View source for Strider (NES video game)

{{lead too short|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox video game
|title=Strider
|image= Strider NES cover.jpg
| alt = Strider
|caption=Cover art
|developer=[[Capcom]]
|publisher=Capcom
|designer=Masayoshi "Patariro" Kurokawa
|composer=[[Harumi Fujita]]
|released ={{vgrelease|NA|July 1989<ref>{{cite press release|title=Complete Classic Games List|publisher=[[Nintendo]]|date= 15 Sep 2003|url=https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/gameslist/manuals/completeoldgameslist.pdf|accessdate=20 Dec 2009}}</ref>}}
|genre=[[Platform game]], [[Metroidvania]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.egmnow.com/articles/previews/hands-on-strider/ | title = Hands-On: Strider | first = Mollie L. | last = Patterson | date = September 20, 2013 | accessdate = July 11, 2016 | publisher = [[EGMNOW]] | quote = "[T]he NES Strider eschewed the fast-paced linear action of the arcade release for an adventure based on exploration, backtracking, and ability upgrades . . . the Metroidvania-esque balance between action and adventure felt fitting with the character and his world, just as I thought it did way back in the 8-bit days." }}</ref>
|modes=[[Single-player video game|Single player]]
|platforms=[[Nintendo Entertainment System]]
}}
'''''Strider''''' is a side-scrolling [[action-adventure game]] released by [[Capcom]] for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] in North America in {{vgy|1989}}. While the development of the NES version of ''Strider'' was produced in tandem with the [[Strider (arcade game)|arcade version]], the Japanese version for the Famicom was never released. The NES version of ''Strider'' is included in the {{vgy|2006}} [[Game Boy Advance]] compilation ''[[Capcom Classics Mini-Mix]]''.

==Plot==
Set in a [[dystopia]]n future during the year 2048, the game centers around a secret organization of hi-tech [[ninja]]-like operatives known as "Striders", who specializes in various kinds of wetworks such as smuggling, kidnapping, demolitions, and disruption. The player takes control of [[Strider Hiryu|Hiryu]], the youngest ever elite-class Strider in the organization. Hiryu is summoned by the organization's second-in-command, Vice Director Matic, to assassinate his friend Kain, who has been captured by hostile forces and has become a liability to the Striders. Instead of killing him, Hiryu decides to rescue Kain from his captors; he is successful, and also recovers a recording from Kain concerning a suspected criminal plot. With the help of his fellow Strider Sheena, Hiryu uncovers a conspiracy between a certain faction of the Strider organization and an unknown organization known simply as the "Enterprise" (headed by a man named Faceas Clay) which involves the development of a mind-control weapon codenamed "Zain".<ref name=stridernesmanualp4>{{cite video game|title=Strider|developer=Capcom|level=Instruction manual, page 4}}</ref> In the course of finding and destroying these Zain units, Hiryu learns that the faction of conspirators is headed by Vice Director Matic himself.  Hiryu eventually tracks Matic to an orbiting space station where the two Striders face off; after a brief battle Hiryu bests Matic and kills him.  Afterwards Hiryu locates and destroys the last of the Zain units.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that though Hiryu was asked to return to the Strider organization he instead opted to retire. The final credits show him discarding his weapon and walking away.

==Gameplay==
[[Image:Strider NES.png|thumb|left|Hiryu attacks an enemy soldier in Kazakh after exiting a one-way transport tube.]]

This iteration of ''Strider'' differs from the arcade version in that the player must find clues and items to progress. The game opens on the Striders' base of operations, the Blue Dragon, which transports Hiryu to various areas across the world. At the beginning of the game only [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh]] is available, but eventually the player unlocks Egypt, China and Africa, among others, by collecting disks. These disks contain information pertinent to the plot, provided by several characters who often also grant Hiryu new abilities. New abilities unlock previously impassable areas, forcing the player to backtrack to obtain new items and disks. To return to the Blue Dragon, the player must return to the beginning of the area and jump against the uppermost left edge of the screen.

All the areas in ''Strider'' feature elevator-like transport tubes which the player can enter from below (by jumping) or above (by crouching). The player will then be moved along the path of the tube until reaching its exit. Tubes may or may not allow the player to enter from both ends; it is possible for a tube to send the player back to a much earlier part of the level, or even a different level entirely, with no convenient way to return.

Hiryu's main weapon is his Cypher, a [[plasma physics|plasma]]-generating blade with a [[tonfa]]-like handle known as the Falchion which he uses to slash enemies or stab them from below by raising it into the air. In some areas of the game, it is necessary to leap off walls ("Triangle Jump") in order to access areas otherwise impossible to reach. Hiryu's strength level will increase after he accomplishes certain mission objectives (such as capturing enemy officers), which extends his health and energy meters, the latter of which enables him to use acquired skills. These skills include attacks, health recovery, or the ability to warp back instantly to the Blue Dragon. Another technique available is the possibility to fire a "Plasma Arrow" (a type of projectile attack) by raising his sword, known as "The Cipher", and keeping it upraised until it flashes; at that point the bolt can be shot with the attack button.<ref name=npvol007>{{cite magazine|title=Features - Strider|magazine=Nintendo Power |volume=7|date=July–August 1989|pages=51–56}}</ref>

The player can use passwords to keep track of their progress. Of particular note, each time the player requests a password, the game ends with a brief description of the game's progress so far (which depends of Hiryu's current level) and gives a title for Hiryu's next adventure, similar to a television series or [[anime]].

