Midnight Raiders

 

"The CIA have located the kidnapped professor and they're sending your elite team to rescue him.  Unleash the full force of your Apache AH-64 chopper onto the enemy's air force and devastate the ground defences with your array of weapons before entering the installation on foot and alone!  Remember, to the CIA you're expendable!"

 
Game Information
Developer Sega Enterprises
Publisher Sega Enterprises
Copyright Date 1995
Players 1
Age Rating(s) ELSPA 11+
Save Type None
Cart Version No
 

 
 
Part Numbers
Game 4439-50
Front Cover 670-5959-50
Back Cover 670-5961-50
Manual 672-2197-50
Spine Card 670-5960-50
CD 1 670-6406-50
Bar Code 4 974365 644390
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The spine card image for Midnight Raiders was kindly supplied by Gary Robert Brown
 
Midnight Raiders bears a remarkable resemblance to Surgical Strike until you realise that the same production company made the films for both.  The airborne part of the game plays like a little like Thunderhawk on rails using FMV instead of sprites and isn't too bad.  Although interaction is limited to shooting with either sidewinder or hellfire missiles and is a basic target and click affair, the varied backdrops and FMV clips keep you entertained if not astounded.  The game looses a lot of momentum when you leave the chopper and go out on foot with only a handgun to keep you company, and would have been so much better with light gun support.  Whilst flying the Apache and riving the jeep is taken care of, sometimes the combined movement of your vehicle and the enemy sends the reticule across the screen without you having moved it, leading to lots of missed shots and frustration.  This isn't too bad if you have the patience to keep trying as you know what's coming and when, but you'll need a pretty strong die-retry mentality to see this game all the way through.  To make matters even worse, you only get one life for levels 2 and 3, and for the true sadist you can reduce your missile count and turn off the targeting boxes if you wish.  Sega's TruVideo supplies surprisingly good quality FMV with almost no lag time between sequences and makes the game technically impressive if nothing else.  The filming for this title was performed by Stargate Entertainment - the company behind the ill-fated Bug Blasters and Star Strike.