So many happy memories playing this with my older brother during the weekends...thanks for reviewing this, never thought no one would ever review this on TH-cam
I had completely forgotten about this game until I saw your video. I used to love this game. Seeing the underground garage is like visiting a place from my childhood.
Yeah no doubt! I saw a trailer for the original Need for Speed when making this video, the graphics and everything about it looked really ahead of its time 🤯 I'll be making a video about it in the future for sure. Thanks for watching 😁
The game expects you to abuse the heal-at-base mechanic. Those stages where you start surrounded, you must play peek-a-boo with the tanks for a few shots to create an opening while going back down the base for repairs. Without doing either, the game is impossible.
It did take hours to complete just one of those hard levels. I did at one point play and complete every level. This was the 90's no internet, infomercials started at 2am so no 24hr shows unless your parents paid for "skinamax" or "show it all the time" (cinenamax, showtime) or the boring hbo. So back then between the hours of 2am and 8am you had plenty of time to beat one of the top level a night.
Damn, what a nostalgia. I used to play it with my childhood best friend. My friend is no longer with us, but when I think of him, I think of games like this, we used to play together.
The 3DO version also got an expansion which I think was included as part of the PS1 release or the PS1 took a bunch of it's best levels and added them. The game also got more and more extravagant winning film footage the higher you went in the level tiers. I remember the tank being the most used vehicle, relatively fast and with the turret you could circle strafe essentially, it could also aim upwards to hit the annoying little scout choppers.
4:44 While it shows 18 sets of levels, there is a secret set. once you get through the 18 level sets shown, there is a 19th that becomes accessible by scrolling up off the top of the list. They are so stupidly hard that I have no idea if there is a 20th. And yes, I did it without using cheats. I played that game so much on my PS1 that the display at the bottom got burned into the TV screen. 7:17 Yup! Pop up, take some shots, go back in the bunker, repeat.
I used to play Firepower with a friend, one against the other, using a modem. It was great ! At times, we could sustain 7 to 8 minutes before receiving too many bad packed and then the game would crash. No problem, we just started a new game. One time we played for 15 mins non stop, and were able to finish our fight.
Honestly, the "take a few shots and return to base" method (which would take HOURS upon HOURS to do for that final level) would be the ONLY way someone might POSSIBLY have a chance at beating this game. And even then, it's not guaranteed. Not to mention that 99% of people would probably go insane after the 7th or 8th hour of trying to complete the final level with the "take a few shots and return to base" method and they find out they aren't even close to finishing. LOL. I can possibly see some retro gamer running a marathon with a charity on a multi hour live stream ATTEMPTING to beat Return Fire (key word: attempting), but I can't see the average person willing to put in the time and effort into this. Even me.. who is OCD about beating my games... I have never beaten Return Fire (I have it on 3DO). With that said, this video is the most ACCURATE report on the game. Personally, I've never liked Return Fire because of how it can't be beaten in a normal way and would always be confused as to why the game got so much praise back in the day from reviewers who probably only played the first few levels (which are fun, the early levels of the game are really good) and gave it a much higher score than the game deserves since they never played the later levels (which are a nightmare and are NOT fun due to how unfair the game becomes. The 05:20 time mark in this video being a prime example of what I'm talking about. I don't mind hard games, but I like my hard games to be fair, like Souls games. Return Fire isn't fair, it goes out of it's way to be very unfair, which is why I do NOT like the game as a whole). One of the reasons why even today with modern games I REFUSE to listen to reviewers who I know don't fully try to complete their games or don't try to at least make an attempt to finish their games (glances at that Jimquisition channel since they are notorious for saying that they don't complete their games that they are reviewing and only play half way through, which typically results in them giving out very inaccurate information and very strange scores at times that don't accurately reflect the true quality of the game).
