Episode 242: Strider

Just me or Shane made things kinda awkward at times?

The Puerto Rican Demon

I have a distinct memory of seeing the arcade and being blown away by Strider somersaulting through the snowy trees and landing among a pack of wolves. The style of this game was something else! Strider had so much flair. He cartwheeled through the air and he swung his blade so fast that it was invisible. There was also the rad haircut, his ninja outfit and a robot sabertooth tiger companion.... Things didn’t get more awesome than that! It also seemed that every catalogue of Genesis games had that one screenshot of Strider facing the chrome gorilla boss. Later his fighting game re-design became an instant favorite among Capcom fans. Beyond Strider, I was also waiting for Osman to get a mention. Kouichi Yotsui has a really great eye for interesting visuals and unusual game settings. Shame that he hasn’t had a more prominent directing career in later years. Still, Strider is one of the all time ninja bad asses so well done there!

If you haven't played it, check out Osman by the Strider director Kouichi Yotsui. You could call it the "proper" Strider 2. Not very difficult to emulate, either.

Justen Brown

One other observation I don't know if anyone else brought up in emails - does anyone else think that Solo's " I got ya" sound suspiciously like Peter Cullen? I've always tried to dig deeper on where his voice originated from but with no luck.

RoryDropkick

We need a Strider Hinjo stand-alone episode

Nemo

I honestly think this is my favorite franchise and character ever. Not that the games are all A+ or anything, just the idea and IP for it is just so amazing. I can't say enough good things about Strider--unless Strider was mixed with Bionic Commando. Can't wait to listen.

Normallyretro

Strider was a game I never played in the arcade, in fact in the area of Michigan I lived in growing up, our local arcades never had the cabinet available, so I’m another rust belt resident who never got to share in on the arcade experience for several years, though I did rent the NES game a few times. It wasn’t until Marvel vs. Capcom’s release that suddenly my friends all were Strider experts - “the guy from that NES game?” I’d say, not knowing what I’d be getting into, and when it was released on PS1, I was excited to find the Strider 2 release with the original game to finally play this classic that had eluded my grasp for many years. I agree with the points that the original game feels like a movie, very flashy, quick and exciting. Each level is just long enough to keep your interest yet just difficult enough to challenge the player. The music and visual effects are great for its time as well, comparing it with some of the other ninja-related cabinets of the time, it easily stands out against the arcade Ninja Gaiden and The NinjaWarriors. I thought the sequel was great too, a reminder of what made the original great plus adding in the 2.5D effects to modernize the game to an extent. I haven’t revisited the 2014 remake, but my initial reaction was that it was decent, but I cannot recall anything beyond that so I’m due for a re-play real soon here. Also on an unrelated note, I just finished Crossed Swords from the Arcade Archives project and I’d recommend it for a quick hour playthrough, it’s just enough to keep your attention without getting monotonous.

Andrew Grieve

I just went "AHHHH YEAAAA"

Cody F

Why does the link lead to porn? 🤔

littleterr0r