Fast Striker

Fast Striker is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game in which the player take control of a space fighter craft through six increasingly difficult stages in order to defeat an assortment of enemy forces and bosses.

At the start, there are three difficulty modes to choose from (Novice, Original and Maniac), each one hosting unique scoring systems. In Novice mode, the enemies' color palette are altered to make them more visible and the player collects golden stars to gain points. In Original mode, the ship has a shield that can be activated for a brief protection time period against incoming enemy bullets and holding the down the spread fire button will also perform a short burst of rockets. Maniac mode introduces new strategies to obtain higher scores and the player can activate "Grind Mode" by concentrating the ship's laser on a large enemy, turning green and destroyed enemies will give high scores.

Fast Striker was developed by NG:Dev.Team in conjunction with HUCAST's DUX over the course of six years as their second project, after the brothers René and Timm Hellwig founded the company and development of Last Hope was completed, though René stated they considered game development as a hobby at the time. In various interviews, René stated that the team went with a different approach to the project, focusing on fast-paced reflex action and emphasis on an elaborate scoring system when compared Last Hope, which was more bulky and required players to memorize the level.

The team developed Fast Striker using a Neo Geo development kit and also took more time to test the game, with German shooter communities Triggerzone and Daddelking participating in the game's beta testing phase. Twinkle Star Sprites designer Yoshiyasu Matsushita also tested and liked the title, giving the team advices to improve the project. René claimed that the team also got quality approval from SNK Playmore for their project but did not get a license due to complications with reviving the Neo Geo platform. The title employs computer-generated imagery for stages, runs at 60 frames per second and displays up to 180 simultaneous enemy bullets on-screen.

Fast Striker received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator site Metacritic, but according to NG:Dev.Team co-founder Timm Hellwig, sales of the game only totaled to 60% of Last Hope before it. ReVival's Cyril Denis called it an "excellent" shoot 'em up game. Carlos Oliveiros of Spanish magazine GamesTribune praised the art design, techno soundtrack, enemy variety and adjustable difficulty but criticized the Dreamcast conversion for being a straightforward adaptation of the Neo Geo MVS original, monocromatic stage visuals and lack of a two-player mode. Retro Gamer's Darran Jones and Stuart Hunt commended its fast-paced action, attack formations, bosses, intricate bullet patterns, music, mechanics and scoring system.

Jeuxvideo.com's Dominique Cavallo criticized the graphics for being unpleasant, techno soundtrack and overall length, but praised the scoring mechanics, gameplay and adjustable difficulty levels that alters each playthrough. MAN!AC's Matthias Schmid commended the Dreamcast version for running at a consistent framerate, the addition of "Omake" mode from revision 1.5, thought-out scoring system and soundtrack but criticized the visuals and stages for their monotonous colors and abundance of bullets during gameplay. Likewise, Spanish publication RetroManiac commended NG:Dev.Team for balancing their game to cater to a wider audience, praising the scoring system, visual presentation, speed and music, and called Fast Striker a pretty remarkable shooter.