Strike Force - Awesome Arcade Shooter

[IntvGene]

I just re-found one of my favorite arcade shooters. I remember playing it in the arcades when I was a kid, but I couldn't remember the title until today. It's Strike Force, an awesome game from Midway that's a hybrid of Stargate, Defender and NARC. The game is not perfect, but it's great two-player action. If you've never tried it before, give it a shot on MAME, or if that's not your thing, try your local arcade. BTW, the game is from 1991.

[digitalpress]

Agreed! I haven't played it in awhile but I remember when it turned up in MAME the first time and I thought "now this is how the Defender remix on Defender 2000 should have been".

[ManekiNeko]

I was surprised when I found this on MAME as well. It's a fun game, but perhaps a bit too complicated for its own good; like the designers were trying to compensate for the simplicity of the original to keep more recent gamers interested, but went a little too far.

JR

[IntvGene]

So, is this game Defender III? Or, at least the un-named Defender III?

The game plays very similar, and KLOV (the Killer List of VideoGames) has Defender and Stargate in its legacy section. If so, why was the game given such a limited release? I can't find anything much off the net on it.

[Arcade Antics]

So, is this game Defender III? Or, at least the un-named Defender III?

The game plays very similar, and KLOV (the Killer List of VideoGames) has Defender and Stargate in its legacy section. If so, why was the game given such a limited release? I can't find anything much off the net on it.

In my videogame-hazy world, I've always sort of considered NARC to be the third Defender coin-op. Which (to me) would make Strike Force the fourth.

But anyhoo - I think it just got unfairly brushed aside for a number of reasons. It snuck out after NARC / Trog / Smash TV but just before Total Carnage / Mortal Kombat. I *think* it was a conversion kit only. And Street Fighter II was all the rage at the same time, so many "spare" machines were being reserved for SFII conversions (money in the bank) instead of Strike Force (gamble).