Strider- Officially the Worst port of all time

[GUTS]

Yeah the music is really, really good in some places actually, I forgot to list that in the good points of the game.  Especially the first stage, I really liked the redone music for that one.

After reading some faqs apparently every version but the PSX version has the thing where you get knocked out of orbit for no reason.  In the PSX version you can smash the core in 1 or 2 orbits max, so you don't deal with it.  I guess that was the biggest change from the arcade to the PSX, all the other changes were incredibly minor and would only be noticed by ultimate Strider fans.  I might play through the Genesis version tonight and see if it does it, I don't remember it but it's been years so I probably just forgot.

Also, playing through Strider again a few times has made me realize how great of a game it is.  I used to think it was one of those moldy oldies that doesn't hold up well anymore, but damn once you get the hang of it and manage to smoke a level without dying it feels extremely awesome.  Learning the levels enough to where you can blast through them is super fun, you can be wreckless and crazy in some places and in other places you have to use precise strategy, it all meshes together very well.

[Tatsujin]

the BGM is the best in the MD version imo. also it changes a lot during one level (e.g. in the 2nd stage). for authentic arcade feeling the PSX version is the way to go.

[Joe Redifer]

It's better on MAME than it is on the PS1!  

I agree about the constantly changing music on the Genesis version, that is cool.  I have an illegally downloaded CD-R version of Strider for the PCE that I think I'll try to play through right now.  And yes, the Genesis version knocks you out of orbit.

Strider is one of two games I own both the US version and the Japanese version (Thunder Force 4 being the other).  I have the US version because I've had it forever, but I got the Japanese version because it was cheap and had things that were omitted in the Genesis version.

[esteban]

Also, playing through Strider again a few times has made me realize how great of a game it is.  I used to think it was one of those moldy oldies that doesn't hold up well anymore, but damn once you get the hang of it and manage to smoke a level without dying it feels extremely awesome.  Learning the levels enough to where you can blast through them is super fun, you can be wreckless and crazy in some places and in other places you have to use precise strategy, it all meshes together very well.

Word up! I'm glad you feel this way, because I remember you mentioning that Zig felt that Strider had not aged well and I completely disagreed with his assessment.

In fact, being the dork that I am, I even took the time to find the old post in which I eloquently characterize Strider as "an epic, balls-out action slashin' jumping fiesta". I stand by everything I said in that post. I have never played the PSX port, so my feelings are based on the arcade and genny versions.

[Odonadon]

Steve, I just re-read your Strider rave.  I honestly don't get it  I may lose some fans by saying this, but I've always found Strider mediocre and boring - anything but the epic jump and slasher you made it out to be .  Heck, I even find Kaze Kiri a more satisfying jump and slasher, and it has a lot to be desired.

Just goes to show you - to each their own.

OD

[Black Tiger]

Steve, I just re-read your Strider rave.  I honestly don't get it  I may lose some fans by saying this, but I've always found Strider mediocre and boring - anything but the epic jump and slasher you made it out to be .  Heck, I even find Kaze Kiri a more satisfying jump and slasher, and it has a lot to be desired.

Just goes to show you - to each their own.

OD

I didn't like Strider back in the day on Genesis and like Ghouls N Ghosts, I still have never seen the real actual arcade. I agree that some of the themes are cool, but its the actual game that I'm not in love with.

But there are lots of other 'cool' games that I love even though I think the gameplay isn't very good. I guess that a similar game would be R-Type. You have to figure out the right pattern to cross sections at a time. I prefer more flexible gameplay.

A couple games I was actually reminded of when trying to clear a few extra cheap sections in the PSP version, is Shadowgate NES and Dragon's Lair.

But in those parts, once you solve the puzzle, it feels artificial to string together combos Mortal Kombat style as you watch the scene play out. I just didn't feel connected with the character as I do making a series of crucial platformer leaps with Megaman or Mario.

But like I said, I understand how most people love it, since I have my own "Striders".

Anyone else think that the last boss in Strider is the inspiration for the Death fight in Drac X?

[cheezio]

black tiger on the spectrum was a depressingly bad port. Waited ages for it, then when it finally came out it was 2 colour (this was near the end of the speccies life, so no excuses for that), screen proportions were all wrong and half the levels were missing.

shame it wasnt ever ported to the PCE (the arcade version that is, not the speccy one)

[Joe Redifer]

Wow.  The PCE version of Strider is pretty bad.  The colors are the worst aspect, in my opinion.  They look worse than 98% of Genesis games... much worse.  Strider himself is almost... yellow.  Or orange.  Be he should be white... like me!  I think they use about 8 colors onscreen simultaneously out of a palette of maybe 16.

[Black Tiger]

Wow.  The PCE version of Strider is pretty bad.  The colors are the worst aspect, in my opinion.  They look worse than 98% of Genesis games... much worse.  Strider himself is almost... yellow.  Or orange.  Be he should be white... like me!  I think they use about 8 colors onscreen simultaneously out of a palette of maybe 16.

Although they didn't make good use of color, I like the idea of a darker skinned Strider, but the PCE sprite isn't the best example. His green/grey accessories don't coordinate so well.

Maybe it was just your TV that made him look yellowy/orange? Because looking at screenshots taken by emulation, its actually the Genesis version that has an orange skinned Strider.





