Ludography
72/100
Players7 ratings
Run Saber cover

1993 · GameFAQs · Action · Adventure

Run Saber

Nintendo exclusive

Run Saber is a 1993 side-scrolling action game developed by Horisoft and published by Atlus for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released in North America on June 8, 1993, and in Europe in 1993. Run Saber features side-scrolling fighting as the two main heroes, Allen and Sheena, the Run Sabers, fight to save the planet. The gameplay is very similar to Strider.

Released
1993
Platforms
SNES
Genres
ActionAdventurePlatformerScienceStrategy
Developers
GameFAQs
Publishers
—
Modes
MultiplayerSingle-player
Perspective
Side view
Themes
ActionScience fictionHistorical
Country
Japan
Time to beat
1hwith extras

About

Run Saber is a side-scrolling action game developed by Horisoft and published by Atlus for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released in North America on June 8, 1993, and in Europe in 1993. Run Saber features side-scrolling fighting as the two main heroes, Allen and Sheena, the Run Sabers, fight to save the planet. The gameplay is similar to Strider, Valis and some elements of Psycho Dream.

Run Saber was not released in Japan, despite being developed by a mostly-Japanese team.

›Story

Years into the future after Earth has been overly polluted and resources are running low, a scientist quickly comes up with a solution: a new chemical that will reverse the effects of pollution. As colonists settle in space to avoid the pollution, the newfound chemical is quickly launched in a missile into the atmosphere where it explodes and releases the chemical. However, the chemical begins to horribly mutate any and all humans infected with it. The scientist knew the effects of his chemical and uses the mutated people as his soldiers to rule the Earth.

Mankind's only hope is a new weapon known as Project Saber, three human cyborgs that are genetically enhanced to a super natural level. Kurtz, the first Saber, malfunctions and escapes to Earth before the project is complete. The remaining Sabers, Allen and Sheena, are dispatched to eliminate the scientist and his militant mutant threat, and to neutralize Kurtz if possible.

Keywords

  • medieval
  • ninja
  • robots
  • cyborg
  • bink video

Media

Run Saber screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

After choosing either the male character, Allen, or the female character, Sheena, the player is sent to five different levels around a fantastical Earth. Sheena has an ice affinity, while Allen has a lightning one. A third Saber, Kurtz, is aligned with fire, and is an enemy the player must fight several times.

The players can use a slash attack (the standard attack) which Allen does forward and Sheena upward, use a mid-air kick, or use the Hyper Bomb (special pick up item). The players can also climb up and down walls and hang onto the ceiling. There is a power jump similar to the Screw Attack of Super Metroid.

Story

Years into the future after Earth has been overly polluted and resources are running low, a scientist quickly comes up with a solution: a new chemical that will reverse the effects of pollution. As colonists settle in space to avoid the pollution, the newfound chemical is quickly launched in a missile into the atmosphere where it explodes and releases the chemical, which begins to horribly mutate any and all humans infected with it. The scientist knew the effects of his chemical and uses the mutated people as his soldiers to rule the Earth.

Humanity's only hope is a new weapon known as Project Saber, three cyborgs that are genetically enhanced to supernatural levels. Kurtz, the first Saber, malfunctions and escapes to Earth before the project is complete. The remaining Sabers, Allen and Sheena, are dispatched to eliminate the scientist and his militant mutant threat, and to neutralize Kurtz if possible.

Development

Originally, the boss at the end of the Tong City level was supposed to be a woman lying on her side, but Nintendo felt that this violated their content guidelines as they did not want to depict or reference violence against women on their hardware, so the woman was changed into a dead woman and was approved.

Reception

Run Saber received average reviews.

Initial reviewers compared Run Saber to the Capcom arcade game Strider, noting that this is the only "Strider-style" game on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
SNES8 June 1993North America

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Publishers

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