Set in a dystopian future in which Earth is ruled by the tyrannical Grandmaster Meio, it follows the titular Strider named Hiryu as he attempts to end Meio's tyrannical reign for good. It marked the video game debut of Strider Hiryu, after the character was introduced in the 1988 manga Strider Hiryū.

The Story Behind Flying Tiger

In this version the music from the first stage of the game was repeated here instead. He further said it was he who "pushed for a ninja concept" as they were leaning towards an action game, a ninja setting would've been convenient. Strider contains many different styles of themes that change dynamically throughout the game according to the stages and the situations on screen.

The original arcade game soundtrack was composed entirely by video game music composer Junko Tamiya, who was not credited for her work in the arcade version but was mentioned as part of the original arcade staff in some console adaptations. We loosely decided on that." Regarding Hiryu's three robot helpers, he said that he was inspired by the 1960s ninja comics (the one that most influenced him was Shirato Sanpei's Kamui Gaiden), in which the ninja often had various animals to support them or attack their enemies. Moto Kikaku produced the manga version, while Capcom developed two separate video game versions, a coin-operated video game and a console version for the NES.

How Flying Tiger Plays

Gold and Tiertex later produced the licensed sequel Strider II, released in North America as Journey from Darkness: Strider Returns, while Capcom developed the unrelated Strider 2 for arcades and PlayStation in 1999–2000. Computer magazine ACE considered the previous Amiga conversion to be "as good as this one". These include an extension to Hiryu's attack range that lasts for one hundred slashes, two types of health aids (represented by the kanji used to write Hiryu's name: 飛 and 飛竜), a max health extension (represented by the kanji 竜, the second character in Hiryu's name), an extra life, and a power-up that not only makes Hiryu invulnerable to attack but also increases his own attack abilities via shadow images of himself for 15 seconds.

Each of the stages is divided into a number of smaller sections, each with their own time limit and checkpoint location. A version for the Capcom Power System Changer was planned and previewed but never released. As well as his sliding move, both jumps can also be used to destroy weaker opponents.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Upon release, GamePro called the Genesis port "a faithful translation of the arcade hit", and praised its "gorgeous graphics, non-stop arcade-style action, and ... captivating and unusual sound track." EGM awarded the Genesis port best video game of the year in 1990 and winner of their best graphics category. Mark Caswell of Crash magazine referred to the game's graphics as detailed and incredible, the scrolling and action as smooth and called the gameplay "some of the most demanding gameplay ever invented". The Genesis version was praised for its accurate and detailed faithfulness to the original.

According to Retro Gamers Darran Jones, "everything about Strider was epic. In the United Kingdom, Strider was the best-selling arcade game for three months during early 1989 (between February and April). The Games Machine called it "THE platform and ladders game to be seen playing at the moment." Your Sinclair called it "brilliant" and "a real epic" with "some imaginative stuff" in the game.

Flying Tiger — Frequently Asked Questions