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It was either this, or the cheese-inducing American cover

Year Released: Strider 1 (1989), Strider 2 (1999, like Prince’s preferred party year)

Platform: Strider 1(Arcade, Sega Megadrive), Strider 2 (Arcade, Sony Playstation)

Developer: Capcom

Back in the 90s, most remember Capcom as the company that made “Street Fighter 2″. While I did spend way too much time in the arcade for this game, another Capcom gem was entrusted to feed my continuing addiction of videogames. That sparkling chunk o’ rock in question is Strider.

Strider was created for the arcades in 1989 (a fact I learned a few years after I bought the Sega version). It was accompanied in that year with other hits like 1941, Forgotten Worlds, and the (in)famous Ghost & Goblins, well known for the protaganist’s uncontrollable jumps and the unforgivable gameplay. Strider puts you in the shoes of the ninja assassin Hiryu, out to defeat the evil emperor Grand Master Meio from dominating the world with his cohorts from around the world. Hiryu traverses across the continent, from a downtown mirror-version of Russia , to the mountains, onto the airship Balrog, then to Africa ; with the final stage being the Third Moon, the base of operations for Meio. All these locations are split into 5 levels of action and intensity.

Hiryu was, control-wise, perfect. He could slide, jump, cling onto walls, and wields one of the coolest weapons in videogaming existence: the Cipher. A plasma blade of sorts, one swipe of Hiryu’s sole arsenal could slice most enemies in half, as well as emit a very cool “Zhing” sound effect. He could also jump and attack, slide and attack, and climb and attack, although climbing limits the rapidness of his attacks (all due to game balancing, of course). The fact that his jump cannot change directions mid-way also make players think before they leap.

And the enemies you meet? You’ve got soldiers with guns, rabid wolves, African-esque tribal warriors with boomerangs, robots straight out of the pages of the “ED-209″ handbook, triceratops (what?), pteranodons (huh?), and Godzilla rip-offs. If that isn’t diversity back in the day, I don’t know what is.

And then there’s the bosses…

These two enemies rank up there with Ninja Gaiden’s “Bird” as “Most Annoyingly Difficult Enemy to Kill”

When was the last time you saw the whole cabinet of senates and ministers merge to form one big centipede cyborg wielding a sickle and hammer while shooting bullets at you from its body parts? Or when have you ran downhill from an exploding cliff and use all that momentum for a huge jump on a flying fortress AFTER a fight with a robotic flying bounty hunter? Or the last time you had to fight in a gravity-reversing airship and confronting the Gravity Core itself, and THEN secure a getaway since the ship will go down in flames without the Core? Plus, they’re all one big inter-racial family, with the centipede guys speaking in Russian and the Chinese Trio Acrobatic Squad speaking in a Chinese dialect in their respective cutscenes.

Guess the Grand Master had quite a budget when it comes to hired help.

Needless to say, my first experience of Strider was on the Sega Genesis/Megadrive. That game was up there with Revenge of Shinobi for “most played game” on my library. This version was noticeably harder, due to the fact that you had only 3 credits. In the arcade, as long as you had a steady supply of coins, you’re golden.

Lo and behold, after so many years, thanks in part to Hiryu’s revival in Marvel VS Capcom, Strider 2 was born. And like Godfather 2, it was just as good (some may argue that it’s better) as the first one. It’s still the same kill-the-overlord-that’s-gonna-rule-the-world scenario, but it’s not the story people care about. In fairness, the hand-drawn cutscenes accompanying the story are sights indeed to behold.

What do we have for part 2? A one-man raid in a rich baron’s German-style mansion, topped off with an awesome battle with a robot hydra. A visit to a laboratory in the Artic filled with robo-mammoths, mutants, and a huge Kraken-Octopus thingy. A revisit of the souped-up airship Balrog, complete with the Gravity Engine battle part deux and a much harder duel with the ship’s new captain. A lot more pulse-pounding scenarios that you, as a gamer, should experience by yourself, all in its mixture of 2D sprites and 3D level layout glory ala Pandemonium & Klonoa: Lunatea’s Veil.

Luckily, a copy of Strider 1+2 for the PSOne can be found on Ebay for a moderate price, and PSOne games work well on both a PS2 & PS3, so there’s no excuse not to miss out!With all that said, isn’t Capcom due to making a part 3 or a re-imagining of this wondrous exercise in action gaming? With games like the Devil May Cry series, Strider would fit well as an action-adventure game, with more platforming and acrobatic-inducing elements that made the first 2 Striders what they are: an adrenaline rush.

P.S: I am aware that there was a sequel of sorts called Strider Returns for the Sega Genesis in 1994 created by some European company. The less said about it, the better.

Technorati : a look back, action, arcade, hiryu, strider, strider 1, strider 2