About Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf is a shoot ’em up that Electronic Arts released for the Sega Genesis in March 1992. Mike Posehn and John Manley designed it, Richard Robbins produced it, and Brian Schmidt and Rob Hubbard wrote the music. It is a single-player game and belongs to what Wikipedia calls the Strike series.
The game was inspired by the Gulf War. Its story pits the United States against General Kilbaba, an insane Middle Eastern dictator, and puts you at the controls of an Apache helicopter. You set out to destroy enemy weapons and installations, rescue hostages and capture enemy personnel, all while managing your supplies of fuel and ammunition.
Desert Strike spread to many other formats after the Genesis, among them the Super NES, Master System, Game Gear, Lynx, Game Boy, Mac OS, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable, plus a much upgraded version for the Amiga. The MS-DOS version, which is the one on DOS.Zone, was developed by Foresight New Media and published by Gremlin Interactive in 1994. Electronic Arts owns the game today.
How it runs in your browser
Press Play and dos.zone opens in a new tab with the game ready to load. Behind it sits js-dos, the open-source DOSBox build that DOS.Zone made for browsers, which emulates an MS-DOS PC and starts the 1994 release inside the page. The site supplies every file the game needs, so you won’t install anything, track down a copy or create an account, and DOS.Zone doesn’t run ads.
The listing goes by the short name Desert Strike and has a rating of 5 from 2 player reviews. Its description sums up the premise and says nothing about saving, so it’s worth finding out how DOS.Zone keeps your progress before you settle in for a long session.
Controls and devices
This version was made for a keyboard. DOS.Zone doesn’t list the keys for flying the helicopter or firing its weapons, so look through the game’s own options screens when it starts. Click inside the emulator window first, or it won’t receive what you type.
On a phone, DOS.Zone switches on virtual on-screen controls. A game built around the keyboard is easier to handle on a desktop or laptop, though, and we haven’t tried it on a touchscreen. Chromebooks haven’t been confirmed either.
Who it’s for
Desert Strike suits players who flew the Apache on a Genesis or an Amiga and want to see how the PC version compares, and anyone who likes action games that also ask you to plan around limited fuel and ammunition. Because it mixes shooting with rescues and captures, it isn’t only about reflexes. For more military action from the same years, Cannon Fodder, Sensible Software’s 1993 shoot ’em up, is on DOS.Zone as well, and MechWarrior 2, Activision’s 1995 vehicle simulation set in the year 3057, runs there the same way.
Is Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf Free, Safe and Official?
Can I play Desert Strike online for free?
Yes. DOS.Zone runs the MS-DOS version free in a browser tab, with nothing to install and no account to create. It isn’t made or endorsed by Electronic Arts, which owns the game.
Is this the Sega Genesis version of Desert Strike?
No. It’s the MS-DOS version, which Foresight New Media developed and Gremlin Interactive published in 1994, running in an emulated PC. The game first came out on the Genesis in March 1992.
Does Desert Strike work on a phone?
DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls on phones, but this version was built for a keyboard and we haven’t tested it on a touchscreen. A desktop or laptop is the better fit.