It would genuinely be awesome to see a retro game streamer try to beat Return Fire for charity. I think they could potentially raise a lot of money, whether they completed it or not! Agreed, the last levels are a complete nightmare in this game 😅 Just to touch on your last point, I can't believe their are people who 'review' games but don't bother to try and find out as much about them as they can. That to me sounds like a complete disservice to both the game that's being reviewed, and to the viewers who have taken their time to watch it. Like literally, what is the point? 🙄 Thanks for watching 😁 and also thank you for taking the time to write your view! Definitly the longest comment I've ever seen on any of my videos 😁
Funny you would say what you said in the title. Because I did complete it without cheating just 2 years ago. And the level you mentioned at 6:22 was moderately easy to finish. When that level starts, just take the heavy tank, shoot and destroy ONE turret as soon as you can, then re-enter the base to get repaired. Rinse and repeat until you have cleared around 5-6 turrets, after which you will be able to kill 2 enemy turrets each time your re-enter the base and exit again. Then after eliminating 5-6 more turrets, you can stay on the map a reasonably long time on the map before needing repairs.
"Zantar is a gelatinous cube that eats warriors in a village. If you eat a chieftain, you go up a level. Beauty is, you can't get to the next level, kids keep coughing up quarters." - Noah Vanderhoff
Great video man! Subscribed. My personal nostalgia favorite from the PS1 era was Tomba 2. (1 is good as well, 2 is comfier personally). Both games might be worth a shot for you.
Thanks Scanlaid 😁 really appreciate the sub and glad you enjoyed the video! I've got Tomba 1 already on my list and will definitly add Tomba 2 as well 😁 the biggest problem I have is its name... It's called Tomba in the US, and Tombi in the UK... Maybe I'll refer to it simply as Tom to try and keep everyone happy 😂😁
blast from the past! literally. Was in retail at the time. Got a 3DO multiplayer at employee discount on release. Road Rash, and Return Fire where the go-to games for a long while. I honestly feel like I had cleared it all, and we definitely went back for the Maps o Death expansion disc, but don't have memories of that particular horror show. Maybe blocked it out?!? :P Multiplayer with friends WAS the best though. . . yeah *nostalgia sigh*
I always loved this game, even to this day which i like to go back to and play with duck station. They ended up making a return fire 2 but I'm surprised no one has made a modern take on this genre. Can you just imagine having an 16ppl battle royal or 4v4 it would be utter chaos and of course having a user maps and modding scene. Ohh it would just be amazingly fun
Oh man, I just remembered this game. My son and I used to play each other on my old Playstation, ended up buying a second copy as the orriginal got scratched up to much to load. Is there a way to play this on the PC by chance?
@@RetroSamBam lol no man. i found it through this here video of yours xD i was looking with: retro jeep and helicopter and so on. im not at home currently so can't check the exact keywords. either way thanks lol. even was asking on discord servers
Kinda reminds me of the Jungle/Desert Strike games and they were fun as well. I am curious if someone has persisted enough to beat it though (even with cheats).
I think I remember trying Return Fire once, but there were so many other games I was more interested in around at the time that I soon deleted it after letting it sit on my HDD for a month.
Return Fire 1 was a Windows Game on PC, not Dos. It didn't have 3d acceleration. PC also got Return Fire 2 which was 3d accelerated with glide support for 3dfx and unlocked the camera so it wasn't just top down, the consoles did not ever receive the sequel.
Yeap, I tried to complete this back in '97 and it's nigh impossible. But, like you said it's an amazingly fun game. I remember this was initially quite hard to find during release on Playstation. I couldn't find any copies in retail and had to mail order it in, using one of those mail order ad's in CVG magazines. I think I paid about £30 for it.
It was incredibly fun, but as you say, tough to find for the PlayStation. I got my copy from either Game Station or Electronic Boutique (remember those? 😂) second hand! Thanks for watching 😁
I am trying for weeks to find a way to play it in modern systems with correct colours and sounds but i just cant. I need to find my old systems and install windows 95 probably to make it work. If anyone knows a way to make this work 100% as it should in windows 10 please help :)
I bought this after seeing it in "In the Army Now". Sold my 3DO long ago and my ps1 copy won't run on my PS3. I thought the game was lretty easy, TBH. You just need patience.
