Ludography
Night Striker cover

1989 · Taito · Arcade · Shoot 'em up

Night Striker

Night Striker (ナイトストライカー) is an arcade game developed by Taito. It is a futuristic on-the-rails shooter which plays similarly to Sega's Space Harrier, though has you pilot a hover vehicle instead.

Released
1 October 1989
Platforms
ArcadePlayStationSega CDSega Saturn
Genres
ArcadeShoot 'em upShooter
Developers
Taito
Publishers
Taito
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Third person
Themes
Science fiction
Country
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Composers
Zuntata

About

Night Striker (ナイトストライカー, Naito Sutoraikā) is a 1989 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for the Taito Z System. In the game, the player flies an armoured car shooting enemy invaders to destroy a terrorist organisation. Night Striker combines gameplay elements of Sega's Space Harrier and Out Run. Versions were released for the Sega Mega-CD in 1993, Sony PlayStation in 1995, and Sega Saturn (as Night Striker S) in 1996.

A version was released on the Taito Memories II Gekan compilation for the PlayStation 2 in 2007. Night Striker received mixed reviews, and the Mega-CD version in particular was heavily criticized, primarily due to poor graphics. The music was composed by Taito's Zuntata sound team, and has been released separately.

Keywords

  • on-rails

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player controls the car and shoots enemies encountered during the stage. Enemies and bosses include helicopters, aeroplanes, lorries, robotic spiders, and boulders. The car can be manoeuvred in a similar manner to Space Harrier and can be moved around the screen. There are 21 stages, although the player only needs to complete six to complete the game.

Stages' themes include, factories, tunnels, and city themes such as centres, suburbs, and streets. Certain stages contain obstacles such as barriers which must be manoeuvred around. At the end of each stage, there is a boss, and after its defeat, the player is presented with a choice of route, like Out Run. The car's "armour" refers to its shield capability; the car can absorb a certain number of hits before being destroyed.

Story

The game is set in a futuristic city in 2049. A terrorist organisation has kidnapped Doctor Masker Lindberry and his daughter. The United Nations Special Service Agency has dispatched their agents to investigate, but to no avail. Its leader is leading a task force (code named Night Striker) using armoured vehicles to rescue them and destroy the organisation.

Reception

Night Striker received mixed reviews. The Mega CD version suffers from poor graphics quality, as noted by reviewers. Mean Machines Sega noted that the graphics are "stupendously bad", and the sprites are "totally unrecognisable". Sega Power complained about the blocky sprites and lack of introduction and animated sequences, and also described the game as "unoriginal".

The Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine gave a mediocre review. Neil West of Mega was especially negative: he criticized the graphics, saying the sprites, along with the flicker and "blocky" explosions, cause "a nightmarish mess of colour". He further condemned the lack of originality and challenge, and described the gameplay as "a shambolic travesty of modern entertainment". He described Night Striker as a "load of crap" and recommended that players "avoid this at all costs".

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Releases by platform
PlatformReleasedRegions
Arcade1 October 1989Japan

Title IDsone per regional release, with its latest update

Title ids and disc serials by release
PlatformTitle IDRegionLatest update
PlayStationSLPS-00050Japan—
Sega CDGD0010JTJapan / Korea—
T-11014Japan / Korea—

Editions and related releases

Included in
Taito Memories II GekanOperation Night Strikers
Ported as
Night Striker
Built on it
Night Striker

Games like this

Collections4 collections

Platform libraries

Years

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.