Strider

[StarMist]

Can somebody please describe these "problems"? I mean, if flickering is a game blowing glitch we've got some pretty danged high standards, not even Final Fight CD could survive them. The "collision detection problems" were never explained either.

In my case the complaints were one. Flicker occurs with attack sprites throwing hit boxes into doubt. Obviously in games of this nature the hitbox is sprite-perfect, I'm not suggesting it's so bad as to spill beyond the sprites, but when the tips of projectiles and blades flicker it's tough to discern whether one'll be hit. This works passively as well, for exm the first stage's giant ape: when it throws a punch the animation is intensive enough Strider's blade flickers, meaning one doesn't know how much one's hit it by, thus how far one can safely be from it, with the result an easy victory one's first play can easily turn into an inexplicable loss one's second.
The complaint of falling through objects wasn't mine. Anyhow you must know I'm an NES fan; I don't write games off for minor flicker, nor am I in this case, however as in Contra and TF4 it happens at the worst possible places. Strider's is just more manageable and the game more appealing than those two owing to its graphics and music (albeit Contra has some style of its own). Nothing's broken, the game's just harder than it ought to be.

[jerry coeurl]

I really want this one. I always forget about it.

[Baloo]

Picked this one up in a trade last Saturday, and while I don't hate it as much as I used to, there are still a couple of things that feel a little off in the game, particularly the hit detection with the difficulty. I'm not sure how Capcom wanted me to squeeze through some of these tight spaces!

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Although, I often find myself not rating this game very high among the games in my collection, when I remember some of the stages I have to admit that the developers did a really nice job with respect to the level design. Stage 2 impressed me to no end: I liked the way that the game transported you from a golden metropolis to a frigid oasis. As soon as you traverse down the path, you are greeted to a pack of wolves. What about the hill where you are forced to run down at a high vilocity of speed only to make a well timed jump that would definitely impress 007's Roger Moore? And quite a bit after that, you find yourself jumping aboard a helicoper soaring higher and higher in the air, only to find yourself dodging a series of projectiles while at the same time using your acrobat skills to board helicoper that passes overhead! That was a very nice touch! Even though the game does have a few problems, I believe this game garners praise from alot of gamers because of how well each level is designed. One of my favourite stages is the one where you board a airship: You fight your way through a set of enemies, propelling yourself upwards via the conveyor belts some of which contain live amunition. Just when you think you are about to finally complete the stage, you find yourself walking/climbing down a corridor that has virtually zero gravity! When I played this game back in 1991, my draw dropped when I found hanging upside down and battling my way to the ship's core! I was quite perplexed as to how to keep myself upright while trying to blow the ship's core up! This game definitely has some really nice set pieces!

It's not the most challenging game on the system but one that every SEGA Genesis/Mega Driver owner should play!

[sheath]

In my case the complaints were one. Flicker occurs with attack sprites throwing hit boxes into doubt. Obviously in games of this nature the hitbox is sprite-perfect, I'm not suggesting it's so bad as to spill beyond the sprites, but when the tips of projectiles and blades flicker it's tough to discern whether one'll be hit. This works passively as well, for exm the first stage's giant ape: when it throws a punch the animation is intensive enough Strider's blade flickers, meaning one doesn't know how much one's hit it by, thus how far one can safely be from it, with the result an easy victory one's first play can easily turn into an inexplicable loss one's second.
The complaint of falling through objects wasn't mine. Anyhow you must know I'm an NES fan; I don't write games off for minor flicker, nor am I in this case, however as in Contra and TF4 it happens at the worst possible places. Strider's is just more manageable and the game more appealing than those two owing to its graphics and music (albeit Contra has some style of its own). Nothing's broken, the game's just harder than it ought to be.

I forgot that I asked this, good explanation. I'm not sure I ever noticed the cypher flickering, but I thought the red hit sprites were always visible even when other objects are flickering. I guess by then I was used to learning my reach in games regardless of slowdown or flicker. On the hardest difficulty the upside down segment in the last level is extremely difficult in any version of Strider thanks to the floating turrets and the near instant death caused by hitting them. I've never timed this segment correctly and tend to fluke through it after a bunch of tries. The rest of the game makes perfect sense to me though.

