Research Facility

Research Facility
The Cloning Chamber
Vital Statistics
Location	Kazakh City, research area
Sub-Boss(es)	Brainwalker
Boss(es)	Xi Wang Mu, Gravitron, Mecha Pon
Stage progression
Previous stage	Military Headquarters
Next stage	Airship Balrog

The Research Facility (研究施設) is one of the locations in the 2014 Strider.

Story

Schlange's Research Lab

The largest district in Kazakh City, the Research Facility is a massive complex created by Grandmaster Meio and the heart of his army's scientific might. While most of the facility was created to carry out Meio's genetic research in order to create his "new race", it is also responsible for developing mechanical weapons and troopers for Meio's Army. The whole complex is overseen by Professor Schlange, who has merged himself with it through several cybernetic implants, and managed by a large number of researchers. The lab was also probably where the Gravitron was developed, and is where one of the two finalized models is found.

As the facility possess several key locations of high importance, it is not only protected by the strongest model of Troopers, but also by a formidable security system and several traps laid out all over its interior, making even a single mistake fatal. These traps include electric panels in floors and ceilings, complex laser projections and, most importantly, a large moving laser wall that bisects any intruder in its path.

Directed here by The Prisoner, Hiryu infiltrates the facility intent on destroying the second Gravitron, which he manages after overcoming all the obstacles and enemies in his path.

Experiments

Meio's perfect race in cryostasis

The Research Facility carries out two primary objectives. The first half of the complex is a production plant dedicated to the assembly and testing of the many variants of Light and Heavy Trooper units deployed across Kazakh City. The second area focuses in Grandmaster Meio's true goal: the creation of a "perfect" human race throughout extensive genetic research. The resulting human specimen are then cloned and stored in cryostasis tubes, which can be seen being organized all across the walls of the large cloning chamber and the cryopreservation chamber.

In addition to the two above, the Research Facility has also began to develop biological weapons independently, having started with the creation of the large armored dragon Ouroboros Mk.III. These weapons, however, turned all into complete failures as there was no effective way to control them, with the project being put on an indefinite hold as a result. Schlange has also carried out other personal and more successful projects such as the "ZAIN Project v2", whose aim is to create the perfect warrior, and the fully-autonomous mechanical gorilla Mecha Pon.

Every failed biological weapon and other chemical substances are dumped into the city's large Underground area where they have impacted upon its habitat, leading to the creation of mutant creatures and insects. Schlange appears to have taken an interest in these creatures as well, as several Insect Troopers are found in the Test Lab (possibly to be studied) and a large Millipede can be seen stored in cryostasis in one room of the Cloning Chamber.

Layout

Manufacturing and Testing

Robotics Manufacturing (アンドロイド製造場, Android Production Plant)
The entrance area to the facility, which covers two rooms: the entrance room, a large open chamber with a statue of the facility's logo in the background; and the facility's information desk.

Robotics Assembly Line (アンドロイド製造ライン, Android Production Line)
The heart of the Trooper's production plant, the chamber is a massive circular room with several assembly lines carrying Research Troopers. Hiryu enters through a small corridor just as Schlange orders the area into lock-down. The area has two balconies on top with a few laser turrets, two platforms in the middle and an assembly line in the bottom. Hiryu must cross through this assembly line, destroying the inactive troopers blocking him and avoiding laser beams shooting from above.

At the end of the assembly line, Hiryu climbs through several grates to reach a small room with several Troopers. Breaking through a vent, Hiryu enters a large outside chamber with an Option-B interface on its eastern end, which leads into the Specimen Storage. Following west through a transparent corridor and down a grate, Hiryu reaches a long descending area with a conveyor belt in the middle. Following the belt west, Hiryu finally reaches a Transport Tube that leads him into a large room where he faces Schlange and a Brainwalker. After dealing with this enemy, Hiryu takes a second Transport Tube into the next section

Vertical Assembly Line (精度チェックライン, Accuracy Check Line)
A large descending area with several platforms and laser beams. Hiryu must maneuver as he descends, avoiding the instant-death lasers with the use of Double Jump and Plasma Catapult. Three vertical assembly lines can be seen in the background, two carrying Research Troopers and a larger one in the middle carrying Heavy Troopers.

