Guilty of the unfathomable evil of making Strider Hiryu less cunty, so I’m not crazy on this one, but I do think it’s worth putting a spotlight on a metroidvania this lean. Strider 2014 occupies a weird in-between space between schema by having the bones of Strider 2 (blisteringly fast arcade score attack action), and being a metroidvania (wallhug like a dopey trout picking up Fisher-Price blocks to place into shaped slots) and it straddles the line…………. decently well?? Has an incredibly scant 4 hours completion time accomplished through carving story progression in a linear track across the world map, reminiscent of Metroid Fusion if anything. It keeps up the momentum surprisingly well and it’s complemented by Strider’s fast and responsive freewheeling toolset. The main issue for me is that Strider 2014 is surprisingly averse to any form of vertical progression, so the open world aspect feels like a bloated afterthought. It doesn’t help that the ratio of secrets/pickups being actual upgrades is completely overshadowed by how many of them are fucking unlockable secret missions, intel and concept art. Puts its best foot forward with a great opening hour; the rooftop-hopping set design is gorgeous and dynamic before it turns into sewer & techno corridor mulch, simple-to-counter enemies so your charge is rarely halted. As the difficulty ramps up it becomes less of a sleek and stylish action game and more of an exercise in frustration as the screen is littered with knockback bullets and colour-coded shielded enemies that take a steadily increasing number of hits to kill. This all culminates into a ridiculously grating final act that feels like a complete misread on what makes Strider halfway compelling. You can tell Shadow Complex was a key reference point and maybe it farcking shouldn’t have been. All this being said this is my favourite Strider game lol.
Strider is the most aggressively "pretty good" game out there. Physics feel pretty good, level design is pretty good, flow is pretty good, boss patterns are pretty good, spectacle is pretty good, voice acting is intentionally hilariously hammy with no sense of irony and I appreciate it. Some of the background art is nice to contrast the 2010's-era bland models, everything WORKS, this game would easily get an A in a game design course. The issue is that it really has no idea what it wants to BE.
Occasional moments of exhilerating platforming are often set back by dull segments of mashing the attack button through enemies. Neat movement upgrades like an omnidirectional air dash or a slide kick are never utilized except in specific points to make progress. You get a freezing attack that you use for platforming once in the whole game and then just use to break enemies who have blue shields that are allergic to ice but not explosions. You have a very fast attack that's satisfying to use and homages the old Strider well, but every single enemy has mountains of health that slows the power fantasy of the game to a crawl. There's a really neatly realized map of a futuristic eastern block dystopia that the game never has you explore by telling you exactly where to go at all times, and not in a Zero Mission "go to Ridley now" way, I mean a proximity alert to get to a checkpoint or screen transition. The game seems to realize that enemies can clip you for no reason and ruin your momentum, so there's tons of health pick-ups all around, even in the final boss fight, so you're very rarely in danger of dying. Bosses other than Solo are not reactive to your presence and just damage sponge their way through your attacks while you're only KINDA inclined to dodge theirs as you can probably tank through 80% of their attacks and still win unless it's a rapid-fire shot.
Strider is a game that has moments of fun; Strider inherently has a nice feel to him and jumps good. There are even some stretches that are legitimately nicely designed levels that work with the flow of the game. It is remarkable how a game can do everything so neatly and, through simple game design choices to make everything feel as standardized and fair as it can be, make for a dull, repetitive, forgettable experience for long stretches of its run time. I am not upset, I'm just disappointed.
Occasional moments of exhilerating platforming are often set back by dull segments of mashing the attack button through enemies. Neat movement upgrades like an omnidirectional air dash or a slide kick are never utilized except in specific points to make progress. You get a freezing attack that you use for platforming once in the whole game and then just use to break enemies who have blue shields that are allergic to ice but not explosions. You have a very fast attack that's satisfying to use and homages the old Strider well, but every single enemy has mountains of health that slows the power fantasy of the game to a crawl. There's a really neatly realized map of a futuristic eastern block dystopia that the game never has you explore by telling you exactly where to go at all times, and not in a Zero Mission "go to Ridley now" way, I mean a proximity alert to get to a checkpoint or screen transition. The game seems to realize that enemies can clip you for no reason and ruin your momentum, so there's tons of health pick-ups all around, even in the final boss fight, so you're very rarely in danger of dying. Bosses other than Solo are not reactive to your presence and just damage sponge their way through your attacks while you're only KINDA inclined to dodge theirs as you can probably tank through 80% of their attacks and still win unless it's a rapid-fire shot.
