Home renovations: Strider & Willow | Metroidvania Works 19
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- Опубликовано: 18 июл 2023
- Two Capcom titles this week-one platformer in the platonic form of the metroidvania, the other a pure action RPG. However, both games share one thing in common: Both bring coin-op titles to NES, and both ignore pretty much all of their original arcade counterparts' content in favor of bringing home consumers bigger, chewier, more time-consuming adventures.
The two roads diverge from there, however. Willow takes the path less traveled by being peak NES action RPG-one of the finest on the system-while Strider feels decidedly, well, janky, like so many other ambitious-but-disastrous NES releases. Although you really didn't see a lot of those high-minded hot messes from Capcom back in the day, so maybe THAT is the road less traveled.
Anyway, I think we can agree that Robert Frost would have enjoyed Willow's inventive stroll through the woods far more than Strider Hiryu's awkward bungle through the jungle.
Production notes:
Video Works is funded via Patreon ( / gamespite ) - support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its RUclips debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more!
Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (limitedrungames.com/collectio...! Look forward to SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I in August and Metroidvania: The First Decade in 2024.
NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with xRGB Mini Framemeister. 
Игры
I do wonder if Nintendo remembered Capcom's work on Willow when they had them do a couple Zelda games down the line.
I always wondered why they decided to go for them, yes they did an amazing job, but I didn't know where that experience could've come from..!
Happy to see two Harumi Fujita soundtracks on the same episode. Her music is the primary reason I love Strider, despite it holding together by string and duct tape. Fujita's peer Junko Tamiya wrote the music from the arcade version of Strider, and I don't believe any themes were carried over; however, when the reverse situation happened with Bionic Commando (Fujita arcade, Tamiya NES), many of the iconic themes did make that translation.
Read an interview with Fujita about how when she found out the Famicom release of Strider was cancelled, but it was still getting released Internationally and all she could think was the game was being sent to die.
"In practice, good luck." Sounds like my experience walljumping in Super Metroid.
I *finally* mastered the Super Metroid wall jump in 2020, on the Super NES Classic. Apparently, the secret is to REMOVE YOUR THUMB FROM THE D-PAD, before jumping away from the wall.
I can't imagine why a 16-bit Nintendo published game would have clumsier wall jump controls than third-party NES games like Ninja Gaiden or Batman.
I slapped together a short RUclips video, explaining how I managed to master the jump. Because I hope no one else has go through what I went through!
Aside from some grapple beam pain-in-the-assery, that was the only real flaw I ever found in that game, which I found to be otherwise perfect. Fortunately, the wall jump wasn’t mandatory for progress.
@@rootbeer_666 Yup. I beat Super Metroid 3 times in 25 years, before I mastered the wall jump in 2020. Now a bunch of speedruns seem possible!
@@tcbvgames Both Strider and Super Metroid have a blink-and-you'll-miss-it tell in their wall-jump controls. In Metroid, Samus takes a stance when you let go of the D-pad, as you said. Then you press jump.
In Strider, Hiryu starts to slip down the wall as you lean towards it. As soon as that motion starts, you press away from the wall and jump at the same time.
@@rootbeer_666 True, but it is distressingly easy to soft lock yourself with the save room before the little critters.
I really enjoyed Willow back in the day. I can still hear the village music in my head. And the wind blowing the grass when enemies appeared was awesome!
I remember spending a ton of time in a cave, grinding up swords to increase their swing speed. Actually beat it as a kid.
I'm surprised you didn't mention one of the more famous things about Willow: it has virtually nothing to do with the movie it's adapting outside of a few character cameos, and the prevalent theory is that it started out as an almost-finished original property that had the license hurriedly incorporated at the last minute for whatever reason. But nobody's found confirmation either way.
Despite the jank, I still really enjoyed NES Strider as a kid -- even more than Genesis Strider, which my brother owned at the time. Genesis Strider certainly played a hell of a lot better, and I enjoyed it a great deal as well, but there was a real sense of exploration in the NES Strider that I felt like the Genesis game lacked, and that... was enough for me to play the ever-loving HELL out of it. Like, I didn't just beat Strider NES once, I beat it like, 20 times, finding shortcuts and exploits, drawing fan comics about it, etc.
