Cleared on May 13th, 2024 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 68/160)
Boy, I sure love it when programmers create movesets for characters only for their level design to actively work against it. This game will actively punish you for even the tiniest mistakes which requires ninja-like precision to avoid. In theory, this should be fitting since you are an acrobatic with the ability to leap around, powerslide, and repeatedly strike your foes by tapping the attack button. The problem is that these movements are so clunky that actually putting them to use is really difficult. I've had cases where I've grabbed onto ledges I didn't mean to grab or had no idea was even there, I've dealt with numerous uneven terrain, the enemy placement is bullshit and there are sometimes too many enemies on the screen. And in case you're wondering, the bosses are just as bad with the worst of them being the anti-gravity ball and the rematch with that mechanical dinosaur and yes, you have a boss rush in this game, and the final boss is actually lame as hell.
Top it all off with screen flickering at points in the game, camera too zoomed in, slow down at points, and a mediocre soundtrack, and you have something really unfun and just mentally trying. If you're looking for something acrobatic, you're better off playing Shinobi III (which I recently updated my review on after replaying the game). You might even have better luck with the 2014 Strider game.
I actually had Strider Returns among the games to go through for the Sega Genesis Challenge, but knowing how bad it supposedly is, and playing through Strider 1989, I think I'll save that game for a bonus Sega Genesis challenge I'm thinking about doing called the "Bottom of the Barrel".
Boy, I sure love it when programmers create movesets for characters only for their level design to actively work against it. This game will actively punish you for even the tiniest mistakes which requires ninja-like precision to avoid. In theory, this should be fitting since you are an acrobatic with the ability to leap around, powerslide, and repeatedly strike your foes by tapping the attack button. The problem is that these movements are so clunky that actually putting them to use is really difficult. I've had cases where I've grabbed onto ledges I didn't mean to grab or had no idea was even there, I've dealt with numerous uneven terrain, the enemy placement is bullshit and there are sometimes too many enemies on the screen. And in case you're wondering, the bosses are just as bad with the worst of them being the anti-gravity ball and the rematch with that mechanical dinosaur and yes, you have a boss rush in this game, and the final boss is actually lame as hell.
Top it all off with screen flickering at points in the game, camera too zoomed in, slow down at points, and a mediocre soundtrack, and you have something really unfun and just mentally trying. If you're looking for something acrobatic, you're better off playing Shinobi III (which I recently updated my review on after replaying the game). You might even have better luck with the 2014 Strider game.
I actually had Strider Returns among the games to go through for the Sega Genesis Challenge, but knowing how bad it supposedly is, and playing through Strider 1989, I think I'll save that game for a bonus Sega Genesis challenge I'm thinking about doing called the "Bottom of the Barrel".
Sequels were much better.
The best part about this game is the devs recognizing that making your character more agile and acrobatic makes action games like these feel better. The worst part is that they still insisted that Strider walks everywhere. As a package, it's a decent action game, but it suffers from uneven difficulty and the aforementioned annoying walking.