Jeremy Parish

NES Works 134: Strider (Patreon)

Published:

2024-05-01 12:39:40

Imported:

2024-05

Tags:

capcom nes nes works strider

Content

Hello and welcome to May ’24. Here is an episode about Strider. Well, partially. It's also about some legislative and cultural shifts in America and Japan during the first half of the 1980s that had knock-on effects on all media, including video games, and which explain (at least to some degree) what went wrong with this NES cart. Kind of. I don't quite present an airtight case of cause-and-effect, but it's worth examining things like the FTC's deregulatory era and the fallout of the Declaration a New Anime Century event in general, because they loom large in the background of the material I've been exploring all this time. I should have done this sooner, I guess, but it took the mess that was Strider to finally get my ass in gear.

I enjoy/enjoyed NES Strider for what it is/was worth, both now and back when it debuted, but even in 1989—back when I actually had to patience to slog through the Red Dragon and face down Matic—this game didn't sit right with me. So please forgive my lengthy lamentations. They come from a sincere place.

Files

I blast the Zain down in Africa: Strider | NES Works 134

Hmm, it is Strider Hiryu... and also a lot of additional material about cultural and political trends of the 1980s that greatly influenced video games. Did they necessarily have the direct impact on Strider for NES that this episode posits? Probably not... but this material needed to be covered anyway to give additional clarity to the whys and wherefores of NES games anyway. It might as well have been here. As for Strider itself, well... I admire what the game tries to do, but even back in 1989, there was clearly something amiss with this production. Those troubles only become more evident in hindsight, especially when you learn that Capcom announced the cart for an early 1989 release on Famicom yet it ultimately only shipped in America. On one hand, it's nice that they didn't simply cancel the game altogether and leave us with another "what might have been"-shaped hole in our libraries. On the other hand, it would have been nice if they had taken the time to make the game that did ship here a more polished overall experience. Supplemental material: Check out the fan translation of the Strider manga if you'd like to understand what on earth this game's story is meant to be: https://mangadex.org/chapter/e68fa8a0-4f59-4f03-9512-2a4a45797990 And of course Displaced Gamers' explanation of the absolute nonsense that is Strider's program code: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbYQOon4z84&t=427s Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books)! SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I is available NOW, and Metroidvania: The First Decade is due in 2024. NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 4K with RetroTink 4X and 720p with xRGB Mini Framemeister.