I recognized the jank -- it's impossible not to, as the game really is like a jalopy that barely holds itself together. But it had the bones of a good game, and that alone interested me enough to really capture my imagination and keep me playing, again and again.
I'm so glad Strider 2014 took as much from NES Strider as it did from the arcade/Genesis Strider, as it really was a better game for it -- it was like the game the NES version was TRYING to be, finally realized.
Fun fact about Strider NES: a few years back, an unreleased Japanese version of the game was found, dumped, and shared on the internet. In it, there's some extra text that appears during the intro that at first seemed a bit odd... until I realized, holy crap, it's SONG LYRICS. The intro to Strider NES actually has official vocals, and they're as cheesy as you could ever ask for. It's really a shame those were discarded for the NES version (or not added yet, perhaps?), as they definitely add to the game's jank factor in an incredibly charming and fun way.
If you search my channel, you can see me attempt to sing the lyrics... very badly. Check it out, if you dare! ;)
I think the fan Strider wiki has more information about that! The Famicom version was also supposed to release with an audio cassete, supposedly containing arranged versions of the in-game music
@@RaposaCadela AFAIK, that audio cassette did actually get released on its own, too, though in very limited quantities -- it's become lost media, of a sort, as there are allegedly copies out there, but nobody's quite sure where.
@@Wyrdwad Eyyyy you've done your research!! I've always wanted to know what's in those tapes
Well said, I have the exact same (somewhat) irrational fondness for this game
@@martynau5089 I heard someone say once, something amongst the lines of, "there's no such a thing as a bad or good game, just more or less entertaining depending on who you are"
These are 2 games that I have very strong memories of! With Strider I rented it twice, the first time I was completely lost in what to do after a little while but I was drawn in by how glitchy the game was. The 2nd rental went much better.
With Willow I distinctly remember renting it the weekend of June 16th 1990. I didn't get to play the game as much I had wanted to as in town we had severe flash flooding of a local creek (that's normally the size of a small river normally) that basically split the city I still live at in half for about 24 hours. My family got stuck on the opposite side of town that Saturday morning and couldn't get back home until late that day. On YT there's a video called "KWQC-NBC 6 - Flood of Support - June 1990" that explains the whole ordeal when it happened. Multiple people drowned, houses were destroyed, multiple bridges were damaged or destroyed and all of the damage happened in just a few hours of time initially.
Willow for NES was one of the games of the era I regret having missed out on. Looks like a lot of fun.
But seriously, that Willow arcade game is AWESOME. It's too bad that, to my knowledge, it's never been rereleased anywhere.
loved renting Willow NES. Never even knew of the arcade version until years later.
Same here. Great game.
I loved the movie, and I would visit my corner store to play Willow, Double Dragon 2 and TMNT arcades. Good times. 😊
In Strider, those uh... "suck tubes" are a good design decision to allow you to get to a higher level without having to add a ladder.
I believe the canon explanation is that Hiryu spends the whole game invading a series of drive-thru tellers
I was completely unaware of the NES Willow game. It has some really gorgeous sprite-work (I genuinely didn't think that Willow sprite was from actual NES hardware at first), and after hearing your summation of the gameplay I really want to give it a shot now. Still discovering hidden gems to this day thanks to this channel. Keep up the great work, Jeremy!
Willow looks really impressive visually. It looks more like a PCE/TG16 game rather than NES.
Quick story: when I was a kid I was obsessed with the arcade version of Strider, but I didn't yet have a Sega Genesis so I got it on the Nintendo, and I totally fell in love with the game's RPG elements, even though it was obviously significantly different from the original. I ended up eventually getting the other version and loving it too, but for some reason, the concepts of the Nintendo version stayed with me, and I ended up drawing the characters from the Nintendo version over and over again in my school notebooks.
Good times.
