03/13/00

Strider Hiryu 1 & 2

Capcom for Playstation (Japan)

For those of you who don’t remember, Strider (Strider Hiryu in Japan) was an arcade game in the late 1980s featuring some of the best 2D run-and-fight action ever seen. The game had a cool main character, a sort of ninja-assasin-commando-swordsman called Hiryu, who single-handedly took on entire battleships armed only with his trusty cipher, a sword he could swing blazingly fast. Hiryu could also leap great distances and stick to just about any surface with his trusty grappling hook.

Strider was converted to the Sega Genesis with fairly spectacular results (it holds the title of first 8 Meg game cartridge, and the extra space showed). The NES also got a fairly cool original Strider game, but U.S. Gold dropped the ball with a horrid Genesis "sequel" that ended Strider’s reign on home systems for almost ten years (not counting a rarely-seen version of the original for NEC in Japan). Hiryu finally reappeared in Marvel vs. Capcom, and then shortly after in the long-awaited arcade sequel, Strider 2. And now, in Japan at least, Capcom has released a 2-disc collection, featuring both Strider Hiryu 1 and the sequel, Strider Hiryu 2.

As you’d expect, the original Strider is faithfully reproduced on the Playstation in all of it’s 2D glory with nary a trace of slowdown or any other detrimental side effect. Finally, an arcade-perfect conversion of one of my all-time favorite arcade games. If you’ve never played it, there’s no better way to check it out.

I’d never played the sequel to Strider until this collection; in fact, I’m not sure it was even released in American arcades. As a sequel, though, Strider Hiryu 2 does not stray far from its roots. In fact, the game is more of a remake of the original than a true sequel. Almost every single memorable moment from the first game is reprised here; you’ll fight a mech-dragon from the monster’s slithery back, run pell-mell down an icy slope and then make a leap of faith at the end, travel through anti-gravity chambers where up becomes down and vice-versa, take on a gravity core while spinning around it in mid-air and defend yourself against gigantic semi-robotic animals. The game does have its share of unique moments as well. Each of the game’s five level is broken into a half-dozen smaller sectors, many ending with some sort of mini-boss encounter.

The biggest difference between sequel and original is the fact that the backgrounds in Strider Hiryu 2 are entirely 3D, while Hiryu and most of his enemies remain hand drawn 2D. This works better than you’d imagine, thanks in no small part to Capcom’s tradition for excellent control and playability. Hiryu still clings to just about everything, and the environments presented here will have you hanging vertically from walls and ceilings as often as you’re planted firmly on the ground. The action is frenetic, incredibly fast-paced and loads of old-school fun.

Some new elements have been tossed into the sequel to further separate it from the original. Aside from his untouched repartee of moves, Hiryu can now run, power up his cipher to fire short projectiles and employ a time-limited "super-move" called Boost that allows him to fire tracking projectiles at his enemies. Hiryu also picks up "chips" from fallen enemies to rack up points; kind of like the money you grabbed in Forgotten Worlds.

Unfortunately, with unlimited continues and other options for making the game easier (like unlimited time), both games are cakewalks the first time through, and unless you’re a die-hard Strider fan, there’s not a whole lot of replay value after beating them each a few times. Call me old-fashioned, but the challenge of limited lives and continues would have greatly increased the replay of both games. As it is, the limitless lives of both games and "start-from-where-you-died" continues in Strider Hiryu 2 urge you to throw caution to the wind and simply blow through the games as quickly and messily as possible.

Bottom line, then. It’s Capcom, it’s 2D, and it’s Strider. If you like it, you’ll buy it and love this package. If not, you might want to wait for the U.S. release and rent first.

Graphics: 9 (arcade-perfect. The original still looks good after ten years)

Control: 10 (Capcom has never been better… well, maybe with Mega Man)

Sound: 7 (Kind of sparse musically, the original is better than the sequel in this respect. The "zing" of Hiryu’s cipher is as cool as always)

Replay: 6 (Both games are short and extremely linear)

Overall: 7.5 (If you love Strider or 2D action games, then it’s a 10, but non-fans might be disappointed with the length and limited replay value)

Cast and Crew   News, Articles and Reviews