Recycling Center (リサイクルセンター)
A large corridor with a conveyor belt and two laser walls, which based on the name may be used to dispose of defective troopers. Hiryu must run against the belt and use the catapult to break through small gaps in the laser arrays. The belt ends in a small room with a few Troopers.

Test Lab (テストラボ)
The area starts in a large room with two moving platforms in the middle of a large laser puzzle, which one must overcome by using the platforms as shields against the laser beams. From there, Hiryu uses a Plasma Ring to reach the Test Lab proper, a series of five small arena-like areas one above the other where Researchers test Troopers and other machines in combat.

When Hiryu arrives a test program is initiated and he must face a wave of enemies. After destroying all enemies, a Plasma Ring in the center of the area turns on and he uses it to reach the next arena. After finishing with the five arenas, the last Plasma Rings carry him to a windowed room where he fights Xi Wang Mu.

Upper Accessway (上層連絡通路)
Accessed through a Panther Run found in a balcony next to Xi Wang Mu's room, the Upper Accessway is a small area made of several narrow corridors which leads back into the Vertical Assembly Line.

Cloning and Storage

Specimen Storage (標本貯蔵庫)
The second and most expansive half of the Research Facility, this side of the complex deals with the experiments and storage of Grandmaster Meio's enhanced human race. Hiryu arrives at a large, outside area in the middle of a heavy rain by using Option-B. This large area includes two entrances east and west, and a small square in the middle with a Brainwalker. There are a few accessible rooms, but the main entrance is blocked by an Ultra-Cold Door.

The western door leads into a small room with several cryostasis tubes containing specimen of Meio's created humans, and a few laser traps. This is followed by a balcony with an Option-B interface, which leads into the Industry district. The eastern Ultra-Cold Door leads into a computer room where Schlange confronts Hiryu for the second time, and sics his Troopers on him. From this point onward, Schlange will follow Hiryu around the facility, taunting him and showing him the fruits of his work.

Cloning Chamber (クローン安置所, Clone Enshrinement)
The part of the facility focusing on the cloning and preservation of Meio's race. The initial room is a massive chamber where cryostasis tubes carrying the specimen are being mechanically organized and moved into the cryostasis room. Countless tubes can be seen being placed and moving across the walls of the chamber. A few terminals and stairs below serve as the only platforms. The following room is a small room with computers and a large tube in the middle holding a Millipede. Hiryu faces Schlange's second wave of Troopers here.

There's also a small, optional set of rooms housing a large brain in a tube and a large, blue capsule.

Cryostasis (冷凍保存室, Cryopreservation Chamber)
A large storage area where the cryostasis tubes from the previous area can be seen lined in the background. The room has a small laser puzzle where Hiryu must maneuver around a cryostasis tube (which blocks the laser) and hit a switch to make a second tube move, allowing him to continue. This is followed by a smaller computer room where he fights the third wave of Schlange's Troopers.

Observatory (観測室)
Another large area outside the facility, in the middle of a strong rain. This area is crossed over by several illuminated bridges and protected by Brainwalkers. Hiryu needs to find two Option-A interfaces in order to unlock metal doors blocking his path. The first is found in a room at the eastern-most top, accessed by climbing through the eastern wall. The second is found in a room at the bottom, and is a large ascending shaft with electric panels, forcing Hiryu to use the PNUTs in there as platforms with his Ultra-Cold Cypher.

The western side of this area houses a big laser puzzle in its upper part, and a small arena where Hiryu faces Schlange's fourth and final wave of enemies. A small two-tier corridor west leads into the next area.

Research Laboratory

Cybernetics (人工頭脳研究所, Cybernetics Institute)
A small area. After a long entrance corridor, Schlange traps Hiryu in the next room and forces him to fight another Brainwalker. The following room is a set of two narrow shafts with large electrical pilars moving up and down. As they instantly kill Hiryu, he must move quickly when they retreat in order to continue. A long set of Transport Tubes at the end move Hiryu across the whole facility and into the next area.