Bro... just watching you attempt the triangle jump was extremely painful in this video :D
Willow's level requirements for certain weapon mastery immediately reminded me of Tombs & Treasure, except T&T literally was jut walking around the overworld map trying to figure out which building your next storyline quest was located without any combat 'action' at all.
I don't know why, but I loved Strider as a kid. Because, yeah, it's jank AF. Despite being able to play through the game start to finish in an hour or so, I NEVER fully mastered that horrible wall-jump. The excellent soundtrack definitely helped tho, and I also liked the globe-trotting nature of it. It felt kind of like a more "grown up" version of Duck Tales, in terms of structure.
I was just thinking that the level select console looks almost the same as the one in Duck Tales.
The one thing about Strider that was cool was the recaps when you loaded the game. Gave it a serial vibe. Can't think of any other game on the NES that did that.
Owned Strider and never beat it (god it gets so hard at the end!) and rented Willow like 6 times one summer...I don't know why I never just asked for it for Christmas or something because it was GREAT. The music and the bushes suddenly swaying in the wind when the dogs would attack is one of the most terrifying moments on the NES imo
It's kind of wild Strider and Willow were both released in 1989. Strider feels more like an 87 game, when Capcom was just starting to get their footing. Willow is a masterpiece from another era in comparison, with its gorgeous graphics and advanced animated backgrounds. It makes me wonder just how rough Strider's development really was.
Willow looks really interesting! I wonder why more folks don't talk about it these days.
Definitely a sleeper.
prob cause it's licensed. People tend to look past licensed games of yester year. I loved it as a kid, still do.
It's not too shabby. Rented it a few times as a little kid and finally went back and beat it earlier this year.
Willow looks like a lot of fun
Strider in the arcade and on Genesis set a standard for awesomeness back in the day. It's a shame none of that transferred to the NES. Still, despite the jank that made it so frustrating for me as a kid, the concepts the game tried to convey were really compelling to me back then. So much so that my friends and I would pretend to be Striders: teleporting across the world, battling with plasma swords, uncovering secret bases, breaking our comrades out of mind control and toppling traitors.
hey I got a red pfp too
The Kazak music frok NES Strider is a real favorite of mine
12:34 Why that bridge twerkin
Good vid. Willow was one of my favorites back in the old NES days
I have extremely vague memories of playing NES Strider as a kid. The only thing I remember is that I really liked how mysterious it felt. That is all I remember. I couldn't have been older than like 7 or 8.
I enjoyed Strider on the nintendo as a kid. I haven't played Double Helix version but it looks a lot like Strider 2 for Playstation (and the arcade), which was excellent! It actually used some of the MvC sprites.
The 2014 game is by far the best. The ps game was.. not bad but very slight.
@@pairofrooks Yes, it was pretty easy but for me that made it even more fun.
Come to think of it, when Strider came out for the NES, I had officially become a Capcom fan as they were already putting out really solid stuff.
I am loving this series! Also, I love that you made a reference to the 2014 Strider game!
In a strange coincidence, I had dinner with the producer of Strider 2014 last week, which was pretty cool.
Oh sweet! I hope that it was a good time!
I love that there are five Strider games and three of them are called Strider and the other two are called Strider 2.
I discovered last week, Capcom USA wanted to rebrand Strider as "The Falcon" in the West, even to the point it contains the falcon logo in the arcade code. Capcom Japan had to go out of their way to convince the US division to keep the original name.
Strider had so much potential, with the arcade game being fantastic, only for the NES game to fall so so short. Still that box art was awesome and I must have rented it a half dozen times as a kid just thinking I was missing on how to play it correctly. A remake/reboot could do wonders.
I like the idea Capcom had behind Strider. A multi-pronged multimedia event. A Manga that would tell one story, a nes game that would tell another and an arcade game that would tell another part. Also I feel the NES game was rushed or something. I would love a remaster of it. The metroidvania Strider that game out a few years ago is pretty good.
I'll have to give Willow a look, then. Nice to know it got a decent game.
I loved Strider on the NES. Much more than the arcade version.
I actually owned both of these back in the day -- this was 25% of my NES collection. I finished Willow but I could never get too far in Strider.
