
	Platform NES Genre Action / Adventure Publisher Capcom Developer Capcom Released 1990
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Strider

For a lot of gamers, when the name “Strider” comes up, the first thing that probably pops into their head is the classic action game for the Sega Genesis. Not so for me. When I think of Strider, I think of the NES game. Cashing in on the success of Castlevania, this game takes the same premise of traveling from region to region, gathering nifty tools and abilities, to assassinate a captured agent.

Both the Genesis and NES Strider games follow the story of a Japanese manga by the same name, but while the Genesis version is a straight up action game, the NES one has a lot of adventure elements to it, as the game unfolds in a more non-linear fashion, and players must solve clues in order to progress. The tasks were never too terribly mind-bending in their difficulty, but it was nice to have a chance to challenge my mental faculties, and not just my dexterity while playing the game.

In a sea of games that had players going from point A to B to C, Strider was a refreshingly non-linear experience. Having to repeatedly go back to old levels and enter previously inaccessible areas brought a sense of curiosity to the game, as I remember going to this or that level, and seeing a door or some such blocking one of the paths. Then I would find myself wondering what laid beyond it, and becoming excited about when I may be able to find out.

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One of the things that caught my attention when playing it for the first time way back in the late 80s was the addition moves that your character, Hiryu, could learn. After playing with stiff, robotic heroes in a lot of the other games to come out in that era (lots of Faxanadu, Mega Man 2, and Super Mario Brothers for me in those days), it just

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blew my mind that not only was it possible to do sliding kick attacks, but also triangle jumps off of the walls. I would triangle jump off of everything in hopes of finding secret passageways and whatnot. Also, once I figured out I could shoot lasers from my sword, I found myself making liberal use of that feature.

Looking back, I realize now that there were quite a few elements in Strider that were similar to Castlevania and Metroid, what with fighting bosses, and getting new gadgets after, but this was the first game of this sort that I had played as a kid. It was all new to me, and it was damn fun.

Even the story was neat for its time, at least to me. While completing the missions everything seemed straightforward enough, but at the end came a pretty big plot twist that took me by surprise. I probably shouldn’t say what it is so I don’t spoil it for you, but it left me thinking, “What? Him? Really?”

In the grand scheme of things, Strider didn’t do anything new for the world of gaming, but it meant a lot to me because what it did do was new to me, and set me on a path to find similar games. What it did do it did well, and showed me that there was more to action games then beating up bad guys.

Jeff Nash
July 29, 2008