Organic Recyling Center (有機体リサイクルセンター)
This part hidden deep within the Research Facility is the laboratory where Schlange conducts his own experiments, a place he himself calls "his territory". The first room in this area is the most dangerous trap in the facility, also known as the "passage of death" (死の通路). As soon as Hiryu enters, a moving laser wall activates, forcing Hiryu to run forward across a large corridor filled with obstacles and laser projections. Schlange stands in the background, mocking Hiryu all the way through. The next is a big, square area with a few Research Troopers and where Hiryu will later fight Mecha Pon.

The Research Lab (研究ラボ)
A small section which leads into the Gravitron. Several blue-glowing tubes can be seen crossing the walls in this part of the laboratory, which may be carrying the energy generated by the Gravitron to power up the entire complex. Hiryu enters through a small corridor with two laser turrets, and reach the main room: a narrow corridor in the shape of an inverse "U" filled with Wall Crawlers and suffering an "inversed gravity" effect, product of its closeness to the Gravitron, which causes Hiryu to walk upside-down in the ceiling.

Gravitron Chamber (グラビトロン制御室, Gravitron Control Room)
The circular chamber housing the Gravitron. It's identical to the control room which housed the prototype Gravitron back in the Underground. Hiryu faces and destroys the second Gravitron unit here.

Stage Enemies

Enemies present in this stage include:

• Research Trooper
• Research PNUT
• Reinforced Shield Trooper
• Turrets
• Laser Turrets
• Mid-Boss: Brainwalker
• Molot
• Military Trooper (Test Lab)
• Military & Insect PNUT (Test Lab)
• Bulava KZ-7 (red) (Test Lab)
• Insect Trooper (Test Lab)
• Boss: Xi Wang Mu
• Wall Crawler
• Ultra-Cold Shield Trooper
• Boss: Gravitron
• Boss: Mecha Pon

Item Locations

Note: Check out the area map in the Gallery section for more specific in-game locations.

Pickup Cradles
Name	Location	Information
Health Upgade 9/10	Research Facility Robotics Assembly Line	Requirements: None Awarded after defeating the first Brainwalker.
Energy Upgrade 9/10	Research Facility Recycling Center	Requirements: None Right after entering the area, there's a grate you can swing down. There's a laser beam blocking the path, so move around it to reach the bottom and find the upgrade.
Upgrade - Option-B	Research Facility Test Lab	Requirements: None Activated after defeating Xi Wang Mu.
Kunai Number Upgrade 3/4	Research Facility Specimen Storage	Requirements: Explosive Kunai In the southeast part of this large area, there's a chamber with a Kunai Door and a small opening in the wall. In the other side there's a vertical conveyor belt and the Kunai Lock that opens the door. Throw Explosive Kunais at the belt so they'd explode next to the lock, then enter the room and climb up to find the upgrade.
Ultra-Cold Plasma Catapult	Research Facility Cloning Chamber	Requirements: Plasma Catapult, Double Jump Found in a small room high up in the northeast wall. The upgrade is found on the other end of a large electric grid covering the floor and ceiling, requiring both the Plasma Catapult and double jumping to clear across.