I noticed you are playing the PS1 version. As I said I played it on 3D0, maybe the PS1 version was harder? All I remember want trying to make the game harder for myself because it was so easy, things like not using the chopper or the tank just to give myself a challenge.
Wow makes me think of Search and Destroy, which i thought it was until i saw that skull.... only had the demo of return fire, so i think first level? Which was yeah, easy :D Also fairly sure i played in windows with dx6-7?
Thanks for watching! Remember to give the subscribe button a tap if you want to see more nostalgic gaming tales like this 🎮
So many happy memories playing this with my older brother during the weekends...thanks for reviewing this, never thought no one would ever review this on TH-cam
Thanks for watching! Glad the video unlocked some awesome memories with your brother 😁
I had completely forgotten about this game until I saw your video. I used to love this game. Seeing the underground garage is like visiting a place from my childhood.
That's awesome! Really happy to read that this video made you nostalgic ❤️ thanks for watching 😁
There are no speedruns done on this game so your video title seems to be correct!
Imagine if there were speedruns for Return Fire 🤯 what an epic community that would be! Thanks for watching 😁
This game was completely mind blowing when new on 3DO. This and the original Need for Speed were absolute bangers on that system.
Yeah no doubt! I saw a trailer for the original Need for Speed when making this video, the graphics and everything about it looked really ahead of its time 🤯 I'll be making a video about it in the future for sure. Thanks for watching 😁
And Road Rash too.
Yup I played this for HOURS. I couldn’t put it down. I loved the animations! The gameplay was so ridiculously fun.
The game expects you to abuse the heal-at-base mechanic. Those stages where you start surrounded, you must play peek-a-boo with the tanks for a few shots to create an opening while going back down the base for repairs. Without doing either, the game is impossible.
I could imagine it taking potentially hours to finish a single level nearer to the end of the game 😅 thanks for watching 😁
It did take hours to complete just one of those hard levels. I did at one point play and complete every level.
This was the 90's no internet, infomercials started at 2am so no 24hr shows unless your parents paid for "skinamax" or "show it all the time" (cinenamax, showtime) or the boring hbo.
So back then between the hours of 2am and 8am you had plenty of time to beat one of the top level a night.
Is that abuse, or is that just playing the game as intended?
The thing I remember most about this game was the music. I had no idea what I was listening to at that age but I loved it.
Same 😂😂 the soundtrack was epic in Return Fire! All of the various classical pieces fitted so nicely with each of the vehicles! Thanks for watching 😁
Finally someone make a "proper review" for this game! This game really is much fun in early levels, cuz I don't remember ever beating it
Thanks Surya! Glad you enjoyed the video 😁
The memories come rushing back! Love the jeep controls - whizzing across the map dodging rockets.
Glad to read the video brought back some good memories! Thanks for watching 😁
Damn, what a nostalgia. I used to play it with my childhood best friend. My friend is no longer with us, but when I think of him, I think of games like this, we used to play together.
This seems a lot like the arcade table cabinet games I remember playing as a kid. They were literally designed to eat quarters
I bet the arcades made a fotune out of those machines! Thanks for watching 😁
I remember this being on a demo disc. That one level was finishable, after a fair bit of effort.
Little did we know just how hard it would get after the demo 😅 thanks for watching 😁
I had that demo disc. The space station arcade one. I wasn't able to find any of the games on it, but I still had a lot of fun with it.
The 3DO version also got an expansion which I think was included as part of the PS1 release or the PS1 took a bunch of it's best levels and added them.
The game also got more and more extravagant winning film footage the higher you went in the level tiers.
I remember the tank being the most used vehicle, relatively fast and with the turret you could circle strafe essentially, it could also aim upwards to hit the annoying little scout choppers.
Those scout choppers were really annoying! Thanks for watching 😁
4:44 While it shows 18 sets of levels, there is a secret set. once you get through the 18 level sets shown, there is a 19th that becomes accessible by scrolling up off the top of the list. They are so stupidly hard that I have no idea if there is a 20th. And yes, I did it without using cheats. I played that game so much on my PS1 that the display at the bottom got burned into the TV screen.
7:17 Yup! Pop up, take some shots, go back in the bunker, repeat.
