Strider

Double Helix has really come into its own. Strider reminds me of a Shadow Complex with a much better combat system and a scaled-down exploration element. And that’s perfectly okay with me.

With its gorgeous visuals, excellent music and surprisingly stern challenge, Strider’s magic hasn’t diminished one jot, despite the passage of over two decades. It’s a feast for the eyes, and the responsive and acrobatic main character controls with amazing grace and fluidity — only the unofficial sequel, Cannon Dancer, comes anywhere close to attaining the same balletic brilliance. Although many will argue that the availability of the arcade edition on collections for the PS2 and PSP renders the port redundant, this is one of those rare cases where a conversion actually adds something to the ...

“Double Helix turns in the best playing Strider ever made, but its game lacks the vital visual panache of its predecessors.”

Keeping in stride.

Strider is an excellent revival of a classic franchise that will appeal to old fans and create new ones. If you like excellent combat and the Metroidvania style of design, you should definitely check it out.

I always enjoy checking out remakes of games that were originally released back in the more formative years of my gaming life, in this case the 1980’s. Strider has seen various releases on various consoles over the years but this reimagining of the original game marks the first time Strider has hit the current (XB1/PS4) or previous generation (PS3/360) consoles.

This reimagining of the original Strider establishes developer Double Helix’s firm grasp on the essence of the joy of movement that makes Strider Hiryu such a great character. It lacks environmental variety and a sense of fairness when it comes to some of the boss battles, but it shows great potential for a revitalized series.

Strider is a game that's all about the gameplay and while that is great in many ways, it has its downsides too.

Had this game been released a decade or two ago, it might have been seen as a classic of its type, alongside Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night. But today, at the tail end of a wave of Metroidvania-style games, Strider fails to stand out. It's a competent, workable game that draws inspiration from the right places, but which is rarely anything more than a cover version of the greats.

Strider's not really the kind of game the cognoscenti get excited about. It won't be winning any awards or the subject of a load of thinkpieces, and that's because it's nothing more than a simple design executed near-flawlessly. It's limited in the same sense that a cat is limited by not being a dog. Strider is a great game and it gets me totally pumped; it looks incredible, sounds amazing, and is tonnes of fun. If I ruled the world this would be on billboards, and they would say very simply: STRIDER'S BACK.

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Strider makes a great first impression, but really shows its true colors as the short title wears on. Little variety in the environments, a lack of challenge in combat, and a little too much handholding at times, outweigh the flashy presentation of this reboot.