Purchased Strider sight unseen in 89 while visiting my aunt in the city. Kinda regretted it because within like two hours of putting it in the NES I had already finished it. Many nes games were way too hard, but this one was way too easy. It would have been a better rental.
Speaking of rentals.... I did rent Willow, only once or well... twice because back in the day rentals were 24 hours but I liked it so much I did the rare thing where I called the video store on a Sunday to tell them i'd rent it for an extra day. I don't know why, I mean I was a kid and i thought i guess they'd set the law on me if i didn't when in reality of course, they would have just charged an extra day once i brought it back. I have a very clear memory then of last playing this on a Monday morning before the bus came, when i had maybe a measly 20 minutes to play it, my mom urging me it was time to come down for breakfast. I'd got pretty far in it and was intent on trying to see if i could finish it before school and at least not waste my money (since I'd re-rented it on Sunday it meant i technically could keep it until 5pm but of course my parents brought it back when they went to work that morning)
The reason i never rented it again is because it wasn't available in my hometown. I'd rented it in the next town over and the only times i could really go there was if i was willing to follow my parents to work on a Saturday. They closed their business at like 1pm on Saturdays but it still meant losing my whole morning waiting there and I wasn't that keen on doing this. `Anyway i always kept a very fond memory of the game, i remember thinking it looked very good graphically. I would see the movie not that long after and it would become a late childhood fav. It's a shame what Disney did with the recent series...
In hindsight, wish I had bought Willow and rented Strider...
Willow was a surprisingly good game, for being both a movie tie-in and an early action rpg. I never did beat it as a kid, because of a maze-like area in the later mid of the game that stumped my younger self. Willow really doesn't seem like much when you start it, but it fairly quickly shows itself to be a quality title in spite of the villages and trails being very basic in their appearance.
The glitchiness of Strider NES has always reminded me of its Capcom cousin Trojan NES. They both produce the same sort of feeling of “is this game done?”
I enjoyed playing Strider as a kid but never got very far. I didn't enjoy Willow as a kid and also didn't get very far. I also had the same problems with Metroid and Zelda on NES. It wasn't until Zelda: Link to the Past on SNES that i really "got" more open-ended games and i credit that to the accurate and detailed overworld map that showed you where to go next. By the time Super Metroid came out, I was ready for it and it remains one of my all-time favorite games along with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ranking as possibly my favorite game ever.
I didnt know these games were arcade games when I was a kid. I played both of them and LOVED them! I guess I'm glad I didnt know. That way i wasnt disappointed by the console versions. Thanks Jeremy!
I liked the nes version of Strider as a kid. It felt more cinematic than many games of the time. I recall there was a load up screen that used to mention what the current objective in exciting spy-like was between play throughs and it did remind me of Bionic Commando which was a banger. But yes, that wall jump mechanic was terribly implemented.
I owned Strider for about 2 years before I learned about the triangle jump. Didn’t take me long to beat it once I learned about it though
Great episode. I couldn't hang with Willow NES as a kid. Weirdly the random battle sound and visuals were like jump scares to a tiny me. Rented it the once and never picked it up again.
Love this series so, so much. Can't wait to pick up the print edition next year!
Really excited to hear your take on strider
I love Strider on NES, I knew it was badly programmed and weird, but I never noticed how absolutely janky it is too! I think the content it has is great though, specially for an authentic NES game. A story with unusual themes, the metroidvania elements, global stages, cool designs, nice sprites, good music, and it felt like a brother to Bionic Commando NES. It may not be very good but it certainly caught my attention when I saw it, captivated me to beat it, research it, and still remember
NES Strider championed the cause of style over substance. The game was messy, but gorgeous, and inspired my young imagination for years and years afterward.
I adore both of these games. Except for one section of Willow, where you just have to grind for a long, long time to transform Fynn Razell.