Me and my brother used to play the original (Firepower) for hours on end on the Amiga.
Good times.
Those were the days ❤️ thanks for watching 😁
I used to play Firepower with a friend, one against the other, using a modem. It was great ! At times, we could sustain 7 to 8 minutes before receiving too many bad packed and then the game would crash. No problem, we just started a new game. One time we played for 15 mins non stop, and were able to finish our fight.
Do you remember "Firepower" for Amiga500 back in 1987? 😁
I do ! I played with a friend (again) about 3 years ago, we used a modem to connect both our Amigas. We played against each other.
Honestly, the "take a few shots and return to base" method (which would take HOURS upon HOURS to do for that final level) would be the ONLY way someone might POSSIBLY have a chance at beating this game. And even then, it's not guaranteed. Not to mention that 99% of people would probably go insane after the 7th or 8th hour of trying to complete the final level with the "take a few shots and return to base" method and they find out they aren't even close to finishing. LOL. I can possibly see some retro gamer running a marathon with a charity on a multi hour live stream ATTEMPTING to beat Return Fire (key word: attempting), but I can't see the average person willing to put in the time and effort into this.
Even me.. who is OCD about beating my games...
I have never beaten Return Fire (I have it on 3DO). With that said, this video is the most ACCURATE report on the game. Personally, I've never liked Return Fire because of how it can't be beaten in a normal way and would always be confused as to why the game got so much praise back in the day from reviewers who probably only played the first few levels (which are fun, the early levels of the game are really good) and gave it a much higher score than the game deserves since they never played the later levels (which are a nightmare and are NOT fun due to how unfair the game becomes. The 05:20 time mark in this video being a prime example of what I'm talking about. I don't mind hard games, but I like my hard games to be fair, like Souls games. Return Fire isn't fair, it goes out of it's way to be very unfair, which is why I do NOT like the game as a whole).
One of the reasons why even today with modern games I REFUSE to listen to reviewers who I know don't fully try to complete their games or don't try to at least make an attempt to finish their games (glances at that Jimquisition channel since they are notorious for saying that they don't complete their games that they are reviewing and only play half way through, which typically results in them giving out very inaccurate information and very strange scores at times that don't accurately reflect the true quality of the game).
It would genuinely be awesome to see a retro game streamer try to beat Return Fire for charity. I think they could potentially raise a lot of money, whether they completed it or not! Agreed, the last levels are a complete nightmare in this game 😅
Just to touch on your last point, I can't believe their are people who 'review' games but don't bother to try and find out as much about them as they can. That to me sounds like a complete disservice to both the game that's being reviewed, and to the viewers who have taken their time to watch it. Like literally, what is the point? 🙄
Thanks for watching 😁 and also thank you for taking the time to write your view! Definitly the longest comment I've ever seen on any of my videos 😁
"Do you remember 'Return Fire'?"
No. Never heard of it until now. But I'm still gonna watch because I'm intrigued.
Thanks for watching! Hope you enjoyed the video 😁
@@RetroSamBam I did! Looks like I missed out on a fun game.
Funny you would say what you said in the title. Because I did complete it without cheating just 2 years ago.
And the level you mentioned at 6:22 was moderately easy to finish. When that level starts, just take the heavy tank, shoot and destroy ONE turret as soon as you can, then re-enter the base to get repaired. Rinse and repeat until you have cleared around 5-6 turrets, after which you will be able to kill 2 enemy turrets each time your re-enter the base and exit again. Then after eliminating 5-6 more turrets, you can stay on the map a reasonably long time on the map before needing repairs.
Wow that's awesome! Do you remember how long it took you to beat? I imagine you need a lot of patience 😅
@@RetroSamBam took my about an hour. Not much to it. Just bring some good firepower 😄
Fair enough 😂 nice one 👍
@@RetroSamBam can you tell me on what platform u were playing in the video ?