And it really is just bad choices in color, or untouched scans that don't look as nice as most PCE games, because Strider ACD actually has anywhere from 60 - 90 colors onscreen at any given time.

Which ironically, makes it one of the most colorful PCE games around.  

Strider does suffer more than most games when played through regular hardware. It looks a lot better through S-Video or an emulator.

[Bonknuts]

My grip on Strider for PCE-AC:

Parallax aside;

 Poor choice of palette (# of colors too) - worst case they should have the MD version gfx and best case would have been as close they could get in 9bit with a 9 bit palette. I've done some conversions from the arcade to PCE of Strider, so I know lot of it translate well. If this was an earlier port on old cdrom 2.0 or even SCD, then some things could have been forgiven - but based on the time this game was released and what was possible and done on the system by then - there is no excuse.

 The explosions are yellow... wtf? They look nasty.

 The sword just doesn't look right with two halves on the swing effect - one would've been a hell-of-lot better. There is also something slightly off about the animation - can't put my finger on it.

 The difficulty - to hard for a crappy port.

 I played the hell out of the original when it first came out - so much fun and lost money.

[Ninja Spirit]

Can you FRAP that on Magic Engine? I wanna see this for myself

The PCE screen is like almost there with the Master system version

[Black Tiger]

Can you FRAP that on Magic Engine? I wanna see this for myself

The PCE screen is like almost there with the Master system version

Wow, you really think so? I thought that crappy color choice aside, the ACD version looked the closest to the arcade, much more so than the MD version.

Especially when you view them in the same perspective, as they'd appear on a TV screen-



I think people are pretty biased against the ACD version (without even playing it) when all they've heard about it beforehand is bad.

If they'd used a decent pallete, the ACD version would look strikingly similar to the arcade, probably about as good as the Forgotten Worlds port.

The game doesn't look less than pretty for lack of detail. With a pallete fix and reduced flicker alone, no one would've made such a big deal over the rest of it (reported gameplay issues and 'OMG this guy attacks with his left hand first in the arcade' type stuff).

Strider doesn't emulate properly with ME. I'll record a clip through S-Video after I get back from running an errand(I've been planning to do up a 3 way split screen comparison for awhile now any way).

[Bonknuts]

If they'd used a decent pallete, the ACD version would look strikingly similar to the arcade, probably about as good as the Forgotten Worlds port.

 I'll have to totally disagree with you on this one. I've always thought FW(Lost Worlds) was a very decent port with great use of the palette. I played PCE-AC Strider on the TV (two different ones) with the real hardware and it appears to be worst than the emu shots. What brings PCE-AC Strider down is the accumulative problems and in comparison to its release date. It's not GA, but its close.. too close (relatively speaking).

[Black Tiger]

If they'd used a decent pallete, the ACD version would look strikingly similar to the arcade, probably about as good as the Forgotten Worlds port.

 I'll have to totally disagree with you on this one. I've always thought FW(Lost Worlds) was a very decent port with great use of the palette. I played PCE-AC Strider on the TV (two different ones) with the real hardware and it appears to be worst than the emu shots. What brings PCE-AC Strider down is the accumulative problems and in comparison to its release date. It's not GA, but its close.. too close (relatively speaking).

I also think that FW is amazing. What I meant was, Strider has lots of detail, but with different colors than the arcade. If you gave it the right colors, the still graphics would look very similar to the arcade. Just look at the arcade and ACD screenshots above, pretty much the only difference is the pallete.

As for Strider on TV, as I said earlier, it loses more than most games through composite, but it does look like it does through emulation when using S-Video.

Although it's probably scrolling at 60 fps, Strider ACD doesn't have perfectly smoothe scrolling. The pacing is off and it gives it a jerky look, similar to GA(from my memory), but not as bad. Again, fixing this one problem would make a big difference, but the other problems would still drag it down.

I think its very far from close to GA. Strider actually uses the arcade graphics and keeps everything reasonable proportionate and full screen.

Golden Axe is severely letterboxed, is completely redrawn in a bad way(unlike the early Capcom Genesis ports) with small sprites and jerky scrolling(from what I remember). Plus the sfx in GA are are fewer and not as good.

Here's a video clip of the first Stage of Strider ACD-

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/strideracd1.avi

Also, as I suspected, Strider does have yellow skin on the Bonus Stage, but the real Stage 2 sprite is the same as thev Stage 1 sprite.

[Joe Redifer]

So much to respond to, so little time.  Wait no, I actually have a lot of time.

#1 - My TurboGrafx-16 is hooked up via component video and I have the ability to get s-video from it as well (which isn't as good as component, of course).  My TV is set up the best it can be and the HUE is correct.  Anyway the color of Strider himself didn't really bother me until the second stage, the desert scene.  Play up to there. It looks vomit-inducing.

#2 - Those Strider comparison pics are all much too skinny.  For the correct aspect ratio, each picture should be sized to 320x240.  The full-sized picture with all four of them should be 640x480.  So they all look wrong to me and definitely not how they appear on my screen.

#4 - Using all of my superpowers, I can probably record Strider into a video using real hardware.  Should I?

Damn, I forgot #3.  Oh wait... I remember!

#3 - ACD Strider is really slow and floaty.  Although removing the flicker and using a better color palette would definitely have helped, it still would have not played like the arcade in that it just felt wrong.

PS - Strider scrolls at 30fps.
PSS - Golden Axe is not a Capcom game.