Black Dawn is a helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

-combat simulation, published by Virgin Interactive

Virgin Interactive

Virgin Interactive was a British video game publisher. It was formed as Virgin Games Ltd. in 1981. The company became much larger after purchasing the budget label, Mastertronic in 1987. It was part of the Virgin Group...

. It was released on the PlayStation in 1996, and the Sega Saturn

Sega Saturn

The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...

 in 1997.

Story

Set in 1998, the player controls a helicopter ace recruited into a black op

Black op

A black operation or black op is a covert operation typically involving activities that are highly clandestine and often outside of standard military protocol or even against the law.-Origins:...

s counterterrorism strike force named Operation Black Dawn. The player pilots the agile AH-69 Mohawk, an advanced combat helicopter with a powerful arsenal of weaponry.

Gameplay

The game consists of seven campaigns that take place in different areas, and each campaign has a number of different missions. In addition to search-and-destroy objectives, there are hostages that require saving. The game has drawn comparisons with Soviet Strike, another helicopter simulator released in the same year. However, Black Dawn resembles an arcade game rather than a typical simulator, not least because various power-up

Power-up

In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...

s are obtained from destroyed enemies.

The soundtrack was originally composed by Tommy Tallarico

Tommy Tallarico

Tommy Tallarico is an American video game music composer and musician. He is best known as the co-creator of the concert series Video Games Live...

. The "Action Theme" background music returned in Sonic and the Black Knight

Sonic and the Black Knight

is a title within the Sonic the Hedgehog series, released exclusively on Wii as the second entry in the Sonic Storybook series, following on from Sonic and the Secret Rings. The game is directed by Tetsu Katano, who was the lead programmer of the Sonic Adventure titles and Sonic Heroes...

, a 2009 video game for the Wii

Wii

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...

. It was rearranged and used as the Molten Mine background music.