Joined: 26 Aug 2003 Posts: 4192 Location: Oakland, CA
Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 4:08 am Post subject:
Tongueman wrote:
This is getting even more far-fetched. These pics are from a PCE magazine, the game is written as being an 8M SGX Hu-Card, and is stated as being 20% completed... and you're speculating it's a cover for development on some other mystery system???
I guess the only thing to do is to translate the text from the magazines and see what they have to say.
OK, I'm back for more abuse. [Whether it's to dish it out or to take it is up to debate.]
I've translated the text and captions in those 3 magazine clippings earlier in this thread to see what they had to say. Here's the Japanese text first:
And here's what I could make of it. (Run the Japanese text through a translator to see what it thinks is workable English!)
Quote:
[From Sept. 90 issue]
"Strider Hiryu"
Daimakaimura was proof of the graphical merits [of the SGX]. Without a doubt, there is nothing left but this (Strider.)
Sale day tentative
Price tentative
Action
8M (only for SG)
Surprising action
Lost World (Forgotten Worlds), Daimakaimura, etc. are high-definition (distinguished?) games by Capcom in the field of action games; they furthered development with this masterpiece [?]. The motion of the hero was frightfully above that of similar action games up till then. The PC Engine version will make an appearance only for SG, and the number of animations of action should be able to be converted satisfactorily. However, I hope that so many animations are preserved without bogging down the speed of the game.
^ Hiryu's motion is the highest selling point of this game. [?]
<- Such diverse action as can be seen in this slope [of the mountain].
The backgrounds cannot be beat, either.
In this game, the beauty of the backgrounds adds charm to the flow of the animation. The exotic backgrounds have enthusiastic fans even now. If it appears on SG, it is possible to carry out the similar transplant of such beautiful backgrounds by taking advantage of the characteristics of BG2 -- the second scrolling layer. However, screens of such high quality surely consume a lot of game memory.
-> He fights under such backgrounds.
-> He can reach the tops of towers...
<- And do battle on these towers. This is such diverse action where the hero grabs, climbs, flies, bounds, and flips.
*The screens on this page are from the Arcade version.
[From Jan. 91 issue]
Are SG games being withdrawn?
"Strider Hiryu", which was announced as exclusive software simultaneously with the announcement of the SuperGrafx, has been changed into a PC-Engine/SG bi-compatible format. This is probably good news for PC-Engine users, but something to stop the hearts of SGX users. With this announcement, the lineup of games developed for the SGX by NEC Avenue has been ended. ['nakunaru' can mean 'lost' or 'died/dead']
But of course, the SuperGrafx will still be supported in a dual-format game, maintaining high-quality play. Incidentally, "Strider Hiryu" is one of the few HuCard games scheduled to have 8 Megabits.
*The screenshot on this page is from the Arcade version of "Strider Hiryu". It has become bi-compatible.
[From Sept. 91 issue]
PC-Engine/SG bi-compatible format (tentative)
"Strider Hiryu" has many fans by virtue of its stylish action and tempo. The charm of this game is in the fine motion of the hero Hiryu. The PC-Engine version will be a full conversion from the arcades, although the characters [have] become somewhat smaller. Moreover, on the SG, flickering decreases compared with the PC-Engine. The demonstration scenes after a stage is cleared are also due to be reproduced as-is. Since development is liable to be delayed, the release will probably be pushed to next year.
Development status is at 20%.
^ Hiryu faces a gorilla robot. [He's not as tough as he looks!] or [He's no pushover!] (Dictionaries are no help.)
^ Stylish action with Hiryu atop various mechanisms. That is the charm of this game.
Here is what I make of it all:
Games magazines can't be trusted to keep their information straight, so let's take it all with a grain of salt.
They say the screenshots are from the arcade version, but all the shots (except the shot in the Sept. 91 pic with Mecha-Pon) are demonstrably NOT from the arcade. (Any version that I've seen, anyway.)
Strider was announced at the same time as the SGX's announcement in 1989 (I'll post a PCE software lineup from Jan. 1990 if anybody wants to see.) At any rate, NEC Avenue had a license for it and Daimakaimura, and began some sort of development on both titles. NEC Avenue released some pictures of Strider around Sept. 1990. I don't think the magazines saw it in action because the writer of the Sept. 1990 article was speculating on how feasible the conversion would be, and wrote his hopes for smooth, fast animation.
In January 1991, the shocking announcement is made that Strider will be a PCE/SG bi-compatible game, like Darius Plus was. This obviously shows NEC Ave's lack of confidence in the SGX, and thus the SGX-only version is killed off. You can put Jan. 1991 down on your calendars as the month that the SGX software market was killed off too. :-)
Then in Sept. 1991, Strider still stands at just 20% completed. The article writer describes how Strider will play differently when on a regular PC-Engine or on a SuperGrafx. This could be speculation (drawing from experience with Darius Plus), a first-hand witness, or (more likely?) quoting from NEC Avenue's press releases.
I'll keep looking through my PCE mags to see when NEC Ave officially took strider off their Hu-Card lineup.
This is getting even more far-fetched. These pics are from a PCE magazine, the game is written as being an 8M SGX Hu-Card, and is stated as being 20% completed... and you're speculating it's a cover for development on some other mystery system???
I guess the only thing to do is to translate the text from the magazines and see what they have to say.
Alright, alright, okay. I give up, I cave in, I cry uncle, etc. you win.
I had been in a very resistant mood as far as believing in the SuperGrafx Strider when I made those posts.
Sorry to dredge up an old topic, but Air Raid, NFG, et al were right: There's once again no proof that SGX Strider existed.
I just found some preview shots of Arcade Strider in an old Famicom mag from 1988, and they showed beta shots of the Arcade game. Subsequent PCE magazines used these AC beta shots as stock photos whenever they discussed SGX strider, and so this explains the unique gradients, etc, from the pics in the articles.
My opinion is that SGX Strider was toyed around with by artists/programmers at NEC Avenue, until they eventually said "fuck it" and subcontracted the job to Dice Creative for the CD-ROM rush job that would result.
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