How to play Cyclone on Mac

Game summary

The player controls a rescue helicopter and must retrieve five supply crates from a collection of islands, while a dangerous cyclone is in the area. While searching for the missing crates, the player may optionally earn bonus points by rescuing refugees from the islands. There is no limit on the number of crates or refugees the helicopter can carry, and the player only needs to return to Base Island after the last crate has been found and loaded. Hindering progress is the cyclone itself, which can cause the helicopter to behave erratically at long range, and crash at close range. While over open water the helicopter must avoid low flying planes which traverse the screen occasionally. The player also has limited fuel - which can be replenished at helipads on several of the islands - and a time limit in which to retrieve the crates. The screen display warns the player of the cyclones proximity, any approaching planes, and also the remaining time and fuel. The view has two aspects of North and South to switch between, which is necessary as some of the crates are hidden behind buildings or terrain. There is also a map view to help locate the cyclone and the islands. Once completed the game loops, with no change in difficulty. Panayi’s previous game, Tornado Low Level, (and to a lesser extent Android 2,) featured similar graphics.
First released: Dec 1985

Play Cyclone on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)

The easiest way to play Cyclone on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.

Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.

Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).

Cyclone installation steps for Mac

Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install Cyclone like you would on any PC.
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