PS1 for this video. Used to play it on the PC as well though back in the day
Absolutely loved this game. Never got as far as you showed but I played so much multiplayer
Sooo many great memories were made on multilayer ❤️ thanks for watching 😁
"Zantar is a gelatinous cube that eats warriors in a village. If you eat a chieftain, you go up a level. Beauty is, you can't get to the next level, kids keep coughing up quarters." - Noah Vanderhoff
Great video man! Subscribed.
My personal nostalgia favorite from the PS1 era was Tomba 2. (1 is good as well, 2 is comfier personally). Both games might be worth a shot for you.
Thanks Scanlaid 😁 really appreciate the sub and glad you enjoyed the video!
I've got Tomba 1 already on my list and will definitly add Tomba 2 as well 😁 the biggest problem I have is its name... It's called Tomba in the US, and Tombi in the UK... Maybe I'll refer to it simply as Tom to try and keep everyone happy 😂😁
Bro has stepped up the editing game!! Keep it up ❤️
Thanks Ben! Glad you enjoyed the video 😁
Oh ya I remember this game, so much fun. The classical music is what confirmed this was it.
The classical music used in Return Fire certainly helped to give the game its charm! Thanks for watching 😁
blast from the past! literally.
Was in retail at the time. Got a 3DO multiplayer at employee discount on release. Road Rash, and Return Fire where the go-to games for a long while.
I honestly feel like I had cleared it all, and we definitely went back for the Maps o Death expansion disc, but don't have memories of that particular horror show. Maybe blocked it out?!? :P Multiplayer with friends WAS the best though. . . yeah *nostalgia sigh*
Glad you enjoyed the video! If you did clear the whole game back in the day, you are a literal king my friend 👑🎮 thanks for watching 😁
I always loved this game, even to this day which i like to go back to and play with duck station. They ended up making a return fire 2 but I'm surprised no one has made a modern take on this genre. Can you just imagine having an 16ppl battle royal or 4v4 it would be utter chaos and of course having a user maps and modding scene. Ohh it would just be amazingly fun
I'm surprised too! A modern version of Return Fire would be pure carnage, especially if playing with friends! Thanks for watching 😁
Oh man, I just remembered this game. My son and I used to play each other on my old Playstation, ended up buying a second copy as the orriginal got scratched up to much to load. Is there a way to play this on the PC by chance?
dude omg. i was literally looking for this game in 2023. i played this game at a friend's house but was too young to care to remember the name.
Did you find it and get a chance to play it last year? It's definitly still worth having a go at, even today!
Thanks for watching 😁
@@RetroSamBam lol no man. i found it through this here video of yours xD
i was looking with: retro jeep and helicopter and so on.
im not at home currently so can't check the exact keywords. either way thanks lol. even was asking on discord servers
Haha no worries! Glad you enjoyed the video 😁👍🏻
1:21 is this the earliest example of the Predator Handshake outside of Predator?
This was what Pauly Shore was playing in the movie, In The Army Now
I am shocked that no one made even a simple reboot of this game. How I wish I knew how to code.
It would be so cool if a reboot was announced!
Kinda reminds me of the Jungle/Desert Strike games and they were fun as well. I am curious if someone has persisted enough to beat it though (even with cheats).
Yesss they were brilliant games too! Hopefully someone who has beaten the whole game will pop up in the comments. Thanks for watching 😁
I think I remember trying Return Fire once, but there were so many other games I was more interested in around at the time that I soon deleted it after letting it sit on my HDD for a month.
That's fair, we were really spoilt for choice with what to play back then! Thanks for watching 😁
@@RetroSamBam Thanks for making something to reminisce about :D
Sum indie developer needs to remake this in a much deeper way with more vehicles and levels but the same replayable objective.
That would be so cool to play! Thanks for watching 😁
Return Fire 1 was a Windows Game on PC, not Dos. It didn't have 3d acceleration. PC also got Return Fire 2 which was 3d accelerated with glide support for 3dfx and unlocked the camera so it wasn't just top down, the consoles did not ever receive the sequel.
It's a shame the consoles never got the sequal. I would love to have played it on the PS1 as a kid
Ahhh HAAHA HA HAA HAAA- Laughing Skull
An old friend of mine and I used to say that to each other after seeing this game.