I love Strider on the NES!! Strider in the arcade was awesome because nothing felt like that game at the time, it had such fluidity to it. No console at the time could replicate that feel. The SEGA Genesis version looks great, but feels way to stiff and nothing like the arcade. I wrote off the NES version of Strider for years. I thought there's no chance the NES could make a really good Strider game. Boy, was I wrong... It's a sleeper, not a lot of people know how fun this game is. CAPCOM was smart to go they're own way with this game.😊
I'm one of those weird people that love Strider on the NES, even over the arcade / Genesis version. Maybe it's because I bought / played the NES version first and I sort of had to like it so I didn't feel like I wasted my money, I don't know... Anyway, yes, the controls have definite problems, no arguments there. Once you "get" them, though, they're really not THAT bad and can be worked with. The game has good graphics, sound / soundtrack, and a decent enough story too. I still play through it at least once a year and it never bores me.
Same. I also liked Deadly Towers lmao
@@mjrleaguesweetie I played it years ago but I don't really remember much about it. I've seen plenty of bad reviews but I always like to try a game for myself to be sure.
Count me in too as both a Strider and Deadly Towers enjoyer.
I often blame the fact that the first two games on NES my family had were Mickey Mousecapades and Deadly Towers as why my tastes in games is so odd. XD
@@ajpiskel Haha, yeah in those days you had to learn to like games even if they weren't the best. Not like today when everything is at your fingertips and you get to try before you buy.
@@low_e_music Exactly, exactly! Having to convince yourself a game is good because it's the only thing you have to play and you put a million hours into it. We certainly got good at these questionable games! XD
I feel like I remember having a stiffy for strider as a kid. Never bought it but I know I rented it more than once. Even back then I loved metroidvania games with rpg aspects,
Please consult your doctor if you experience a stiffy for Strider that lasts longer than three hours.
Willow had such a great OST too.
GJ Capcom, plz make a new MMX game now
Broken that it may be, I still really enjoy Strider for what it is. Definitely would have been more enjoyable if we got the manga as well.
DMCC BCGP CPOD. That’s the password to reach the Red Dragon in Strider. Not sure why, as it didn’t have a _huge_ impact on me, but that password will forever be ingrained in my memory.
Strider really could have been great, it had a pretty solid concept, but it was just loaded to the gills with jank and the story translation needed more than just elbow grease for a polish, more like an orbital grinder. I haven’t checked out the follow-up that you mention, but I should. I wish Capcom had tried to put more effort into their NES version of Strider, it would have been great to see Strider Hiryu in more places over the last thirty years.
My favorite thing about Strider is that it can be trivially beaten by a new player by just wiggling next to a few walls in the right way because the movement is so bad
Is it possible for an old player to utilize this glitch?
I loved NES strider as a kid. Even then, I knew it was really janky, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I should revisit it, but know that it will probably diminish the memories. And I remember the triangle jumping being terrible at the time, so that will probably be a point to put the game down again.
Strider NES is the Platonic ideal of Jank.
good morning Jeremy
I was lucky to being able to try Willow quite a few years ago and I loved it. It really is a game worth trying.
The glitchiness of Strider always made me want to stop playing whenever I forced myself to play it. It's a very disappointing thing, because it really tried to offer something different than the Arcade or Mega Drive games, but it came out half done...
Willow is great. 😀👍🎮
You can power up the cipher in Japan so you can shoot plasma bolts
Bionic Commando is in this same category.
I believe Nintendo said to their partners that they had to make sure their arcade games are different.
That's some pretty rough looking gameplay on capcom's part for strider
I always wondered if Strider was named after the goofy awkward pose and animation as he strides forward.
I'm probably wrong but I think Striders are mercenaries/ assassins in the game's universe. The characters' name is Hiryu.
Strider? I hardly know 'er!
Man, I am seeing a LOT of love for Strider in this comment section which I did NOT anticipate! I played both games through emulation and I had WAY more fun with the Mega Drive game, so now I'm wondering if this is some kind of cultural thing? Or is it just that you had to be there at that tile and play it? Because I mostly just felt frustrated with the jank controls, and didn't find much fun in the search action / metroidvania elements.
Willow on the other hand I heard a lot of good stuff off from magazines and such, and now it seems it was a shame I never even played it back when I was heavily into emulation- sounds like it could've been really fun, solid Zelda-like title.
