Andrew Fisher (697) on 8/26/2022 10:51 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Looks great(for the time), has speech and story in between stages, but plays badly, it's more about 'brute force with cold metal' i.e. dying and feeding the game more coin, than about learning to use skill and agility despite that Strider is obviously ninja-like and agility rather than brute force should be his strength. Brute force and coin dependence is pretty typical of arcade games, but maybe even more than before in Strider. There are a couple of dramatic moments, Strider has to climb to the top of two walls closing in on him before he's crushed, you learn that you need to cartwheel jump between the walls to speed your ascent and make it to the top in time. The other is in the last stage, you destroy the second 'gravity sphere', it sets the walls/floors on fire(as do previous mid-bosses), you're forced to burn to death or let go of the wall falling to your death, but there's a tiny ledge to save you if you drop from the right wall.