CAPCATHON, GAME 6: Strider (1989; Arcade, Megadrive)
Strider feels, in many regards, like a game five or six years ahead of its time. It is a landmark title, a trailblazer for platformers and action games alike.
The world of Strider is extremely colorful and, even more than 30 years later, still feels alive. Hi-tech ninja Hiryu will visit all sorts of locales around the world, from Eastern Europe to the Amazon, to leaving Earth altogether and fighting the wicked Grandmaster Meio in his space station. The backgrounds are colorful and detailed, and so are the sprites. Even though the animation isn't particularily fluid, especially considering future Capcom games, every motion is perfectly readable; in particular Hiryu's satisfying cartwheel jump and the extremely quick blade swings only a top-rank Strider can pull off are both memorable and dazzling.
Hiryu's controls take a bit to get used to. He reacts realistically to slopes, speeding up while running downhill and slowing down while running uphill. His jump physics are very realistic as well, in that he can't change directions in midair; this lack of course-correction will spell the loss of many lives. To compensate, he can cling to walls and ceilings and move smoothly to and from almost any type of surface. Hiryu can also slide to dodge certain attacks, and, most importantly, can swing his Cypher about as fast as the player can mash the attack button. Hiryu can also find some powerups that summon robots helpers that can aid him in defeating enemies from a distance.
The level designs are intricate and, in true quarter-muncher fashion, require both skill and memorization to traverse safely, but perservering players will be rewarded with exhilarating sequences, such as the second stage's mad scramble down the mountain as bombs explode behind you, followed by a leap of faith.
Most of the game's enemies can be dealt with easily, but others are more annoying to defeat, be they more heavily armored, faster and thus harder to hit, or placed in awkward spots. Some cheap hits are sprinkled throughout the game, with no way around avoiding them the first time they are encountered. This is especially true for the last stage, a gauntlet filled with the game's hardest challenges, along with a boss rush.
While the game does have good music, expect to remember mostly the first stage's theme, as that's the only memorable track it has. It's not that they're badly composed, it's just that they lack the catchyness of other game music. However, the game's sounds are all excellent- of particular note are, along with the Cypher swinging sound, all the game's digitized voice clips, which still sound extremely clear. I appreciate how each character speaks in their own native language- for example, Hiryu speaks in Japanese, Solo and the Grandmaster speak in English, Tong Pooh speaks in Chinese, and so on.
Strider is not kind to newcomers. It will take some perseverance and practice to get through its deadly traps. However, once the player understands what the game wants from them, Hiryu will soar through the stages, slicing the opposition left and right. It is a satisfying game to learn, one that I'd reccommend to anyone up for the challenge.
Strider feels, in many regards, like a game five or six years ahead of its time. It is a landmark title, a trailblazer for platformers and action games alike.
The world of Strider is extremely colorful and, even more than 30 years later, still feels alive. Hi-tech ninja Hiryu will visit all sorts of locales around the world, from Eastern Europe to the Amazon, to leaving Earth altogether and fighting the wicked Grandmaster Meio in his space station. The backgrounds are colorful and detailed, and so are the sprites. Even though the animation isn't particularily fluid, especially considering future Capcom games, every motion is perfectly readable; in particular Hiryu's satisfying cartwheel jump and the extremely quick blade swings only a top-rank Strider can pull off are both memorable and dazzling.
Hiryu's controls take a bit to get used to. He reacts realistically to slopes, speeding up while running downhill and slowing down while running uphill. His jump physics are very realistic as well, in that he can't change directions in midair; this lack of course-correction will spell the loss of many lives. To compensate, he can cling to walls and ceilings and move smoothly to and from almost any type of surface. Hiryu can also slide to dodge certain attacks, and, most importantly, can swing his Cypher about as fast as the player can mash the attack button. Hiryu can also find some powerups that summon robots helpers that can aid him in defeating enemies from a distance.
The level designs are intricate and, in true quarter-muncher fashion, require both skill and memorization to traverse safely, but perservering players will be rewarded with exhilarating sequences, such as the second stage's mad scramble down the mountain as bombs explode behind you, followed by a leap of faith.
Most of the game's enemies can be dealt with easily, but others are more annoying to defeat, be they more heavily armored, faster and thus harder to hit, or placed in awkward spots. Some cheap hits are sprinkled throughout the game, with no way around avoiding them the first time they are encountered. This is especially true for the last stage, a gauntlet filled with the game's hardest challenges, along with a boss rush.
While the game does have good music, expect to remember mostly the first stage's theme, as that's the only memorable track it has. It's not that they're badly composed, it's just that they lack the catchyness of other game music. However, the game's sounds are all excellent- of particular note are, along with the Cypher swinging sound, all the game's digitized voice clips, which still sound extremely clear. I appreciate how each character speaks in their own native language- for example, Hiryu speaks in Japanese, Solo and the Grandmaster speak in English, Tong Pooh speaks in Chinese, and so on.
Strider is not kind to newcomers. It will take some perseverance and practice to get through its deadly traps. However, once the player understands what the game wants from them, Hiryu will soar through the stages, slicing the opposition left and right. It is a satisfying game to learn, one that I'd reccommend to anyone up for the challenge.