Strider is a game that has moments of fun; Strider inherently has a nice feel to him and jumps good. There are even some stretches that are legitimately nicely designed levels that work with the flow of the game. It is remarkable how a game can do everything so neatly and, through simple game design choices to make everything feel as standardized and fair as it can be, make for a dull, repetitive, forgettable experience for long stretches of its run time. I am not upset, I'm just disappointed.
Bring back Strider.
This game is one of the best 2D action adventure platformers or whatever tf I've ever played. Big pee pee energy emanates from this gem. Play it.
This game is one of the best 2D action adventure platformers or whatever tf I've ever played. Big pee pee energy emanates from this gem. Play it.
Pretty fun, I don't play a lot of platformer games but this was really fun. Strider Hiryu is a really cool and fun dude to play as and the game wasn't too hard, except for some moments that feel like I'm Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill. Good game. Play it.
It's fine. A pretty unremarkable Metroidvania that looks kind of cool.
Severely underrated, a simple but excellent 'vania.
This review contains spoilers
I'll out myself as a bit of an underclassman in the world of Metroidvanias with this one. 2014's Strider is technically one of the only action platformers I've dedicated much time too in my entire “career” as a capital-G gamer. (Aside from Hollow Knight which I'm too terrible at to actually progress.) And even saying "much time" implies I covered every nook and cranny in the game's overworld... which I didn't. I'm a hog for narrative, even in games where narrative is secondary to intrinsic play, but peeling back the layers of Strider's world through the varied boss encounters and collectibles started to wane on me as my skill level with these types of games hovers around below average, and my patience was being hacked away minute by minute like Hiryu slashing through cyborg Soviets with plasma blades.
Double Helix, a studio primarily known for movie tie-in games and underwhelming sequels during the seventh gen had found some acclaim in the Xbox One's exclusive Killer Instinct revival and then, under Capcom's banner, this lean, mean hack-and-scale soft reboot of their dormant Strider series. It's been sitting in my library for ten years now, so hey, why not give it the fairest of fair shakes?
In positive points of order: the world design, enemy design, and general atmosphere of Strider are impeccable. Full of this oppressive, brutalist, Russo-fantasy architecture that allows Strider Hiryu to take advantage of the game's impressive climbing mechanics as well as enough variety in said architecture that it doesn't feel like a shameless asset flip. The enemies that populate the "biomes" (are we cool with calling stages and levels "biomes" now? I digress...) range from your typical XP farm grunts to mini Shai-Huluds and sometimes expected, sometimes unexpected mini bosses who will more likely than not send you into teeth-gnashing rage early in the experience.
Out with the good, in with the not-so good: Hiryu's clingy-ness and the absence of analog controls make the precision movements required in some of these encounters a frustrating chore as even one misstep in their final phases will send you trudging back through a short boss run or an unskippable cutscene, neither of which appeals to me as someone who grew up in a post-quicksave world. These issues become diminutive as you unlock more of Hiryu’s moveset, including powerful special attacks that will even the odds with crowd enemies or slippery phase changes. However, different problems crop up in place once the game re-balances itself in the endgame, and when I say the final boss arena is one of the most unintuitive, unnavigable pieces of shit I’ve had the displeasure of hacking and slashing in, I say it with my whole chest.
Strider is at its best when the control of movement and combat are in-sync with the player, but more often than not, it feels as though the game is disregarding or misreading your inputs. Couple an absolutely gnarly lack of i-frames that consistently lead to minor and major setbacks, and you’ve got a holistically muddled experience where the bulk of enjoyment stems from paying attention to things in the game that are not the game’s primary focus. (The sky art, background stages, bespoke animations, and concept art are fantastic!)
