I sat down last night wrapped up under a blanket recovering from sickness and playing Strider on PS3. I first started it about a year and a half ago, but had gotten sidetracked. I picked it back up last night, and wow, I'd forgotten how much I really like that game. I probably gave it a solid four hours during my quiet night alone, and it gets continually better as it goes on. Story-wise, it's just a re-telling of the same Strider vs Meio saga, but it controls like a champ, and that's coming from someone who doesn't care for analog control in 2D games.
The backgrounds can be a bit same-y, but variety is there, especially as you get deeper into the game. The boss fights are well designed, old school pattern-based affairs, and each is fought differently. The exploration is rewarding, with a good balance of secrets and progression. I like that not all functional upgrades are guarded by bosses, and the map function illuminating major items helps for completion, as do the menu tallies.
I'm at the tail end now for this play, and considering hunting all of the odds and ends down just to spend more time in it. It's a very good synthesis of Strider and Metroid, and I'm so glad it came out on disc in Japan (plays in english), or I probably never would have played it.
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