Hover Strike

Hover Strike
Cover art in all regions
Developer(s)Atari Corporation
Publisher(s)
Producer(s)Leonard Tramiel
Designer(s)Hank Cappa
Harry Kinney
Lance J. Lewis
Programmer(s)Cary Gee
Craig Suko
Denis L. Fung
Artist(s)Chris Thompson
Donald Wang
Ed Pearson
Writer(s)Elizabeth Shook
Composer(s)Brad Wait
Platform(s)Atari Jaguar
Release
  • NA: April 1995
  • EU: May 1995
  • JP: July 1995
Genre(s)Shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, co-op

Hover Strike is a shooter video game developed and published by Atari Corporation exclusively for the Atari Jaguar first in North America in April 1995, then in Europe on May of the same year and later in Japan around the same period, where it was published instead by Messe Sansao.[1][2][3] Taking place in a future where the Terrakian Pirates have seized control of a colonized foreign planet, players are tasked with piloting an armed hovercraft vehicle in an attempt of rescuing the captured colonists and obliterate the invading alien forces from the surface of the planet before the Federation armada arrives.

Conceived as an update to Atari's 1980 arcade game Battlezone, the project originally went under the title Battlezone 2000 and was one of the first games to be greenlit and announced for the Jaguar prior to its launch, along with Cybermorph and Tempest 2000.[4][5][6][7][8] After being showcased during the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1994 under the original title however,[9][10] it was renamed to Hover Strike at one point during its development, likely due to it drifting away from the original source material.

Hover Strike received mixed reception from critics after its initial release, with many being divided in regards to multiple aspects of the game such as the presentation, visuals, sound and gameplay. As of April 1, 1995, it is unknown how many copies of the title were sold in total during its lifetime.[11] A remake, Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands, was released months later for the Atari Jaguar CD and featured several enhancements compared to the original, although both shared the same overall storyline.

  1. ^ Smith, Jason. "Atari Jaguar Timeline". Jaguar Sector II. Archived from the original on 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  2. ^ Castle, Justin (July 21, 2018). "Historical Atari Jaguar UK Magazine Advert/Reviews Collection" (PDF). Issuu. p. 340. Archived from the original on January 4, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  3. ^ DD (October 14, 2012). "JAGUER販売カタログ". astralunit.blog.fc2.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  4. ^ Dragon, Lost (July 5, 2017). "The Ultimate Jaguar Unreleased/Beta/Source/Dev Master List! - Page 5". atari.io. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  5. ^ "Other Stuff". GameFan. Vol. 1, no. 9. Shinno Media. August 1993. p. 114. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  6. ^ "CES News - Atari Unveils the 64-bit Jaguar". GamePro. No. 49. IDG. August 1993. p. 54. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  7. ^ Jockey, The Desk (October 1993). "The Cutting Edge - Jaguar Software Showcase - GAMES ON THE WAY! - Battlezone 2000". GamePro. No. 51. IDG. p. 19. Archived from the original on 2018-09-02. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  8. ^ Hawken, Kieren (July 2013). "Minority Report Special: Jaguar - Hover Strike". Retro Gamer. No. 118. Imagine Publishing. p. 46.
  9. ^ BiffsGamingVideos (November 8, 2011). 1994 SCES: Parts 01-12 (Atari, Llamasoft, 4Play) (50min 3sec). YouTube. Archived from the original on January 4, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  10. ^ "Games! Games! Games! – Playing The Summer CES - Jaguar". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 68. L.F.P., Inc. September 1994. p. 56.
  11. ^ "Atari Jaguar Lifetime Sales". betaphasegames.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 2019-03-14.