Credit where its due, this game does end with you killing a god and then riding its corpse from space into orbit, so let’s just settle on mixed bag and call it for now. I’ll return when I’ve put in the requisite hours with this franchise and Metroidvanias in general. That’s when the real gospel comes…
Double Helix, a studio primarily known for movie tie-in games and underwhelming sequels during the seventh gen had found some acclaim in the Xbox One's exclusive Killer Instinct revival and then, under Capcom's banner, this lean, mean hack-and-scale soft reboot of their dormant Strider series. It's been sitting in my library for ten years now, so hey, why not give it the fairest of fair shakes?
In positive points of order: the world design, enemy design, and general atmosphere of Strider are impeccable. Full of this oppressive, brutalist, Russo-fantasy architecture that allows Strider Hiryu to take advantage of the game's impressive climbing mechanics as well as enough variety in said architecture that it doesn't feel like a shameless asset flip. The enemies that populate the "biomes" (are we cool with calling stages and levels "biomes" now? I digress...) range from your typical XP farm grunts to mini Shai-Huluds and sometimes expected, sometimes unexpected mini bosses who will more likely than not send you into teeth-gnashing rage early in the experience.
Out with the good, in with the not-so good: Hiryu's clingy-ness and the absence of analog controls make the precision movements required in some of these encounters a frustrating chore as even one misstep in their final phases will send you trudging back through a short boss run or an unskippable cutscene, neither of which appeals to me as someone who grew up in a post-quicksave world. These issues become diminutive as you unlock more of Hiryu’s moveset, including powerful special attacks that will even the odds with crowd enemies or slippery phase changes. However, different problems crop up in place once the game re-balances itself in the endgame, and when I say the final boss arena is one of the most unintuitive, unnavigable pieces of shit I’ve had the displeasure of hacking and slashing in, I say it with my whole chest.
Strider is at its best when the control of movement and combat are in-sync with the player, but more often than not, it feels as though the game is disregarding or misreading your inputs. Couple an absolutely gnarly lack of i-frames that consistently lead to minor and major setbacks, and you’ve got a holistically muddled experience where the bulk of enjoyment stems from paying attention to things in the game that are not the game’s primary focus. (The sky art, background stages, bespoke animations, and concept art are fantastic!)
Credit where its due, this game does end with you killing a god and then riding its corpse from space into orbit, so let’s just settle on mixed bag and call it for now. I’ll return when I’ve put in the requisite hours with this franchise and Metroidvanias in general. That’s when the real gospel comes…
Ninja guy.
Pretty decent.
I played this for a little while and it wasn't bad. A decent enough hack and slash platformer, but I don't really want to finish it.
Played this yesterday. Really fun game, barring a few things with the story that felt a bit too minimal and some annoying bosses here and their. Still, interested to see what other things this series has in the future when I get to them.
Eu achei divertido, gostei das batalhas contra boss, achei bem simples. Não gosto muito do estilo, mas esse foi bem maneiro de jogar
god i wish this game let me move with the dpad
my first speedrun achievement
Metroidvania de Capcom, ça a l'air sympa (même si très très simple en mode Normal), par contre le jeu crash toutes les 5 minutes...
Ca a l'air d'être un problème récurrent, on trouve des astuces sur internet m'enfin bon j'aime bien que mon produit fonctionne sans avoir besoin de tripatouiller mon installation Windows. Dommage.
Ca a l'air d'être un problème récurrent, on trouve des astuces sur internet m'enfin bon j'aime bien que mon produit fonctionne sans avoir besoin de tripatouiller mon installation Windows. Dommage.
Underrated. Fucking UNDERRATED.
this game felt really weird to finally beat, i got it for super cheap in 2015 and was really excited to finally play it on my shitty lame laptop which broke before i could finish it. i ended up going back to it in like 2018 or something, got about halfway through and again just kinda forgot about it and never finished it. this time i finally played it, and kinda just tore through it. took me less than 4 hours to complete! it was a solid time, but really nothing special. not much to say about this one even it's just a pretty generic metroidvania. combat is a bit mindless, controls are solid, movement feels fun, it looks alright, and has some fun bosses! the new powerups are also pretty generic, i wish the new forms of the saber changed up how it felt a bit more. the last one changes it up a bit but the other 3 are almost identical just with some elemental effects. not much else to say, pretty fun but forgettable!
