F-15 Strike Eagle

• Title — F-15 Strike Eagle • Developer — * MicroProse • FIL (Thomson) • NMS Software (GB/GG) • Publisher — * MicroProse • FIL (Thomson) • Designer — Sid Meier • Composer — * Ken Lagace (NES) • Mark Cooksey (GB/GG) • Released — * 1984: Atari 8-bit • 1985: Apple II, C64, PC, ST • 1987: Amstrad, MSX, Spectrum, Thomson • 1991: Arcade • 1992: NES • 1993: Game Boy, Game Gear • Genre — Combat flight simulation • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — 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

• Illustration — 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. According to Bill Stealey the game mechanics and the content of the manuals were all based on non-classified information that received approval from the relevant authorities. Regardless, the Soviet embassy in Washington purchased four copies on launch day; Commodore User speculated that this was in an attempt to learn more about the real aircraft. The game's depiction of the F-15 was significantly more accurate than its contemporaries.

The game was first released for Atari 8-bit computers, 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 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.