Journey from Darkness: Strider Returns

"You fool. To the. Pits of hell. With you. Strider. !"

The title of this review wasn't meant to stab a joke against William Shatner. That is exactly how the voice recordings in Strider Returns sound like. I could even hear the exclamation point make its sound after I lost for the 100th time in the same level of this mediocre game.

To call this game a sequel to Capcom's jewel is a blasphemy. US Gold was the one responsible for it, which may explain why much content in here had virtually nothing to do with the first game.

Imagine what could've happen if US Gold also had a hand with making sequels to Captain Commando or Megaman. Perish the thought.

Funny thing is, the NES version of Strider had more familiarity to the Arcade counterpart than this thing. Pretty amusing.

Gameplay – 3

As with the original game, you can climb and wander around virtually in every direction, the downside is that at times, it is impossible to make a successful jump to try and get away from the enemy in time before you explode in dozens of sparkly dots. Maneuvering the character is a pain in the ass altogether. I will not even mention the horrors I experienced when Strider was climbing a rope. What the hell happened to him?

Story – 1

Great, another “rescue-the-girlfriend-from-the-guy-you-supposedly-killed-in-the-last-game” thing. This has been done before, even with the likes of Shinobi, which was pretty much a good game, but the premise itself almost made it unbearable. As I recalled in here, the shackled blonde doesn't even call her “boyfriend” by his name, she just refers him as “Strider”. The code of the Striders must be one hell of a thing if you can't trust your girlfriend with your own identity.

Graphics/Sound – 3

This game is a copy and paste version of the Genesis port from the Arcade. Almost every enemy sprite appears once again, and the “cut scenes” are used shamelessly from the original.

I give two points to the fact that the voices recorded sound so-so, but the voice acting is pretty damn dreadful. US Gold tried extra hard here so it seems, I wonder why it didn't strive to do the same for gameplay and such.

Play Time/Replayability – 1

One game per lifetime is more than enough for me, thanks.

Final Recommendation – 1

Let's pretend Capcom never wanted to have Strider make an appearance, even in the likes of Marvel vs. Capcom series. Would you still want to own this game? In my opinion, no, I wouldn't, and I would stomp on the ones responsible for putting a stain on one of the greatest videogame characters in Capcom's history since Megaman. To the. Videogame graveyard. With you. Blasphemous game. !

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 07/13/06