Strider presents a slick, glossy feel that comes off as incredibly drab. Strider quickly moves through areas, dispatching enemies with a flashy slash of his sword and an assortment of acrobatic moves. These moments are Strider at its best – which is good, since you’ll see a lot of them by the time you reach the end. Unfortunately, little else stands out as remarkable. Metallic, sci-fi industrial levels are devoid of any personality. Sure, levels keep within a general "theme" and lock together aesthetically, but some variety is needed.

One benefit to the drab surroundings is, when you see color, it is instantly noticeable. I especially like how Strider’s scarf changes color depending on which plasma – the type of power charging his sword – you’re using. It’s a small detail, but saves the trouble of looking at the top of the screen while trapped by 360 degrees of enemy gunfire. Colors also signal which plasmas are needed to take down specific enemy defenses.

There’s definitely a soundtrack playing Strider through his adventure, though I was surprised with how little of it I actually heard. Music is always playing in the background, though it really just seems to set the ambience of the area, never competing for your attention with the various sword slashes and other battle sounds. When you need to notice it, however, it seamlessly pops into full focus.

Strider takes the action-focus of the arcade/ Genesis game and combines it with the exploration-based elements found in the NES version. There isn’t much of a premise to Strider beyond the simple edict to assassinate Grandmaster Meio. After dropping into a run-down, war zone of a city, your sole mission is work your way into Meio’s tower and take him out. This involves charging though a series of intertwined levels. Along the way, you’ll upgrade your abilities and fight his generals, but anyone expecting a deep, engrossing story will find disappointment.

Strider is way too talky for the type of game it is. There’s really no overarching story other than an assassination, yet there are attempts to drop dialogue segments into the middle of gameplay sections. Bosses are especially verbose, spouting threats laced with personal philosophies. It’s really unnecessary and slows down an otherwise fast game. Worse, you can’t skip through a lot of the dialogue, offering the best motivator to killing them the first time through.

The only voice work I enjoyed were the loudspeaker announcements, but wasn’t a fan of the accompanying large orange caption boxes. The announcements work best as environmental flavor and the text boxes serve no purpose other than to get in the way.

Upgrades are earned during boss fights, one of the game’s weakest elements in my opinion. All boss fights boil down to slashing at the boss’s health until it hits zero. There are attempts to introduce strategic elements to play, such as different attack types/ styles, though I was able to ignore these moments.

Concept art and new costumes are scattered throughout each area, as well as unlockable challenges. These fall into one of two categories. Survival Challenges pit you against waves of enemies and Beacon Runs are checkpoint races. Results from each are posted on leaderboards. Neither is exciting, but do provide some added playtime if you don’t want to take on harder difficulties or go for the speed run Trophy.

Much of Strider’s difficulty seems regulated by the number of health pick-ups found in an area. Pick-ups are everywhere, but if the area is supposed to be hard, they are either fewer or in hard to reach areas. I didn’t mind this, but it seems like an odd way to balance the game out. The only time it is problematic is during certain late-game bosses, who have a knack for unavoidable power attacks, or once you get into Meio’s Tower, which is unnecessarily challenging.

Strider is a rough start. You only have one life and save points aren’t plentiful. Once you manage to find a few upgrades, your short lifespan grows. Even when faced with enemies on all sides, you can generally make it out without much trouble. The only times you’ll really have any sort of trouble with run-of-the-mill enemies is when ice-based attacks are introduced, but once you know what to look for, you can easily avoid these shots.

When you first drop into Strider, you’re presented with a series of straightforward levels and lots of locked doors. A few upgrades later, locked doors aren’t a problem, transforming once straight hallways into more complex areas teeming with new treasures to add to your arsenal. Strider does an admirable job of recreating a Metroid-vania style of game, though it lacks the same fluidity as Metroid or, more recently, Shadow Complex. Areas don’t wrap around each other, limiting access to specific areas. Thankfully, Strider is fast, reducing backtracking from a chore to merely a nuance. Some fast-travel is introduced, though it is limited to linear treks between sections, not the "go anywhere" travel you would expect.

In addition to health/ energy upgrades, upgrades fall into one of a small grouping of types. You’ll uncover three plasma types, granting new attack types to your sword. Plasmas confer secondary effects, such as fire or ice, but also relate to different door types. For instance, purple doors are unlocked with the purple plasma, granting access to new paths and other upgrades. You’ll also find new abilities, like a ranged attack or air-dash, as well as plasma-infused versions of each.

Unlocking a couple of new upgrades is great, but I found I generally just stuck to the explosive versions of each, switching only when I needed to open a door or an enemy’s color-coded shield signaled a specific attack type. Matching enemies to plasma types is fine, though it also seems like it is forcing players into using particular strategies rather than letting them devise their own.

Strider has its issues, but is an overall solid game. In the absence of a new Metroid or Shadow Complex, it will definitely scratch the action/ exploration itch.