"Air Strike Patrol": a shoot-'em-up in the vein of the Strike games, but sadly overlooked by the world.
User Rating: 8.5 | A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol SNES
"Air Strike Patrol" or "Desert Fighter" as it is known in some places is a shoot-'em-up in the same style as the Strike games ("Desert Strike", "Jungle Strike" etc.). The game takes place in a fictional war in the Persian Gulf. The game obviously takes after the famous Gulf War between the Coalition forces and Iraq. However, rather humourously, the Iraq and the Iraqi forces are named Zarak and Zaraqie respectively for some reason. When the game starts you are faced with this daunting control panel or sorts where you can change your plane, view the battlefield reconnaissance, review your mission etc. To start the mission you must review your orders then the game finally begins properly. The graphics when you begin look like some quasi-3D (again similar to the Strike games), and they look very good indeed. The sound is good as you have fairly realistic gun and missile noises, explosions, and even decipherable radio transmissions between your plane and HQ. To be honest I can't remember if there is any music in the game so I won't even comment on that. The controls take a little getting used to and are more realistic than arcadey. Your plane must loop round in a fairly large arc instead of instantly changing direction in mid-air. This adds to the nice realism of the game. The shoulder buttons speed up and slow down your craft, and X brings you into afterburner for the highest speed. Memory serving me well, I think Y fires your machine gun, B fires missiles, and A drops flares to mislead incoming enemy missiles. The game does become a little repetitive but manages to keep a fresh edge to it to keep you playing happily until the end. The game also has a fairly good learning curve although the last level is quite a jump up in difficulty (but it is the last level after all). This game will keep you playing for a few hours to maybe perhaps a month, depending on how good you are at the genre. If you ever come across this game I wholeheartedly recommend buying it. you shouldn't be disappointed.
Overview
Graphics - Great for release date
Sound - Pretty good
Gameplay - Slightly confusing main menu, and realistic controls in-game can take getting used to, but very good after that.
Lastability - Quite hard overall and should take a little while to complete. 
