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Your mission, Hirya Strider, is to infiltrate the Russian Red Army and learn as much as you can. Needless to say, you're soon in conflict with the Soviets. Level one takes place in Moscow with automated guns, troops and laser rooms to beat. Later levels including the icy wastelands of Siberia with robot gorilla, southern lowlands patrolled by Amazon women and lots more. Your only weapons are a flashing titanium sword and, when you pick it up, an orbiting droid.

Splashing awards for the Amiga game over the C64 packaging is, to say the least, misleading. Many companies do it, but with Amiga Strider winning so many this is a particularly bad example. The C64 game isn't awful, but it certainly isn't a Gold Medal winner either.

Graphics are quite attractive, while the great music has been faithfully recreated, but playability is poor. Despite twice as many lives, and half as many villains, the game is much tougher. The toughest baddie is undoubtedly the time limit, which is frustratingly tight. Avid arcade fans might find it barely acceptable, others probably won't.

C64 Strider lacks many of the Amiga game's villains. The spectacular confrontation at the end of level one is completely missing, while robot guns must now be dodged (rather than shot), your droid no longer fires bullets, and the time limits are frustratingly stricter.

It's not even a case of "it couldn't be done on the C64" - this is simply a mishmash of bits and pieces ported across from the 16-bit versions with no effort to make them into a playable game.

Presentation 50%
Misleading packaging, awful cover art and no inter-level scenario screens.

Graphics 56%
Detailed but blandly coloured sprites, mediocre backgrounds.

Sound 63%
A rousing theme but poor FX.

Hookability 51%
High difficulty level does not make a good impression...

Lastability 38%
...persistence gets you further, but it's not all that enjoyable.

Overall 42%
A pallid shadow of the real thing.