==Development==
The NES version of ''Strider'' was conceived as part of a three-way collaboration between Capcom and [[manga]] studio Moto Kikaku, which also included the ''Strider Hiryu'' manga by Tatsumi Wada serialized in the manga anthology ''Comic Computique'' and a separately developed [[Strider (arcade game)|coin-operated video game version]].<ref name=Gameside>{{Cite journal|last1=Tane|first1=Kiyofume|last2=Gaijin Punch (translation)|title=The Father of Strider Who Made the Game World Explode: Kouichi Yotsui Discography|journal=Gameside|issue=16|date=February 2009|url=http://www.gamengai.com/cmnt_inf.php?id=2313&type=translation&p=2|accessdate=30 Dec 2009}}</ref> Unlike the arcade game, the NES version of ''Strider'' closely follows the same storyline depicted in the ''Strider Hiryu'' manga, which involves Hiryu fighting against his former Strider allies.<ref name=comiccomp>{{cite web|script-title=ja:ストライダー飛竜/柴哲郎/和田たつみ|url=http://kanyu.hp.infoseek.co.jp/gamecomic01.html|language=Japanese|date=9 May 2005|accessdate=20 Dec 2009}}</ref> The Family Computer (Famicom) version of ''Strider Hiryu'' was first announced while the manga version was still in serialization<ref name=famimaga19880617>{{cite magazine|magazine=Family Computer Magazine|language=Japanese|date=June 17, 1988|title=Strider Hiryu preview|url=http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secret/FC__1988Q2.html#strider}}</ref> and was scheduled to be released in Japan following the collected edition of the ''Strider Hiryu'' manga in the fourth quarter of 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamengai.com/bn_inf.php?id=611|title=Capcom News|publisher=Gamengai.com|accessdate=20 Dec 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamengai.com/bn_inf.php?id=630|title=Strider Hiryuu|publisher=Gamengai.com|accessdate=20 Dec 2009}}</ref><ref name=famitsu19880916>{{cite journal|journal=Famicom Tsūshin|language=Japanese|date=June 17, 1988|title=Strider Hiryu preview|url=http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secret/FC__1988Q2.html#strider}}</ref> However, the Famicom version was delayed to a 1989 release<ref name=famitsu19890106>{{cite journal|journal=Famicom Tsūshin|language=Japanese|date=January 6, 1989|title=Strider Hiryu preview|url=http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secret/FC__1988Q2.html#strider}}</ref><ref name=famibest19890215>{{cite journal|journal=Famicom BEST|language=Japanese|date=February 15, 1989|title=Strider Hiryu preview|url=http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secret/FC__1988Q2.html#strider}}</ref>  before it was eventually canceled. The NES game was still localized for the North American market and released shortly after the arcade game in 1989.

For their package art (above right), Capcom contracted for game illustrator Marc Ericksen's vision of Strider Hiryu wielding his Plasma powered Cipher against an enemy guard and his bayonet equipped AK-47, against a backdrop of Russian inspired architecture of the sort found in the game play. There, decorative Red Star motifs shared the stage with minaret style domes prominently suggesting the St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square, Moscow, also employed by the illustrator for his rendition of Tengen's Tetris, in 1988. The Soviet Union, at that time 3 years from collapse, was selected only as the visual inspiration for the "Enterprise" empire by the design team staging the packaging design.

==Manga==
Before the release of the ''Strider'' arcade game, ''Comic Computique'' (a monthly anthology published by [[Kadokawa Shoten]]) serialized a ''Strider Hiryu'' [[manga]] illustrated by Tatsumi Wada from its May to October issues in 1988. A single [[tankōbon|collected volume]] was published in November of the same year.<ref name=manga>{{cite book|last=Wada|first=Tatsumi|script-title=ja:ストライダー飛竜|language=Japanese|isbn=4-04-713009-5|date=November 1988|publisher=[[Kadokawa Shoten]]}}</ref> The manga features the same characters and basic plot that was later used for the NES version, but with several differences to how the story transpires (for example, whereas Strider Kain dies before the final stage in the NES game, he manages to survive in the manga version). In addition to the six main chapters, an uncollected chapter titled {{Nihongo|'''''Strider Hiryu Gaiden'''''|ストライダー飛竜外伝}} was published after the main series was completed. The additional chapter depicts the circumstances involving the death of Hiryu's sister, Mariya.<ref name="comiccomp"/>

==Reception==
{{Video game reviews
| Dragon = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Dragon151">{{cite journal|last=Hartley|first=Patricia|last2=Lesser|first2=Kirk|title=The Role of Computers|journal=Dragon|issue=151|date=November 1989|pages=52–56}}</ref>
| EGM = 7.25/10
}}{{expand section|date=January 2014}}

Some outlets have said the game doesn't capture the Arcade version of the game well, making it nearly an entirely different game from its arcade counter-part.

{{Clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{mobygames|id=/nes/strider_|name=''Strider'' (NES)}}
*[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/strider/strider.htm Hardcore Gaming 101: Strider]

{{Strider series}}

[[Category:1989 video games]]
[[Category:Capcom games]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk video games]]
[[Category:Dystopian video games]]
[[Category:North America-exclusive video games]]
[[Category:Ninja video games]]
[[Category:Nintendo Entertainment System-only games]]
[[Category:NES platform games]]
[[Category:Tiger handheld games]]
[[Category:Science fiction video games]]
[[Category:Spy video games]]
[[Category:Strider Hiryu]]
[[Category:Terrorism in fiction]]
[[Category:Artificial intelligence in fiction]]
[[Category:Video games set in Africa]]
[[Category:Video games set in Australia]]
[[Category:Video games set in China]]
[[Category:Video games set in Egypt]]
[[Category:Video games set in Japan]]
[[Category:Video games set in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Video games set in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Video games set in the 2040s]]
[[Category:Metroidvania games]]