Strider

Ugh, a lame Amiga port?

I remember reading the review for Strider in ST Format which basically said it was great. Although the ST version had smaller sprites, the gameplay was faster and better... I foolishly believed them and wasted my cash on a game I could not play. This was nothing more than a terrible Tiertex port I thought!! I absolutely hated ST Format for making me waste so much of my precious pocket money. Also, I recently gave it a silly mention, but wasn't too kind when remembering its eye-popping scrolling and ridiculous difficulty.

Since then I've mellowed - and I've come to realise that my gaming skills suck (there's a shocker). So, I figured I should give it another go. And you know what, I think I'm not only older but also a lot wiser. Anyhow, almost three decades have passed since I last played this game, so let's see what I think of Strider today.

Before we begin, here's a screenshot of the opening of this wonderful arcade platformer...

The first level is unique and kinda Ruskie. It's the place where you'll learn the controls and that swoosh!

Me, wrong? Never!

Well, after several games, I still found it extremely difficult and failed to beat the first boss - a Flash Gordon wannabe. But the game was brilliantly playable, and, eventually, I beat him!! I was ecstatic, but just then, fire rained down and halted my cries of joy. Thankfully, I properly beat him on my second attempt and proceeded to a wacky level that I absolutely enjoyed, but was also wishing was larger. Sadly, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't beat the next boss so that was that and I gave up [first part of my video recording]

For some odd reason, the next day I felt brave and booted up Strider once again only to enjoy my greatest success. Heck, I even beat the worm thingy and made it onto the following stage - which I've never seen before. This was getting to be exciting, and I wondered how a younger me missed this!! Okay, that level starts great with big cats that wanted to eat me before a giant mechanical creature thing tried its luck. Banging on the fire button proved profitable and I beat him quite easily, but I died later by a circular saw which came outta nowhere. Quite unfair as it's impossible to see it approaching off-screen... [second part of my video recording]

How time flies and can change the perception of many things. Games being one! Check this out...

That swoosh is absolutely superb as are the enormous monsters. Love it!!

Aesthetics

Graphically, Strider is beautiful. From the start, it looks the part and I think they did a cracking job of converting the arcade backdrops over to the much-lower-resolution. The sprites are just freaking incredible - they all look impressive and some are huge. This is a beautiful game but, something had to give for all that glam. That means we have a slightly reduced play area, and the scrolling isn't nearly as smooth as it should be. Don't get me wrong, the scrolling is good and works well, but dies alongside other ST games, like Turrican.

The audio is tremendous, I love the tunes which are apt for this conversion. From the start, I was hooked, just click on the green arrow below to see what I mean. The effects aren't massive in quantity but who doesn't enjoy swooshing through each level? Yes, I love that swoosh lol. I think they did a great job all around.

Before I give my opinion this needs to be said: Dear ST Format, I've hated your review for years but today I hold my hands up and apologise!! After all these years, you were bang-on correct, so forgive me! You guys rocked and I shall blame my old opinion on my joystick skills ;p

The CryptO'pinion?

Strider is superb, so now I'm tempted to whack on the trainer and play through to the end. Okay, the scrolling could have been better, but the gameplay is furious and makes the Amiga conversion look dull as dishwater. Strider is sleek and bucketloads of fun, so don't be a fool and load it up right now. You will love it!

Klaz has a spiced-up version for floppy & hard drives (it includes an option for faster gameplay)