Strider

Strider looked like nothing else in the arcade. Its hero didn't walk, he sprinted, flipped, slid and scaled walls and ceilings, slicing through enemies with a flash of his blade. The bosses were huge and bizarre, and every stage felt like a scene out of a movie.

It's not playable in our arcade yet, but it's on the UsuArcade wish list, and your votes can bring it in sooner.

History

Capcom released it in 1989 on its CP System board. It started as a joint project with a manga studio, which told the same story in comic form while Capcom made its own arcade and console versions.

Hiryu is an agent of an elite organization called Strider, sent to take down Grandmaster Meio, a dictator ruling the world from space. The character got so popular that he showed up years later in Capcom's crossover fighting games.

How to play

You move with rare agility: cartwheel jumps, slides along the floor and grabbing onto walls and ceilings to hang and climb. Your weapon is the Cypher, a plasma sword with a fast, wide slash.

Power-ups extend your sword's reach or give you robot sidekicks that fight alongside you for a while. The stages take you through a Soviet-style city, snowy mountains, a flying battleship and the jungle, with bosses that fill half the screen.

Fun facts

• It was developed alongside a manga telling the same story.
• Hiryu's plasma sword is called the Cypher.
• Hiryu later turned up in Capcom's crossover fighting games.

In the arcade

Strider is on the wish list: coming soon to UsuArcade. Vote with the “I Want to Play It” button to move it up the line of games to add.

In the meantime, if ninjas and swords are your thing, Shinobi is already in the lobby, and from Capcom there's Ghosts'n Goblins and Black Tiger, all with spectators, chat and arcade high scores.

FAQ