I remember playing this at a childhood friend's house who had a 3DO
Hopefully the video brought back some awesome memories! Thanks for watching 😁
I'd say this game was clearly inspired by "Firepower" on the Amiga.
Never heard of Firepower 🤔 will certainly give it a look though! Thanks for watching 😁
Yeap, I tried to complete this back in '97 and it's nigh impossible. But, like you said it's an amazingly fun game. I remember this was initially quite hard to find during release on Playstation. I couldn't find any copies in retail and had to mail order it in, using one of those mail order ad's in CVG magazines. I think I paid about £30 for it.
It was incredibly fun, but as you say, tough to find for the PlayStation. I got my copy from either Game Station or Electronic Boutique (remember those? 😂) second hand! Thanks for watching 😁
I am trying for weeks to find a way to play it in modern systems with correct colours and sounds but i just cant. I need to find my old systems and install windows 95 probably to make it work. If anyone knows a way to make this work 100% as it should in windows 10 please help :)
Reminds me of the strike series ❤
4:01 I wonder if that skull knows the skull from Cabal.
Wouldn't surprise me 👀 thanks for watching 😁
If you're looking for a similar game there's always Mass Destruction for pc
Never heard of Mass Destruction 🤔 will add it fo my list and give it a look! Thanks for watching 😁
@@RetroSamBam one of my childhood favorites, just destroy everything really lol
the firsr demo i owned 😍
Back in the good old days 🎮 thanks for watching 😁
I have finished all the levels on the pc version. I took me almost a year on an off. there is no speedrun. some maps take hours..
A fusion of Wes and GuruLardy?
I bought this after seeing it in "In the Army Now". Sold my 3DO long ago and my ps1 copy won't run on my PS3. I thought the game was lretty easy, TBH. You just need patience.
It looks like a lot of patience is needed by the end 😅 thanks for watching 😁
For old 3d it looks like it's holding up alright
It honestly still looks and plays really well! Thanks for watching 😁
It was always a 2 player game first and foremost, single player was just a bunch of training missions so you could get used to the vehicles. 😀
That would make sense, the 2 player mode in Return Fire took the game to a whole new level! Thanks for watching 😁
Fond memories
Glad you enjoyed the video ❤️ thanks for watching 😁
Did this inspire nuclear and soviet strike?
No, the Strike series was on 16 bit machines before the 3DO existed, a simple Google search would've told you this.
I only own the 3DO version. I heared from a PS1 version many years later.
If you had the original version on the 3DO, then you sir are a legend 😎 thanks for watching 😁
I love grenade jeep.
Grenade Jeep is legendary! And so is it's music 😂 thanks for watching 😁
I remember having this game on 3D0, it really wasn't that hard.
I felt it was a bit of a let down with the difficulty to be honest.
Wow really? What sort of games would give you a challenge? Thanks for watching btw 😁
I noticed you are playing the PS1 version.
As I said I played it on 3D0, maybe the PS1 version was harder?
All I remember want trying to make the game harder for myself because it was so easy, things like not using the chopper or the tank just to give myself a challenge.
Wow makes me think of Search and Destroy, which i thought it was until i saw that skull.... only had the demo of return fire, so i think first level? Which was yeah, easy :D Also fairly sure i played in windows with dx6-7?
I agree, it does look similar to Seek and Destroy! That skull got pretty annoying after a while 😂 Thanks for watching 😁
Got my Pristine Long Box PS1 version
Wow! Nice! Keep hold of that 👀 thanks for watching 😁
And you can't fly in inner space..
I beat level 18
Never heard of it 😅
Hope I was able to give you a good insight about the game! Thanks for watching 😁
The game baffled me and blew my mind at the time , could never complete it ridicule's game
catJAM
Thanks for watching 😁
ha Hah ha ha HAH haah!
Thanks for watching 😁
The turrets have a blind spot . You are supposed to retreat for repairs . 05:20 OMGWTFBBQ (NEVERMIND).
5:20 there's no escape 😂😂 thanks for watching 😁
Reminds me of the strike series ❤
It does look similar! Thanks for watching 😁