My thoughts on Strider

[Samuray]

The entire game smacks of an unfinished project. A little more polish could have gone a long way.

LOL I think the same thing can be said for almost every Turbo title.

Huh? Sorry for being dense, but I don't get that, I think. What's wrong with the CD library? Or does it refer to the US versions, hence the Turbo? Were any of those modified, except for the translation and the cover artwork?

And on topic: I really, really like "Strider" on Genesis, so now I'm wondering if I should pursue the PCE version as well, flicker or no flicker. Is it worth it? Or basically just the same game, just a bit worse?

[Black Tiger]

Strider ACD is definitely not worth buying an original copy of until you own the hundreds of superior cheaper PCE games first.

[EvilEvoIX]

The entire game smacks of an unfinished project. A little more polish could have gone a long way.

LOL I think the same thing can be said for almost every Turbo title.

    This, even I, would argue against.  Many great polished titles that couldn't be matched in speed or color by the MD or the SNES  I submit most shooters as evidence.  Rondo Of Blood as another however I submit that the Sega CD would have made more impressive sprites at the cost of color but there you go, trade off, nothing absolute.

Meh Strider.  That's one game that could have used the Supergrafx treatment.

This would have undoubtedly made the game more awesome based upon Sprite count alone.  I never understood how doubling the sprites wouldn't tax the CPU especially with collision detection involved but from all I have read it didn't.  The Supergrafx would have been great, I wish that there were many more games made for it by super fans.  Over on Sega-16 they are working on 32X games.

[Ayce]

The entire game smacks of an unfinished project. A little more polish could have gone a long way.

LOL I think the same thing can be said for almost every Turbo title.

Huh? Sorry for being dense, but I don't get that, I think. What's wrong with the CD library? Or does it refer to the US versions, hence the Turbo? Were any of those modified, except for the translation and the cover artwork?

Don't get me wrong I enjoy most TG games, but there are quite a few of them that really need to have "more polish" as it was put. For example: Addams Family, Andre Panza, Battle Royale, Bravoman, Champions Forever, China Warrior, Darkwing Duck, Davis Cup, Deep Blue, Falcon, Ghost Manor, Impossamole, Jack Nicklaus, JJ and Jeff, Order of the Griffon,  Power Golf, Shape Shifter, Shockman, Super Volleyball, Takin' it to the Hoop, and Timeball all need quite a bit of polish. Out of all the games that I own these ones I feel have some major issues. Is that to say they are bad games? No (not all of them anyway). 
Then there are games that I really enjoy playing such as Hit the Ice, Keith Courage, Legendary Axe, Space Harrier, World Class Tennis, World Court Tennis... these game I have very fond memories playing as a child and games that I still enjoy playing today that could use more polish because they are lacking in many areas... does this make them any less fun? No, could they be much better... undoubtedly yes.

And on topic: I really, really like "Strider" on Genesis, so now I'm wondering if I should pursue the PCE version as well, flicker or no flicker. Is it worth it? Or basically just the same game, just a bit worse?

I love Strider on the Genesis, and I don't think the PCE version would disappoint you. Again as was already mentioned it could use some more polish, but what game couldn't. There is no perfect game out there, but there are so many things that makes this version of Strider stand out that I think as a fan of the original you would enjoy. 

[SamIAm]

Isn't Strider PCE running at 30 fps? I think I read that it is somewhere, and the game definitely seems to have that certain unsmoothness to it.

[Black Tiger]

I love Strider on the Genesis, and I don't think the PCE version would disappoint you. Again as was already mentioned it could use some more polish, but what game couldn't. There is no perfect game out there, but there are so many things that makes this version of Strider stand out that I think as a fan of the original you would enjoy. 

Except we already have a couple decades of people being hugely disappointed by it. It isn't missing polish, it's the inverse: it was early in development and got sewn up and kicked out the door.

It isn't as unplayably terrible as its reputation, it does have lots of nice background details, even if other elements were lost in the quick merging of backgrounds. I've never liked Strider, but have played all of the console versions/arcade emulations and if you are into the gameplay, then it's still there well enough. Even though the framerate is either 30fps or scrolling at unusual integers.

[Ayce]

If you already don't like the game going into it... of course you're not going to like it. I suggest watching some videos on it and if you have a way of emulating it try to do that to get a taste.

[fragmare]

Isn't Strider PCE running at 30 fps? I think I read that it is somewhere, and the game definitely seems to have that certain unsmoothness to it.

That is the single most off-putting thing about ACD Strider.  It runs at 30 fps.  60 fps was the de facto standard for just about any game worth a damn during the 16-bit era.  30 fps just seems choppy and unpolished.  Combine that with the unoptimized sprites that Bonknuts pointed out and the poor use of color and you have... a bad conversion.  Sad to say it, Strider is a bad conversion.  It could have been so much better...

[Dicer]

Meh Strider.  That's one game that could have used the Supergrafx treatment.

SGX Strider did indeed exist at one point and time, or so I was told a long long time ago...

[esteban]

Meh Strider.  That's one game that could have used the Supergrafx treatment.

SGX Strider did indeed exist at one point and time, or so I was told a long long time ago...

Mock-ups existed. NFG or Covell wrote up an article about the plausibility of an actual SGX project....I don't know if it really existed beyond mock-ups.

[ccovell]

All the photos of "SGX" Strider that appeared in magazines are likely to be OLD stock photos of a proto Arcade Strider.

See: http://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/sp_unreleased_pce.html#sgxstrider

So, sorry, there are no extant, unique photos of SGX Strider as proof.

[esteban]

All the photos of "SGX" Strider that appeared in magazines are likely to be OLD stock photos of a proto Arcade Strider.

See: http://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/sp_unreleased_pce.html#sgxstrider

So, sorry, there are no extant, unique photos of SGX Strider as proof.

Yes, thanks for the link.

ALSO: I love the chart of unreleased games. I just re-visited it and was surprised how many titles I had forgotten about.

[geise]

PCE Strider is only good for the Redbook audio and cutscenes...nothing else.

I looooooove the music in the ACD game.

[EvilEvoIX]

The Super Grafx has double the sprite capability of the Turbografx right?  So all sprite limitations would be all but lost and the conversion would be much closer to arcade perfect.  I would have preferred a SGX-SuperCD version, best grafx and CD music.  Would have ruled.

[Ayce]

I remember seeing images of Strider for Super FX in EGM and wanting it so bad. Though the images were faked I had no idea at that age.