Game Review - A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol (SNES)

A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol, a game released by SETA for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System around 1995, is an isometric (angular view) shooting game. A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol, based around the Gulf War, reflects the goings on of that time period quite well, and turns them into a fun shoot-em-up gaming opportunity.

The story of A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol is based loosely on the Gulf War. As such, it includes Saddam Hussein (in his game entity). Your job in the video game is to stop him from achieving an evil dominance in the Middle East through your gunfire and weaponry. Throughout the game there are minor plot twists and a few standard "surprise" elements to keep the player "on-edge". Overall, A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol has an okay-ish storyline which isn't in-depth, but it was quite nice for its time period.

As for graphics, the isometric view is interesting. Isometric views basically consist of a top-down or diagonal-top-down perspective from which you can see three sides of any given object, such as the front, one side, and the top. This perspective is interesting in that you can see a lot of things from a new light and it makes control a bit unique if you haven't encountered this in a video game before. Comparably, I'd say the game's control scheme and graphics are quite similar to that of the online web game Tibia.

The audio in A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol is done very well. While the sound tracks are quite lacking, it's made up for by the unique and excessively fun sound effects during combat. In combat, it's possible to actually catch enemy vehicles and vessels on fire; since the people inside the vehicle burn, its often the case that they emit a rather realistic (but still humorous and corny) scream. A lot of the gripe I have with this game's audio has to do with the vocals (which are rather terrible) and the sound track, which I often look for in a nice game.

The learning curve is pretty lightweight. Controls in A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol are rather easy to learn, responsive, and well-mapped. Though you can't really alter them much, game play does become quite easy over a short period of time.

In closing, I'd say that A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol is a decent shoot-em-up for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. While it isn't the most recognizable or unique shooter on the platform, the isometric perspective and the fun sound effects kept me playing for quite a number of hours. All-in-all, I'd give A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol for the SNES a 2.5/5.