Strider Hiryu

Strider Hiryu (ストライダー飛竜, Sutoraidā Hiryū) is a fictional character jointly owned by Capcom and Moto Kikaku. Although primarily known as a game character, Hiryu (飛竜, "Flying Dragon") debuted in 1988 as the protagonist of a manga Strider Hiryu, published exclusively in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten.

Hiryu made his first video game appearance in the arcade game Strider (1989) Since his debut, he has appeared in various video games produced by Capcom, notably in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Several publications and polls have regarded him as one of the most popular Capcom characters, one of the top ninja characters in video games, or even one of the best heroes in all of gaming.

Character and design

In most versions of the Strider story, "Hiryu" is an elite-class member of a group of futuristic, high-tech ninja-derived agents known as the Striders, who specialize in various kinds of black ops and wetwork such as espionage, sabotage, and assassinations. His signature weapon is his "cypher" (a plasma-generating blade with a tonfa-like handle) named Falchion. He also has three Option support robots that he can call in for assistance (Option A is a satellite drone, Option B is a robotic panther, and Option C is a robotic hawk), as well as tools such as the all-terrain climbing instrument "climb sickle". An active Strider agent, all personal data pertaining to Hiryu outside of his codename, such as real name, age, nationality, career and any other background information, are top secret. In fighting games, several of Hiryu's moves are named after various legendary weapons of various lore, including Ame-no-murakumo, Excalibur, Gram, and Vajra.

Strider (arcade game)

Strider, released in Japan as Strider Hiryū (ストライダー飛竜), is a 1989 side-scrolling platform game developed and released for the CP System arcade hardware by Capcom. It became one of Capcom's early big hits prior to Street Fighter II, hailed for its innovative gameplay and unique music. It is based on the 1988 manga Strider Hiryu.

Gameplay

The controls of Strider consist of an eight-way joystick and two action buttons for attacking and jumping. The player controls the protagonist Strider Hiryu, whose main weapon is a tonfa-like plasma sword known as "Cypher". He can perform numerous acrobatic feats depending on the joystick/button combination used. Pressing the jump button while Hiryu is standing still will cause him to do a regular vertical jump, while pressing the jump button while pushing the joystick left or right will enable him to do a cartwheel jump. Hiryu can also slide under or through certain obstacles and enemies by first crouching down and then pressing the jump button. As well as his sliding move, both jumps can also be used to destroy weaker opponents. Hiryu is able to latch onto certain platforms, and climb across walls and ceilings using a metallic hook. While running down a sloped surface, Hiryu can gain enough momentum to allow him to do a longer cartwheel jump than usual.