There are those games that defined a generation. Mention Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid and any gamer worth his salt will know what you're talking about. There are also the titles that are so horrendous, so three week old carton of milk bad, that any gamer will cringe at the mere mention of a title like Shaq-Fu, Bebe's Kids, or Deadly Towers.

But what about the games that are neither? What about the titles that may have been good games, even great ones, but due to unseen circumstances never caught on like they should have, resulting in full bargain bins around the country? This is the column for them: The Island of Forgotten Games.


Strider 2

There's been much talk since Street Fighter IV came out about which series Capcom should resurrect next. There are many people pushing for a new Strider game, but what's strange is every time I hear somebody say they want a new Strider game, it's "I want Strider 2. They should make a Strider 2."

Most people don't even know there was a Strider 2, which is bizarre. In fact, there's technically been TWO Strider 2's.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. For those not in the know, Strider was a fantastic single player arcade action game developed and published by Capcom. In it, you play the title character, Strider Hiryu, a mystical ninja of the far off future under the dominion of the evil Grandmaster Meio, an Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious wannabe. Hiryu must fight his way through multiple levels on every continent against the hordes of enslaved minions of Meio, and encounter giant bizarre bosses along the way.

Back to the sequel talk. The first (and un-official one) was published by U.S. Gold and licensed by Capcom, and only came out for the Sega Genesis. The second (and official) Strider 2 is what I'll be covering in this column.



Strider 2 came out at a VERY good time for Capcom when it came to 2-D games. The Darkstalkers, Street Fighter Alphas, and VS. series of games were essentially the pinnacle of 2-D sprites and animation in video games by the late 90's, and Strider 2 is no exception. All the character art is accomplished through Capcom's accomplished art team, with beautifully animated characters and lightning fast gameplay. The kicker is that all the backgrounds and vehicles in this game were created with 3-D graphics. It's quite a site to see these anime style characters running around in 3-D areas, the effect is sometimes jarring, but completely unique and effective, you won't forget the look of this game anytime soon.

The action in this game is fast and effective. Gone are the beast and bird sidekicks of Strider 1, now Strider Hiryu must fight on alone with his awesome double jump flip and amazing sabre attacks. This game can be hard, and by hard, I mean "arcade machines were made to eat your quarters" hard. If you have the Playstation version, make sure it's at an adequate difficulty setting, just know if it's too easy, your balls will never drop, this game will make a man out of you.

Plus, the variety of awesomness in this game is staggering. Take the Siberia level for example, it features a cyborg resurrected Woolly Mammoth as the opening boss. Did you understand that? a CYBORG RESURRECTED WOOLLY MAMMOTH. If that's not one of the most awesome things you've ever heard of, you must have problems. Mental problems. Plus, as anybody who read my Metal Storm review knows, gravity-flipping is super sweet, and it is in this level. Mammoths + gravity flipping = full of win.



Why Didn't it Catch On?

Because people are stupid, that's why. people are really fucking stupid. The game received decent scores from most of the major game publications, but the game slipped by unknown to most at retail. And for all the people shouting for a Strider sequel, Capcom would be smart to re-release this on PSN or XBL and feign ignorance about this not being a new game, most people would fall for it.