Reviewed
12.13.1999
Publisher
Sega
Developer
Sega
Format
4
Megabit
Origin
Import/Domestic
Available
1991
(USA)
Exclusive
Yes
Difficulty
Normal
Dimensions
2D
View
Side
Genre
Action
Players
1
Options
Control
Pad
Control
Stick
Requires
n/a
Importable
100% |
INTRO:
> Back in 1989, Capcom unleashed what would become a classic ninja/action
game in the arcades known as Strider. Sega acquired the exclusive
rights to convert the arcade version for home consoles and reprogrammed
it for Genesis and Master System. As you would guess, Strider
for Genesis is much more faithful to the arcade game than its 8-bit SMS
cousin. Anyway, you control the ninja master Strider Hiryu in a battle
to defeat the Grand Master Meio and his diabolical creations.
GRAPHICS:
> For an 8-bit game, the visual presentation of Strider is pretty good.
It doesn't compare to the arcade or Genesis version, but it gets the job
done. The game has two shortcomings: the slow animation, and the
levels are not entirely equivalent to the arcade version. However,
the locales, enemies, and bosses are intact.
CONTROL:
> Thanks to the slow animation, the gameplay suffers. Jumping and
landing with precision is very difficult. Also, perfect timing is
needed against the bosses as their size seems to affect the hit detection.
At any rate, you still walk, jump, climb, and swing your sword as in the
arcade original. Some power-ups are available along the way to make
life easier as well.
SOUND:
> The music from the arcade is there, but it suffers at the hands of the
Z-80. It's not annoying, but certainly is not perfect. The
sound effects are there too, but some of them seem to occasionally cut
out.
FUN:
> Five levels of ninja action await you. Once you complete this conversion,
there really will not be much of an impulse to keep beating it...
|
