#strike gunner

[oldgamemags]

Strike Runner ATG for the Super Nintendo!

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[everygameiveplayed]

Strike Gunner S.T.G. (SNES)

-Experience Level: Aprox 1 hour -First Played: Aprox. 1994 -Last Played: Aprox 1994

I was a Genesis kid so my earliest SNES memories come from playing other people’s systems. One that has always struck quite strongly with me was playing Strike Gunner with my older brother at the house of a man named Kasey, who lived a few houses down and for some reason was left in charge of us for a bit of time one afternoon. Because my brother was older, he of course was Player 1 (a red fighter jet) while I was Player 2 (the blue jet). Side note: From that day on, I have always associated red with Player 1 and blue with Player 2. I don’t remember anything being particularly outstanding about the game minus that you could combine the 2 jets together, which would create a brotherly bond that could only be forged on the battlefield. Ok, that was pretty lame in an Otakon kind of way, but that is how I felt at the time. Ever since I got my own Super Nintendo in the later 90’s I have kept an eye out for this title with the hopes of reliving the tiniest speck of that feeling, but alas, I guess it is not in the cards for now. 

[sevenights-blog]

[gavinfantastic]

Strike Gunner S.T.G. [SNES, 1992, US]

Apparently the STG stands for STrike Gunner, so I guess the full title of this game is Strike Gunner Strike Gunner.

Strike Gunner is a vertical arcade shooter by predominantly arcade oriented developer Athena. I think their most well known game might be Biometal for the SNES, but that might be stretching the definition of well known.

It makes me feel so old to see apocalypse themed games with advanced technology that take place in the past now. Although eight years of George W Bush was way worse than aliens invading and nearly destroying the world.

Hamfisted political references: 1

Is technical a higher rank than master? Apparently in the future-past, the military rank system has become rather arbitrary.

Strike Gunner is a pretty obscure vertical shooter that came out a few months after the SNES was released and got lost in the shuffle. Now it's mostly relegated to dirt mall bargain bins, which is a shame.

The best part of Strike Gunner is how many huge, awesome enemies there are to battle. It focuses more on huge enemy battles than a constant "bullet hell." Although it certainly has those moments.

Making it slightly different then most vertical shooters, Strike Gunner doesn't have multiple power ups given to you over the course of the level. Instead, before each stage, you can choose one of 15 different specialty weapons to use. You can use these weapons as long as you have the energy to do so, and you will have your energy refilled fairly often as well. The downside is that you can only use a particular weapon once, and then you can't use it again for the rest of the game. This gives it a thin layer of extra strategy.

There really aren't a lot of pithy comments that can be made during a vertical shooter. "More like HELL-o-copter, amirite!" I got nothing.

I just read an article about how pink is the totally the new tank camouflage.

The graphics are actually quite nice considering how soon after the SNES' launch Strike Gunner came out. The music, however, is more repetitive than a Republican trying to explain their economic plan.

Hamfisted political references: 2

I didn't get to try the two-player mode, but apparently there is a way to fuse both your ships together to cause extra damage. I don't know if you have to do a silly dance first or not.

One of the most impressive parts of the game is how well done the stage transitions are. In Strike Gunner, you fight your alien foes from the jungles to the moon, and each stage subtlety changes as you get closer to the next.

Since this is a shoot-em-up, you single-handily destroy more of the space program than Republicans trying to find ways to give more money to the rich.

Hamfisted political references: 3

I hate when I want to make a pun and can't think of it. I was going to say that this is probably what that satellite that the one televanglist dude had all his moronic followers send him money for instead of doing something actually helpful with it probably looks like, but I can't think of that dudes name for the life of me. Damn it.

The difficulty isn't too bad for most of the game, but it ramps up significantly when you reach the end. It could have been harder too, the final boss takes about four days of shooting to beat and that's AFTER they weakened it from the arcade version.

For some reason though, after you get to the moon everything starts to look sort of like vaginas. Not even in a vague Freudian way either.

See, it's either a vagina or Figrin D'an.

By your command.

The most difficult part of the game rivals even the Battletoads racing level. Having to maneuver through the alien mothership's corridors, where literally every single thing can kill you and most are indistinguishable from the background, at a speed much faster than the rest of the actually relatively slow scrolling game is nearly impossible, and sort of cheap.

They really don't like vaginas.

Strike Gunner has one of the most abrupt and dissatisfying endings of any game I've played, even for a vertical scroller. Still, while it has it's weak points, Strike Gunner is a very good shooter, and one that flew (lolzzzz) under the radar. It's not on the same level as the more elite shoot-em-ups that would grace the consoles, but it is definitely worth a playthrough for its ridiculously huge enemies and steep difficulty.

Even though it is apparently only worth one pound sterling.

7.9/10

[shesalandslide-blog]

One of the best games ever!