[Olls]

Although, I often find myself not rating this game very high among the games in my collection, when I remember some of the stages I have to admit that the developers did a really nice job with respect to the level design. Stage 2 impressed me to no end: I liked the way that the game transported you from a golden metropolis to a frigid oasis. As soon as you traverse down the path, you are greeted to a pack of wolves. What about the hill where you are forced to run down at a high vilocity of speed only to make a well timed jump that would definitely impress 007's Roger Moore? And quite a bit after that, you find yourself jumping aboard a helicoper soaring higher and higher in the air, only to find yourself dodging a series of projectiles while at the same time using your acrobat skills to board helicoper that passes overhead! That was a very nice touch! Even though the game does have a few problems, I believe this game garners praise from alot of gamers because of how well each level is designed. One of my favourite stages is the one where you board a airship: You fight your way through a set of enemies, propelling yourself upwards via the conveyor belts some of which contain live amunition. Just when you think you are about to finally complete the stage, you find yourself walking/climbing down a corridor that has virtually zero gravity! When I played this game back in 1991, my draw dropped when I found hanging upside down and battling my way to the ship's core! I was quite perplexed as to how to keep myself upright while trying to blow the ship's core up! This game definitely has some really nice set pieces!

It's not the most challenging game on the system but one that every SEGA Genesis/Mega Driver owner should play!

Very well described. This is exactly how I felt playing Strider for the first time.
This is why Strider Returns sucks so much. The gameplay is pretty much the same, but it's the level design and pacing of the original that elevates it to unusual heights. The gameplay in itself is nothing special.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I agree with your assessment of "Strider Returns". Graphically I find that the game is lacklustre compared to it's predecessor.

I'm curious if you or anyone has played the SNES equivalent to "Strider" titled "Run Saber"? Is this game any good and if so how does it compare?

[Obviously]

Like I said elsewhere on this site, I want to love Strider and I understand what other people love about Strider but for some reason I never loved Strider.

[sheath]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I agree with your assessment of "Strider Returns". Graphically I find that the game is lacklustre compared to it's predecessor.

I'm curious if you or anyone has played the SNES equivalent to "Strider" titled "Run Saber"? Is this game any good and if so how does it compare?

Run Saber is only like Strider Arcade/Genesis if all of the Shinobi games are as well. Run Saber is more like a sequel to NES Strider if anything, it still has the swiping sword strike attack, but not the fluid gameplay of Strider proper. The level designs of Run Saber are also more like NES Strider, lots of ordinary scenes with straight lines instead of the rolling hills and steep jumps of Strider. I really enjoy Strider and thought Run Saber was nothing like it and really not that much worth playing in general, so I traded it and have yet to look back.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Thanks for posting your opinion of the game sheath. Now I don't feel so bad for not buying the game when I had a chance. I saw someone on the forum post that they had the game for sale Saturday morning and I was debating whether I should purchase the game. Alas, I decided to keep the pcket change safe in my pocket.

[Cucollins12]

the best "early" genesis game... PERIOD!

[EclecticGroove]

I had so many fun times with this game, it was a blast. I played the NES version as well, and while that was fun in a Metal Gear sort of way, it just was nowhere near as fun as this version. I actually never had a chance to play the arcade version of this for quite some time, so this Genesis revision was my first experience with it.

All in all I agree with the review, although the muted SFX really didn't bother me much as a kid. I only had a junky TV with crap speakers built in anyways!

[Thenewguy]

Run Saber was quite playable, but its no Strider.

The game just doesn't feel as epic as Strider, and the atmosphere isn't to the same level (not surprising though really, as Strider has more atmosphere than virtually any other game of its kind in the era).

Generally I'd just say that mainly the presentation isn't to the same level, and the set-pieces, and enemies etc, aren't as impressive, or memorable. On the other side though Run Saber is pretty cool, its boss fights are quite interesting, and it has a 2-player option, which is always an excellent plus in my book, the game is also probably the more accessible of the two, it doesn't require as much practice as Strider to master.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Run Saber was quite playable, but its no Strider.

The game just doesn't feel as epic as Strider, and the atmosphere isn't to the same level (not surprising though really, as Strider has more atmosphere than virtually any other game of its kind in the era).

Generally I'd just say that mainly the presentation isn't to the same level, and the set-pieces, and enemies etc, aren't as impressive, or memorable. On the other side though Run Saber is pretty cool, its boss fights are quite interesting, and it has a 2-player option, which is always an excellent plus in my book, the game is also probably the more accessible of the two, it doesn't require as much practice as Strider to master.

Awwww! I was hoping that Run Saber would at least be equally as difficult as Strider. To be honest, I found Strider to be quite easy when I first played it. The graphics and the way the developer managed to take the player from one environment to the other so seamlessly is what kept me returning to the game after completing it. I'm a little disappointed to hear that Run Saber is on the easy side. But at least now I know!

Gonna save my money for a better title!

[Thenewguy]

Run Saber is easier to pick up and play, but the levels take longer, and there are a lot of boss fights.