Major Stryker

Last updated
Major Stryker
Major Stryker Floppy Cover.jpg
Cover art
Developer(s) Apogee Software
Publisher(s) Apogee Software
Producer(s) George Broussard
Designer(s) Allen H. Blum III
Programmer(s) Allen H. Blum III
Writer(s) Scott Miller
Composer(s) Robert Prince
Platform(s) DOS
ReleaseJanuary 15, 1993
Genre(s) Scrolling shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Major Stryker is a 2D vertically scrolling shooter video game written for DOS by Apogee Software. Its working title was "Strike Force" and was released in January 1993. [1] It consists of three episodes, with the first episode distributed as shareware, and the rest available commercially. The three episodes are set on a Lava Planet, an Arctic Planet and a Desert Planet. The game was re-released as freeware on March 14, 2006, and on Steam with support for Microsoft Windows and macOS in 2014.

Contents

Plot

After a third world war, ending with only eight years of peace, Earth is attacked by the alien Kretons. Major Harrison Stryker, a World War III veteran, goes on a mission to wipe out the Kreton military installations on the three elemental planets within their galaxy. The only named characters are the eponymous hero and Fleet Admiral Yoshira, an attractive, often flirtatious woman who briefs Stryker between missions.

Gameplay

Screenshot Major Stryker.gif
Screenshot

There are three difficulty levels, which have drastically different levels of powerups, enemies, and enemy fire. Because of the greater number of enemies, much higher scores are possible on the harder difficulty levels.

At regular intervals, Stryker's allies deliver numbered boxes containing firepower upgrades, which affect the pattern and number of shots fired. A player with upgraded firepower is lowered to single shots upon being hit. A player with basic firepower instantly loses a life. Hitting a wall also loses a life regardless of firepower. Three different types of shields exist: two side shields that protect the jet left and right until it is damaged, two temporary small wave shields that rotate around the jet and a temporary invincibility orb shield.

Powerups can be obtained by wiping out an entire fleet of ships or destroying the shield of a shielded powerup. The six powerups appear as letters. B (Burst) increases the number of shots the player can have on screen. H (Hover) causes scrolling to halt for a few seconds. R (Rapid fire) temporarily allows the player to continuously fire by holding down the fire button, rather than tapping it as normal. M (Major Stryker) is an extra life. S (Speed) temporarily increases the speed of the ship. Z (Zap bomb) is a bomb; the player starts each life with three to five bombs (depending on the difficulty level) and can accumulate more. When used, bombs do two points of damage to everything on screen except hiding enemies, and cause all enemy fire on screen to disappear. H and S both have a double edged sword quality, demanding the player carefully consider when to pick them up; H releases a fleet of enemies on opposing sides of the screen, and S increases the jerkiness of the ship, making it impossible to maneuver or aim with precision.

At the end of each level, the player is awarded additional points on the percentages of enemies destroyed and hostages rescued, as well as point bonuses based on secret achievements. Hostages are rescued by ramming into the capsules they are contained in. The capsules are otherwise invincible, and can serve as obstacles blocking the player's fire.

Development

The game uses PC speaker and Sound Blaster audio. The AdLib music is similar in style to Bobby Prince's other songs. The EGA graphics have three layers of scrolling backgrounds ("triple-parallax scrolling"). [2]

Originally the game was going to include other Apogee characters including Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, and Snake Logan, but was scrapped in favor of a more original storyline. [3]

Related Research Articles

In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen by the player. Although often collected directly through touch, power-ups can sometimes only be gained by collecting several related items, such as the floating letters of the word 'EXTEND' in Bubble Bobble. Well known examples of power-ups that have entered popular culture include the power pellets from Pac-Man and the Super Mushroom from Super Mario Bros., which ranked first in UGO Networks' Top 11 Video Game Powerups.

<i>Tyrian</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Tyrian is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Eclipse Software for MS-DOS and published in 1995 by Epic MegaGames. Tyrian was programmed by Jason Emery, illustrated by Daniel Cook, and its music composed by Alexander Brandon and Andras Molnar. The game was re-released as freeware in 2004. A free and open-source port of the game started in April 2007.

<i>Cosmos Cosmic Adventure</i> 1992 video game

Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure: Forbidden Planet is a video game programmed by Todd Replogle and published by Apogee Software. It is a two-dimensional side-scrolling platform game. The game was released in mid March 1992 for MS-DOS compatible systems.

<i>Phalanx</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Phalanx is a 1991 horizontally scrolling shooter developed by ZOOM Inc. and Kemco for the Sharp X68000, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy Advance. The game was released for the X68000 in Japan in 1991, for the SNES in Japan on August 7, 1992, in North America in October 1992 and in the same year in Europe, as well as for the Game Boy Advance in Japan on October 26, 2001, in Europe on November 23, 2001 and in North America on December 27, 2001.

<i>Steel Empire</i> 1992 video game

Steel Empire is a horizontally scrolling shooter released on the Sega Genesis in 1992. Versions for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo 3DS were released in 2004 and 2014, respectively. The game is scheduled for release on the Nintendo Switch in 2023.