Strider made a wonderful transition into the Metroidvania genre due to the immensely fun gameplay that has a rhythm to it with the combat which makes slicing up enemies so satisfying and with consistently getting new abilities/upgrades, it never gets old. Cherry on top are the boss fights that aren’t too hard, but still require a lot of attention that further elevates the combat.
My main complaint with this game is the visuals. It looks like an Xbox 360 Arcade title and just a downgrade compared to Strider 2. My other issue is that backtracking gets annoying due to the lack of fast travel options.
Overall, the gameplay carries this game so much to have a blast from start to finish to give it a strong recommendation if you are looking for a Metroidvania experience that makes you feel like a badass at a very low price which does make my complaints not sting as much. It is the best 3 euros that I have spent for sure.
My main complaint with this game is the visuals. It looks like an Xbox 360 Arcade title and just a downgrade compared to Strider 2. My other issue is that backtracking gets annoying due to the lack of fast travel options.
Overall, the gameplay carries this game so much to have a blast from start to finish to give it a strong recommendation if you are looking for a Metroidvania experience that makes you feel like a badass at a very low price which does make my complaints not sting as much. It is the best 3 euros that I have spent for sure.
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the map design is somewhat linear but enjoyable but it's dragged down by the boss fights being annoying with ever increasing HP bloat with your damage output not increasing while their output does got to tedious so I abandoned it after the penultimate boss fight
Bionic Commando Rearmed/Samus Returns type of remake, it has a good flow but also a lot of questionable decisions by the developers that cut the action again and again.
It could be nice if it didn't crash every 3 fucking minutes
Most satisfying action platformer controls I've ever played. Kinda carries the game. I love being able to slash exactly as fast as I can mash the attack button.
Peak platformer that looks good and has great enemy and level design, but admittedly it's a sucky metroidvania with insufficient fast travel for how far back a lot of the upgrades are. It should've stuck with area-based linear progression and limited backtracking to the respective areas in which you acquired the "key to a certain lock" upgrades.
Also don't expect a super deep story. It's commies saying "Fuck you Strider, you won't defeat me" and then getting defeated. And frankly I'm fine with that. It plays like heaven.
Peak platformer that looks good and has great enemy and level design, but admittedly it's a sucky metroidvania with insufficient fast travel for how far back a lot of the upgrades are. It should've stuck with area-based linear progression and limited backtracking to the respective areas in which you acquired the "key to a certain lock" upgrades.
Also don't expect a super deep story. It's commies saying "Fuck you Strider, you won't defeat me" and then getting defeated. And frankly I'm fine with that. It plays like heaven.
While it definitely manages to be fun and enjoyable the whole way through it had a lot of wasted potential.
The story is very clichè and it slows down the pace of the game which is, outside of the instances previously mentioned, incredibly fast in the best way possible.
The gameplay had cool ideas such as the different types of modes to use, which changes the effects of the moves, this is probably the biggest complaint, it's underused and it feels like the game doesn't push you to actually switch between the styles except for the shield enemies.
Boss fights were pretty good, nothing incredible but they all offer different gameplay encounters and require to actually understand them for the most part.
The story is very clichè and it slows down the pace of the game which is, outside of the instances previously mentioned, incredibly fast in the best way possible.
The gameplay had cool ideas such as the different types of modes to use, which changes the effects of the moves, this is probably the biggest complaint, it's underused and it feels like the game doesn't push you to actually switch between the styles except for the shield enemies.
Boss fights were pretty good, nothing incredible but they all offer different gameplay encounters and require to actually understand them for the most part.
A solid game all around. Has interesting enough mechanics and is short. Killed god at the end which was nice.
a pretty solid metrovania that def needs some polish but i had a pretty good time playing this. i wouldnt try to 100% this unless you wanna encounter some jank.
7/10
Meio truncado em situações específicas mas bom de verdade
Meio truncado em situações específicas mas bom de verdade
Started it a decade ago on PS4, picked it up on Steam via Humble Bundle and ... I enjoyed it! Some control issues hampered my job and lead to cheap deaths at times but it feels like a prototype for the Mercury Steam Metroid games in a weird way.
Bad plot, but a fun time
sooo underrated