Stryker's Run

Stryker's Run is a 2D side-scrolling action game. The game is set during a futuristic war. The player takes the role of Commander John Stryker of the Allied Nations who has obtained plans of an attack by the enemy Volgans.

The objective of the game is to escape with the plans and reach the Allied headquarters. Stryker is armed with a laser pistol and grenades. He can also commandeer aircraft that can be used until the fuel runs out. The Volgans have a wide variety of weapons including rifles, pistols, grenades, machine guns, mortars, mines, helicopter gunships, rocket launchers and SAM missiles.

The game was originally developed and coded by Chris Roberts and Philip Meller on the BBC Micro with additional graphics by Nick Elms. As the game pushed the limits of the hardware, certain elements had to be left out of the standard version and Stryker's Run became the first game released to include an enhanced version for the newly released BBC Master. As well as extra in-game graphics, this version adds a title screen with music, a high score table, on-screen instructions and user-defined controls. The music, a version of the Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Rydeen", was created by Martin Galway.

The standard version could only fit in a plain screen with minimal text. The BBC Micro version of the game (also containing the Master enhanced version) was released by Superior Software in 1986 on cassette and floppy disk.

BBC Micro magazine A&B Computing said: "This game will impress you... the graphics are stunning... this should be in every collection".

Electron User, in a dual review for Stryker's Run and its sequel, gave a score of 10/10 but while they praised the "beautifully drawn" backdrops, it was noted that the "animation is a bit flickery at times". In their review of the Play It Again Sam compilation, they also stated that "the scenery is breathtaking and what it lacks in playability is made up for by sheer fun".

The game spawned a sequel, titled Codename: Droid - Stryker's Run part 2, which was released in 1987. This took place in a multi-level underground base with many added moves and features, and was considered by a GamesTM reviewer as an early example of what later became known as the Metroidvania genre. A third game was in development for the RiscPC in the mid 1990s but was never completed. A remake of the original game for Microsoft Windows by the original publishers has been in development since 2007 but has no set release date.