Big fan of both of these in the arcade. Home port of Strider has grown on me over the years; I like the exploration, but the boss battles themselves are meh. Willow, I was a fan of the get go. When the Sega Genesis started to get some of the Capcom CPS 1 arcade ports... I was really hoping Willow was gonna follow soon. Alas, no Genesis port.
Personally i was hurt as a little kid buying Strider Willow and Bionic Commando and these games was absolutely NOTHING like what i played in my local acades lmao.
The NES made Willow a freeloader.
strider I do remember at least renting on NES... yeah definitely doesn't compare to the arcade original. also picked up strider 2014 on PC although the game randomly crashes at the boss battle I'm currently on so unlikely I'll ever see the end! willow I never did get around to, perhaps I may have to fix that soon.
Huh. Willow's weapon system reminds me of Dark Souls.. a lot.
Nintendo had a policy that games could not be direct ports of the arcade games.. for some reason.
I love Strider on the NES, but I knew nothing of the original. Strider (NES) could have been much better.
We need to implement a triangle.jump.mechanic into.strider on nes.
Okay ill get the guys who.programmed hadokens on arcade street fighter
I was surprised that Willow turned out to be the better game of the two but maybe I shouldn't have been since Willow got good Nintendo Power coverage and Strider did not. Too bad that I don't see Willow getting a re-release, I'd love to try to play it.
Digital Eclipse's Frank Cifaldi once tweeted something to the effect of "If there's a classic 8 bit or 16 bit game or collection you'd like us to do, odds are we've already pitched it to the rights-holders."
At least the original Willow cartridge is cheap.
Emulatiooooooon...
87% of all games ever released are not commercially available nor will they be. You have two options and only one of them will preserve them long after you’ve kicked the bucket.
@@officegossip Yes, I realize piracy will preserve this video games but piracy is not a solution that is practical to the general public. So 87% of video games are in essence memory holed, and not in a condition that the majority of the public can easily and legally play them.
What’s the source of the Strider footage at 4:42? It looks like the arcade game but I don’t recall that section.
I don't know how I'd feel today, but at the time of release I felt NES Strider was a better and certainly more interesting game than NES Willow. Everyone played and talked about Strider, while no one bothered with Willow.
If you're interested in showing the Game Gear some love in this series, please consider Tail's Adventure.
Great job, Jeremy. Strider always seemed glitchy and lacking the fluid style of Capcoms best. I wanted to be a decent sci fi Castlevania, so I bought it, lost interest in it almost immediately. Willow looks fun.
The gyrating background tiles in Willow look nauseating. Like maybe they looked great on a CRT but I don't think I'll be giving it a playthrough on modern tech.
judging by the comments it sounds like strider was much more popular despite its inferiority. i guess it comes down to the usual "western kids thought he looked cooler" thing
I've said it before and I will say it again, as bad as PAL games were as a format, at least we were spared most of the shitty US games that bombed there.
Willow for NES is such an understimated game. For me it was Zelda II as I imagined the game will be (I had nothing against the Adevnture of Link, is a good game and I owned it, but it could have been far better).
I really like Strider, but it might be the least polished and possibly the least finished Capcom NES title. It occasionally approaches Sonic 06 territory in how janky it is on a technical level. Too bad the game was evidently rushed to market, most likely so that its release could coincide with that of the manga's, and the stupidest part is that it ended up never releasing in Japan despite an almost-complete prototype having been made.
SEGA does what Ninten-don't when it comes to Strider. 😅
Strider is a game that is mostly good but ass at the same time to me. The triangle jump is the ass part, the game would be a lot better if it actually functioned reliably, but because of that it is arguably the worst nes Capcom game. Anyone who has played the game would know what I’m talking about. Willow is fantastic though! Definitely a very good Zelda style game with some very good graphics.
Yeah, Willow is not a metroidvania.
No shit.
Strider NES is so sloppy, the game can be completed in about 3 minutes thanks to glitching through walls. A GDQ speedrunner once trained a total novice to beat the game in one sitting.
Amazing...