Strider is an arcade hack and slash platform video game developed and published by Capcom.  The game debuted in arcades in 1989 and utilized the Capcom Play System (CPS) arcade system board that ran games from a removable daughterboard.  The CPS system board allowed Capcom to develop many arcade games using the same core chipset and simply switch out smaller daughterboards that held the game data.   Capcom released over 25 titles for the CPS between 1988 and 1995 with Strider being one of the first games to be created specifically for the CPS hardware.

The concept for the Strider series was conceived as part of a collaboration project between Capcom and manga studio Moto Kikaku.  Capcom and Moto Kikaku had a vision to create a story that could be told through the form of a manga and developed into a video game.  The collaboration which was originally conceived by Capcom involved the creation of three individual projects, a manga series, a Nintendo Entertainment System game based on the manga series and an original storyline arcade game.

Strider was first introduced in 1988 with the release of the manga series which was featured in the monthly magazine “Comic Comptiq”.  The manga was the debut of the Strider series and introduced the series protagonist, Hiryu, prior to the release of the immensely popular arcade game.  The manga was released in chapters and was included in Comic Comptiq monthly from May 1988 to October 1988.   The 6-chapter manga created a fanbase for the series leading up the 1989 arcade release.

While the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Strider closely follows the plot of the Manga series the arcade version had its own original plot.   The story of the arcade version takes place in 2048 in a dystopian society, where the evil dictator known as the “Grand Master Meio” is plotting to take over the universe.  Hiryu, the youngest member of an organization of high-tech ninja agents known as the “Striders”, is tasked with putting an end to the Grand Master Meio’s plan once and for all.