Original: Arcade · 1989
One 1989 arcade game produced both a Mega Drive conversion that won Game of the Year and a set of home computer versions so different they spawned a sequel Capcom had nothing to do with.
Capcom's Strider ran on CPS-1 hardware and was, in 1989, about as much spectacle as an arcade board could produce: vast articulated bosses, scenery that tilted and collapsed underfoot, and a protagonist who could climb almost any surface. Its home versions split into two entirely separate lineages that share little beyond a title. The first was Sega's. Strider for the Mega Drive shipped in Japan on 29 September 1990, advertised as one of the system's first 8-megabit cartridges, and the size showed: it kept the scale of the arcade set pieces at a fidelity nothing else on the console was attempting, and took Game of the Year and Best Graphics in a Video Game from Electronic Gaming Monthly for 1990. The second lineage belonged to U.S. Gold, which had Tiertex produce conversions for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, PC and ZX Spectrum in 1989. These were built without access to Capcom's material and diverge so far from the coin-op in level design and structure that they read as a different game; the same assets were reused for a Master System release in 1992. Tiertex then wrote a sequel of its own, Strider II, with no Capcom involvement, which reached the Mega Drive as Journey from Darkness: Strider Returns. The versions closest to the original stayed in Japan. The Sharp X68000 conversion of 1992 is very nearly arcade-perfect for a structural reason: the X68000's hardware is closely related to the CPS-1 board the game was written for. The PC Engine version, first announced as a SuperGrafx HuCard in 1990, went through several format changes before appearing in September 1994 as an Arcade Card CD-ROM release with animated cutscenes, a Red Book soundtrack and an optional bonus desert stage.
Sega's own conversion, advertised as one of the first 8-megabit cartridges on the system, and the reason the Mega Drive spent 1990 with a reputation for arcade fidelity. It preserved the scale of the set pieces rather than shrinking them, and took Electronic Gaming Monthly's Game of the Year and Best Graphics awards for 1990.
Near-perfect, for a structural reason rather than an heroic one: the X68000's hardware is closely related to the CPS-1 board Strider was written for, so the conversion had far less to fight. It never left Japan, since the X68000 had no Western counterpart.
Announced as a SuperGrafx HuCard in 1990 and repeatedly reformatted before arriving in September 1994 as an Arcade Card CD-ROM release. It plays close to the coin-op and adds material the arcade never had: animated cutscenes, a Red Book arranged soundtrack, and an optional bonus desert mission between the first two stages.
One of the Tiertex conversions published by U.S. Gold, produced without access to Capcom's material. Beyond the hardware's obvious limits, the level design and structure diverge so far from the arcade game that the result is better understood as a different title wearing the same name.
Built by Tiertex three years later by reusing the assets from its own Amiga version, which means it inherits the home computer lineage's problems rather than the arcade game's design. It shares a console manufacturer with the excellent Mega Drive port and almost nothing else.