Strider; Anyone know the full story on a supposed crazed programmer?

[Xian042]

I seem to recall a bit of gaming lore about a programmer that was tasked with porting Strider to a console after the Genesis and he cracked under the pressure when it wouldn't pan out. ( I think it was an NEC system )
I remember seeing some capcom artwork that featured a slew of capcom characters, and you could see a young girl handing a stuffed panda to Strider Hiryu. I read this was some sort of tribue to the programmer, the panda having a relevance to the hidden panda that can be found on the airship level of the Genesis version.
I did some searching around and I couldn't find anything. Anyone know the full story?

[Baloo]

From Dangerboy's site: http://www.game-rave.com/saturn/games/street_fighter_alpha2/


There is some interesting lore with one of the game's cameos. In Ken's stage, among the various Capcom characters is Strider holding a Teddy Bear. When a character performs a Super Move, Strider tosses the bear up and catches it. Legend has is it that this was a small 'Get Well Soon' message to a fellow Capcom programmer. The worker was apparently under great stress while working on a port of Strider (different sources have it as the Super Grafx or Neo Geo Pocket), and when the project got canned, he was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown. In the PlayStation version, Strider is not animated

[Dire 51]

First, this should be your one-stop spot for all your Strider needs: http://www.lscmainframe.net/

Second, that rumor appears to be an urban legend. One of the rumors was that it was Isuke (the creator of the arcade game) that went mad and the panda was a tribute to him (as the hidden panda shows up in the arcade game as well), but as he's alive, well and corresponding with Sam (the LSCM webmaster) right now, that one's not true. Sam's even asked Isuke about that, and IIRC Isuke has no idea how this whole thing started.

[tomaitheous]

http://www.lscmainframe.net/features/supergrafx/index.html <- is the direct link. Heh, I got credited in the article. Weird.

[Xian042]

Awsome! thanks for the great info, such a to-do about that Strider I tell ya.
The story may be dismissed as myth, but I can't help but feel like there is something to it

[Zebbe]

I wonder why the Mega Drive version seems to be slightly involved with this. It was done by Sega, not Capcom. (Which was probably for the best, had Capcom done it I think it wouldn't have fared out quite as well, with their other Mega Drive games in mind).

[Dire 51]

http://www.lscmainframe.net/features/supergrafx/index.html <- is the direct link. Heh, I got credited in the article. Weird.
Really? Who are you, out of the sources cited?


Awsome! thanks for the great info, such a to-do about that Strider I tell ya.
The story may be dismissed as myth, but I can't help but feel like there is something to the story
Certainly hard to say at this point. If any concrete info ever surfaces, you can bet you'll find it on the LSCM, though.

[tomaitheous]

Really? Who are you, out of the sources cited?

Malducci.

[rbudrick]

First, this should be your one-stop spot for all your Strider needs: http://www.lscmainframe.net/

Second, that rumor appears to be an urban legend. One of the rumors was that it was Isuke (the creator of the arcade game) that went mad and the panda was a tribute to him (as the hidden panda shows up in the arcade game as well), but as he's alive, well and corresponding with Sam (the LSCM webmaster) right now, that one's not true. Sam's even asked Isuke about that, and IIRC Isuke has no idea how this whole thing started.

Awesome site. I just read pretty much everything on the site. However, I can't find where Isuke said this. I did find where the site owner mentions Isuke won't talk without permission from Capcom, though he is in touch with him, and that Capcom is not forthcoming with any help. Any linkage you can offer?

And what was all this about some guy saying he has one of the only 5 EEPROMS that were ever made of SGX version?

-Rob