Description
Gunship depicts one of the Western world's finest attack helicopters: The AH-64A Apache. This simulation recreates the weapons, flight systems, and performance of the real machine. The player controls an arsenal that includes laser-guided Hellfire missles, a 30mm cannon controlled by helmet gunsights, clusters of bombardment rockets--even air-to-air missiles for duels with enemy helicopters.
The game starts with flight training at a base in the United States. Tutorials teach the player to handle the copter; once the controls and flying skills are mastered, there are escalating challenges and hundreds of missions in any one of four regions of the world, including Southeast Asia, Central America, the Middle East, and the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies in Western Europe.
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Trivia
Apple II and Atari XL/XE versions
Despite loading instructions for both platforms in the manual, the game was never released for those systems.
Development
Originally scheduled for release in mid-1988, the Amiga version of
Gunship didn't materialise until mid-1989. Reportedly, the delay was predominantly the result of the programmer's source disk becoming infected with a virus. Source: Amiga User Internation (Sept 88, page 44) and HOL.
MicroProse had to release a later DOS version of
Gunship to deal with faster computers. The game was also not easily playable in CGA, due to the similar color of HUD controls vs. targeting radar.
Maxis' Gunship
Maxis released an arcade side-scroller called
Gunship made with the Klik and Play system. It was apparently inspired by this game.
Sidewinder missile
The AH-64 Apache actually cannot mount the sidewinder missile at the wingtips as depicted on the arming screen. The manual explained that it should be quite possible to do so, and there was no other air-to-air missile that Apache can mount at the time. In the sequel,
Gunship 2000, one gets to choose between sidewinder and the smaller stinger missiles (in a 2-pack).
Strategy Guide
Gunship was so popular, it spawned a strategy guide from Compute! Books titled
Gunship Academy.
Awards
- Computer Gaming World Magazine
- August 1988 (Issue #50) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
- November 1996 - #102 overall among the “150 Best Games of All Time”
- Happy Computer
- Issue 01/1988 - Best Simulation in 1987
Information also contributed by Kasey Chang, mailmanppa, Trixter and Zack Green.
