Strider II is a console-only sequel to the great Capcom arcade game of 1989. It was developed by British company Tiertex and published by U.S. Gold in 1990. A Sega Megadrive version followed later in 1992.

Strider II came out on all the major 8 and 16-bit home gaming platforms of the time, although it was never released for the Super Nintendo. Which – for my money – makes the Sega Megadrive/Genesis version the best. With the smoothest scrolling and fastest action.

Considering that Capcom didn’t have much of a hand in it, Strider II is not a bad game at all. In fact: it’s very playable and enjoyable. The main character – Hiryu – is pretty much the same as before. His iconic sword-sweeping action is still great to hack down baddies with.

Strider II was released in North American markets as Journey from Darkness: Strider Returns.

More: Strider II on Wikipedia