved 27 August 2007. 
  6. ↑ "2006 Walk of Game Inductees, 2006 Lifetime Achievement, Sid Meier". Walk of Game. n.d.. Archived from the original on May 29, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070529035808/http://westfield.com/walkofgame/inductees/inductees.html. Retrieved 27 August 2007. 
  7. ↑ Ferrell, Keith (December 1987). "The Commodore Games That Live On And On". Compute's Gazette: pp. 18–22. https://archive.org/stream/1987-12-computegazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_54_1987_Dec#page/n17/mode/2up. Retrieved 24 January 2015. 
  8. ↑ Battles, Hosea Jr. (December 1984). "F-15 Strike Eagle". Computer Gaming World: 39. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1984&pub=2&id=19. 
  9. ↑ "Game of the Year". Computer Gaming World: 32–33. November–December 1985. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1985&pub=2&id=24. 
  10. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (January 1994). "War In Our Time / A Survey Of Wargames From 1950-2000". Computer Gaming World: 194–212. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=114. 
  11. ↑ Bernstein, Harvey (May 1988). "New ST Entertainments / From dungeons to outer space". Antic 7 (1). http://www.atarimagazines.com/v7n1/newstentertainment.html. 
  12. ↑ "Our Favorite Games". Compute!: pp. 12. May 1988. https://archive.org/stream/1988-05-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_096_1988_May#page/n13/mode/2up. Retrieved 10 November 2013. 
  13. ↑ "Jeux & stratégie 46". August 1987. https://archive.org/details/jeux-et-strategie-46/page/n81/mode/2up. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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