STRIDER™ / ストライダー飛竜®

14 of 15 markets; the rest we haven't asked for this title, not markets where it is unavailable.

14 on sale1 answered “not sold”0 we did not ask

The 1 “not sold” market is read from the Steam price pass of Sep 10: that day the store answered for this game elsewhere and gave no price there. The 14 priced markets are the same rows as the table above — each the latest price we hold, dated here when it is older than that pass. The 0 marked “not asked” were not put to this store at all — either it has no storefront there or we do not collect it yet, and neither is a statement about the game. A refusal is a refusal on one day; a store can list a title again tomorrow.

Hours played at review time, across 69 reviews with recorded playtime.

positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up

I remember playing the original Strider on the Genesis back in the day. I didn't get very far as I was 6 at the time. However, I remember the feel of it as Strider was very fluid. And this was a game I picked up over 12 years ago part of a humble bundle. The short version is that it is a very competent Metroidvania and is worth your time. The story of this version is very similar to the original: Grandmaster Meio has taken over a city and declared marshal law. He intends to use the people and the city to fuel his plans of world domination. It is up to Hiryu to infiltrate the city and stop him. That's it. The bad guys are clearly bad while the good guys are good. It won't win any awards, it just makes for a good excuse to run around destroy cyborgs. A good chunk of the gameplay and graphics nail the Strider vibe perfectly. The original game was in the arcade. While the the genre steps more into the exploration side, it still has the vibe of the original as combat is very fast and direct. There's 4 main ways to attack: quick strikes, charged attacks (useful for shields), strong attacks, and shuriken / kunai. There are also different sword types and are useful in different situations. Furthermore, items are hidden across the map. And it's fairly satisfying to find them. Just by being thorough while playing, I found around 80% of the items. So while the gameplay is a bit different than a traditional Strider game, how fluid it is does respect the game's legacy. Controls are tight and responsive. Strider twirls over his opponents, climbs up walls and ceilings with ease, Bullets fly across the screen in blazing light. Strider explores the various areas of the city from the rooftops, labs, and sewers. While some of the rooms can feel similar, things are clearly communicated. Another complaint is that there's very limited eye frames as one can lose health very quickly depending on what's going on. This is especially true with the last few bosses of the game as they drained my health far faster than the earlier parts of the game. Sonically, the game's sound effects are great. Strider's sword feels weighty and fast as it cuts through the hordes of robots. The blasters zoom through the air. The music is a bit more forgettable. Overall, this version of Strider should have done more than revitalize the series: it should have restarted it. For whatever reason, it didn't inspire more games. And it's a shame too because Strider is a good time. It is enjoyable from start to finish. At the time of this writing, the game is on sale for 3 bucks. That is a steal. If you get the chance to play it, go for it.