I am trying to get the site achievement for five reviews in a day and can feel myself slipping into madness as I near the end. It really doesn't help that the last game I am reviewing today is Strider for the Sega Genesis. Not good, this game!

Hiryu's acrobatic leaps, twirls, and flourishing sword strikes might deceive you into thinking this is an elegant game to play, but Strider is one of the clunkiest pieces of junk I've played for the Genesis, and I beat Ecco god damnit! This is of course among other early Genesis titles, which I've lamented before on having a sort of cheap feeling to them. In Strider's case this is mostly relegated to game design as the sprite work is pretty good, easily the game's most stand out quality. There's still areas where the color pallet seems very washed out, almost pastel, which was a hallmark of this era of Genesis games, but the sprites are very richly detailed and nice to look at.

It is also very short, which is a blessing considering it ain't no fun to play. Your main impediment to a low clear time is how frustratingly difficult it can be at times, which is just as much a consequence of game design philosophy at the time as it is being poorly made.

You don't need to play Strider, and by all means you shouldn't, but if you do then perhaps give one of the other dozen ports a shot. I haven't messed around in any of them so I really couldn't tell you if Strider plays better on anything else, but at the very least I would suspect the arcade version would be preferential to the Genesis. You could also go outside and smash all your toes with a hammer. The cool thing is you're in control of your own destiny and can harm yourself however you wish. That's the most important thing Strider taught me, and now I pass that lesson on to you.