It's been a long time coming, but a sequel to the original Strider has finally been brought to a home videogame console in the form of Strider 2. However, this PlayStation game from Capcom not only brings home the sequel to the arcade and Genesis classic, but also brings home the arcade original on a second disc, giving arcade action fans an incredible bang for the buck.
Gameplay
In an era where all of the classic 2D game series, such as Mario, Contra, Mega Man, Sonic, and Castlevania, have been given complete 3D facelifts, it's nice to see that Capcom has decided to keep the old-school 2D play mechanics of the original in Strider 2.
The original Strider gained its legendary status because of its tight control, imaginative level-design and tremendous play mechanics. As soon as the player boots up the sequel, they'll immediately feel all warm and fuzzy inside, because Strider 2 brings all of that back and more.
In addition to having all of his original movies like his attacks with his plasma sword, the game's protagonist, Strider Hiryu, has a few new ones. He can now perform double-jumps and more powered-up attacks. The double-jumps, alone, add greatly to the game's already impressive play mechanics. The levels in Strider 2 are also ingeniously designed and include many cool aspects where Strider will have to climb walls, traverse ceilings, and deal with rooms with reverse gravitational fields.
The only real difference between Strider 2 and the original, aside from the new moves and improved character animation is that the game's backgrounds are comprised of 3D polygonal objects. It's essentially a 2D-platforming game with 3D backgrounds, much like Namco's Klonoa or Crystal Dynamics' Pandemonium titles. On the whole, the game's graphics won't really impress anyone. However, they do feature some nice lighting effects, colorful backgrounds, and huge polygonal boss characters.
Strider 2's only downfall is that it's really short. While it's true that the original wasn't too long, either, it stands out more in Strider 2 because the game's not quite as challenging. On the default settings, the life bar starts out almost twice as long as it was in the first game and when you combine that with the unlimited continues (where the player restarts the game at the exact spot that he dies), the game's really a breeze to play through. Most players will have no problem beating the game in less than an hour in his or her very first play through on the default settings. The first game is much more difficult on the whole and provides a greater challenge to the game player.
In Strider 2's defense, the player does have the option of decreasing the life bar and increasing the game's difficulty setting to make it harder. Furthermore, the game is extremely high on the fun factor scale and has an enormous amount of replay value. While it can be beaten in less than an hour, there are plenty of hidden secrets and bonuses that one will only get if they perform extremely well in the game. Overall, Strider 2 is definitely a must-play game for not only fans of the original but all fans of 2D action platform games, as well.
If Strider 2 isn't enough to make you drool, Capcom has included the original Strider for all of you old-school fans. The game is supposed to be a straight port of the arcade version, but there are some issues that with the conversion. First, the game now has load times that almost certainly weren't in the original. Load times are something that we have learned to deal with on a CD-based system, but it just doesn't seem right with Strider. What's more, there appears to be more slowdown in the PlayStation version of the game than from either the arcade or Genesis editions -- though, this might just be a case of not fully remembering the quality of the older versions of the game. Nonetheless, it seems wrong to have slowdown in a 10-year-old game on PlayStation.
Graphics
This game doesn't do much that screams 32-bit graphics, but it's still can be considered a good-looking game. Animation-wise, the main character moves fluidly and is an obvious improvement over its predecessor. The 3D backgrounds look well enough and the game gets some high marks for its excellence use of special effects in all the big explosions and fancy lighting. Still, the 2D in the game isn't quite as good as what was offered in Konami's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and the 3D doesn't push the PlayStation's limits. It does seem to get the job done, though.
As far as the original Strider is concerned, it appears to be an arcade perfect port, with the only possible problem being with the extra slowdown. This, however, might just be a case of simply not remembering the extent to the slowdown that's featured in the game.
Sound
It's all Strider and it's all good. The music in both games are just perfect for the type of game that they both are -- arcade action. The quick paced tunes do nothing but help increase the adrenaline of the player and help make broaden the game's action-based appeal. The sound effects are exactly what you'd expect in an arcade action game. Not much to be said here.
