Strider

Ugh, another lame Amiga port?

I remember reading the review for Strider in ST Format which basically said it was great. And, although the ST version had smaller sprites, the gameplay was faster and better than on the Amiga. I foolishly believed them and wasted my cash on a game I could not play. Boy, this was nothing more than another terrible Tiertex port I thought!! I recently gave it a silly mention and wasn't too kind when I remembered its eye-popping scrolling and ridiculous difficulty.

Since then I've mellowed - and I've also come to realise that my gaming skills suck (well, 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. Well, ahem... 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 start 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. However, eventually, I did it!! But then fire rained down and halted my cries of joy. Thankfully, I beat him on my second attempt and proceeded to a whacky 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 [see the first part of my video recording]

For some odd reason, 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 starts off 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... [see the second part of my video recording]

Oh, how time flies and can also 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 very start, it looks the part and I think they did a cracking job of converting the arcade backdrops over to the much-lower-resolution ST. The sprites are just freaking incredible - they all look impressive and some are huge. This is a beautiful game but, of course, something had to give for all that glam and 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 very well but dies alongside other ST games, like Turrican.

The audio is tremendously entertaining, I love the beautiful tunes which are so apt for this conversion. From the very 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 was bang-on correct so please forgive me! You guys rocked and I shall blame my old opinion on my joystick skills ;p

The CryptO'pinion?

Strider is absolutely 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 with bucketloads of fun so don't be a fool and load it up right now. More fool me, brilliant game!

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

Aaargh!

Aaargh?

Sometimes, I don't want to play a life-sucking adventure or learn the ins and outs of some RPG. Sometimes, I just wanna smash up stuff and then feast on many annoying human beings. Well, today I loaded up Aaargh! by Melbourne House which is basically Rampage and we can be a giant ogre or a fire-breathing dragon.

Destroy buildings, kill attacking critters, eat stupid humans and then collect an egg trophy. Watch out for the angry yocals and various dangerous critters so conserve energy by eating what you find - or those tasty humans!! Once you have the egg, it's time for a (terrible) battle with a beastie opponent before plundering the next village.

The controls are a little clumsy because our beastie must be facing in the right direction to pick up items and perform specific attack moves. Sadly, we can be knocked to the ground far too easily which is very frustrating when waiting for him to get up - and that gives other nasties more than enough time to creep up on you once again...

It's not Rampage, but it's still fun for an hour and who doesn't enjoy burning homes before eating the angry villagers? Aaargh! might be utter rubbish but I actually enjoyed it. Of course, I'm mad but it's great fun being mad!

I found this screen pretty awkward to walk around.

This is a great level and nothing is better than killing the native peasants!!

Oh no, this looks scary. Love that face in the rock!