<i>Monster Bash</i> 1993 video game

Monster Bash is a side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Apogee Software on 9 April 1993 for DOS. The game features 16-color EGA graphics and IMF AdLib compatible music. It was developed by Frank Maddin and Gerald Lindsly.

<i>Raptor: Call of the Shadows</i> 1994 video game

Raptor: Call of the Shadows is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Cygnus Studios and published by Apogee Software. Its working title was "Mercenary 2029". It was released on April 1, 1994 for MS-DOS compatible systems. The first episode of the game, "Bravo Sector", was distributed as shareware. The other two episodes were sold commercially.

<i>Abadox</i> 1989 video game

Abadox: The Deadly Inner War is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System published in Japan in 1989 by Natsume and North America in 1990 by the Milton Bradley Company. It is a horizontally scrolling shooter in the vein of Gradius and R-Type taking place inside the intestinal tract of a giant alien organism. Abadox has a high difficulty, and it takes one hit from an enemy projectile to be killed and restart from a checkpoint passed before death.

<i>Bio Menace</i> 1993 video game

Bio Menace is a 1993 game developed and published by Apogee Software for MS-DOS. A 2D multidirectional scrolling platform game, it was built on a licensed version of id Software's Commander Keen game engine. Apart from the engine and music, all in-game content was created by the game's designer, Jim Norwood. In 2014, the game was re-released on Steam, and in 2015 on GOG.com with support for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.

<i>Curse</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Curse is a 1989 video game developed by Micronet for the Mega Drive video game console. It is a horizontally scrolling shooter with five levels. Although an American release was planned, it was never officially released outside Japan.

<i>Atomic Robo-Kid</i> 1988 video game

Atomic Robo-Kid (アトミック・ロボキッド) is a horizontally scrolling shooter released in arcades by UPL in 1988. In the US, the game was published by Nikom. The PC Engine version is an adaptation of the arcade original and published as Atomic Robo-Kid Special.

<i>TwinBee 3: Poko Poko Daimaō</i> 1989 video game

TwinBee 3: Poko Poko Daimaō is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up video game produced by Konami originally released for the Family Computer in 1989. It was the third game in the TwinBee series released for the Famicom, following the home version of the original TwinBee and the Famicom-exclusive Moero TwinBee. Unlike Moero, which was released in North America as Stinger, TwinBee 3 was a Japan-only release. It was re-released on April 14, 2006 as part of the i-Revo downloadable game service.

Shienryū (紫炎龍) is a vertical scrolling shooter created by Warashi for the arcade which was released in 1997, later followed by a Sega Saturn console release in 1997 and PlayStation release in 1999 (JP) and 2002 (US).

<i>Vindicators</i> (video game) 1988 video game

Vindicators is an arcade video game released by Atari Games in 1988. One or two players each control a tank in a multidirectional scrolling level. Home ports were by Tengen. Vindicators was not licensed by Nintendo and used an alternate chip to defeat the 10NES lockout system. Ports were planned for the Atari Lynx and Apple IIGS, with the latter even completed, but both were cancelled. Vindicators was followed by the lesser known arcade sequel, Vindicators Part II.

<i>Last Duel</i> (video game) 1988 video game

Last Duel: Inter Planet War 2012 is a vertically scrolling shooter released in arcades by Capcom in 1988. It was ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Zed Blade</i> 1994 video game

Zed Blade is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by NMK and originally published by SNK on September 13, 1994. It is the only game created by NMK for the Neo Geo arcade platform. In a science fiction setting, players choose one of three characters to attempt to overthrow an army of enemies led by the on-board supercomputer at the automated Yggdrasil space station and seize full control of it once again.

<i>Dariusburst</i> 2009 video game

Dariusburst is a horizontal scrolling shooter developed by Pyramid and published by Taito. Forming part of the Darius series, it was released for the PlayStation Portable on December 24, 2009. Like previous Darius games, Dariusburst is an offbeat sci-fi shooter set in outer space with aquatic-themed robotic enemies. In keeping with tradition, the game also features branching paths instead of the linear progression found in most games of the genre. There are a total of 11 zones in the game, with 5 stages per run.

<i>Genetos</i> 2007 video game

"GENETOS" is a freeware vertical shooter game or "shoot 'em up" developed and published by Tatsuya Koyama with an "evolution" theme. In GENETOS, the levels represent different generations in the evolution of shooting games.

<i>Gateworld</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Gateworld: The Home Planet is a platform game developed and published by Homebrew Software and released in 1993. This game was Homebrew Software's first software product. There are three episodes of 12 levels each, the first available as shareware.

<i>Terra Cresta II: Mandlers Counterattack</i> 1992 video game

Terra Cresta II: Mandler's Counterattack is a vertically scrolling shooter video game developed by Make Software and published by Nichibutsu for the PC Engine Console. It is the third installment to the Cresta series and a sequel to the 1985 Arcade Game Terra Cresta. It is only released on Japan on November 27, 1992.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.