Item Unlock Pickups
Name	Location	Information
Concept Art #37 Queen Mother of the West	Research Facility Observatory	Requirements: None In the large room with the big laser trap. It can be found in the platform Hiryu respawn if hit by the laser, in the northwestern part of the room.
Concept Art #39 Laser Turret	Research Facility Robotics Assembly Line	Requirements: Double Jump After ascending through two platforms, it can be found in a small alcove northwest from there.
Concept Art #40 Brainwalker	Research Facility Observatory	Requirements: None Found in a platform in the upper tier of the long hall west of the big laser room.
Concept Art #41 Research Interiors	Research Facility Observatory	Requirements: Double Jump, Plasma Catapult In the large room with the big laser trap. From the platform Hiryu respawns if hit by the lasers, climb it down and hang below it. Floating ahead are two plates with one laser atop and below them, and the POW item floating east of the second one. Drop off the plate, then double jump to cross the lower laser from below and use the catapult in mid-air to reach the other side of the plate. Rach the second plate, then repeat the process to reach the POW item.
Concept Art #42 Interior Concepts	Research Facility Robotics Manufacturing	Requirements: None In the very first room after entering the area, in a platform hanging high from the ceiling.
Character Intel #28 EM-PNUT (Close-Range Aggressive Unit)	Research Facility Observatory	Requirements: Double Jump, Plasma Catapult Floating atop the eastern wall in the large laser room. Enter the room from the eastern entrance, jump around a single laser barrier in the path and continue climbing to snatch it.
Character Intel #30 Brainwalker (ZAIN Project v2)	Research Facility Observatory	Requirements: Ultra-Cold Cypher/Kunai Next to the Bot Interface at the top of the long vertical shaft which requires making platforms out of PNUT enemies with the Ultra-Cold upgrades.
Character Intel #31 Uragan (Cold Trooper)	Research Facility Observatory	Requirements: Double Jump, Plasma Catapult Found in the large laser room. From the platform where Hiryu respawns if hit by the lasers, there are two plates floating ahead with a laser above and below them. Jump into the first plate, then jump off, use the catapult to shoot Hiryu across the upper laser and move him to grab upon the other side when falling. Repeat the process in the second plate, then you can see the POW item floating high at the northeastern corner. User a catapult, then double jump, then another catapult to reach it.
Character Intel #32 Xi Wang Mu (Queen Mother of the West)	Research Facility Test Lab	Requirements: None Awarded after defeating Xi Wang Mu.
Character Intel #33 Strazh (Laser Trooper)	Research Facility Specimen Storage	Requirements: None In the large room with two Panther Runs, climb through the wall and ceiling to reach the POW item floating high in the room's northwestern corner.
Character Intel #35 Mecha Pon (Gorilla Mechanical)	Research Facility The Research Lab	Requirements: None Awarded after defeating Mecha Pon.
Story Intel #9 Research Facility	Research Facility Robotics Assembly Line	Requirements: None In the second large room upon entering the facility, jump into the western of two platforms in the middle of the room. The POW item floats high in the ceiling, between two Laser Turrets.
Beacon Run #9 Lab Rat	Research Facility Recycling Center	Requirements: Plasma Catapult There are two laser emitters in a small room at the east side of the area. These lasers move up and down, so await until they split apart and catapult across the middle space to reach the POW Item floating there.
Survival Challenge #5 Subject to Testing	Research Facility Cloning Chamber	Requirements: Down Strike, Plasma Catapult In front of the east door in the first room, go under the walkway in front and drop down. Break through a floor to enter a blue-tinted hall, go east until you find a Plasma Ring and go through it to reach a room with a giant brain in the background and the item at the other end.

Large Canisters
Canister	Location	Information
Large Canister #42	Research Facility Robotics Assembly Line	Requirements: None Drop to the west of the assembly line into a small square room. The Canister is floating at the right side of this room.
Large Canister #43	Research Facility Robotics Aseembly Line	Requirements: None Right to the east of the Transport Tube leading into the Brainwalker mini-boss.
Large Canister #44	Research Facility Test Lab	Requirements: Double Jump In the room with the laser grid.
Large Canister #45	Research Facility Cryostasis	Requirements: None In the room with the two cryostasis tubes moving up and down. After hitting the switches, climb to the second tube to reach the Canister floating high in the ceiling.

Fallen Striders
Name	Location	Information
Strider Ouga	Research Facility Vertical Assembly Line	Requirements: Option-B In the long descent where Hiryu must maneuver around lasers, take the left exit, then enter the Transport Tube which will lead straight to the icon. Note that Option-B is not required to open the door, however completing the fight to earn Option-B will open the door.
Strider Koja	Research Facility Cloning Chamber	Requirements: None In the room with the giant brain in the background there's a small opening in the ground Hiryu can climb down. Slide down the narrow path to the left into a room with the icon.

Series references

• The general appearance and color palette of the Research Institute closely mimics the appearance of the Summit Lab as seen in Scene 3 of the Antarctica Research Lab in Strider 2. The same stage also features an area with several cylindrical cryostasis containers, with similar containers are also visible in the background of later areas of the Research Facility.
• Several rooms in the Cloning Chamber and related areas display Grandmaster Meio's new humans in stasis tubes lining up the walls on the background. This is very similar to the background of the New Life Development Section in the final stage of Strider 2, where several of the games' stage enemies appear inside tubes lining the walls.
• The area before the Gravitron has Hiryu walking upside down on the ceiling due to the machine's gravity effects. This is the only instance in the game where the inversed gravity areas of the original and Strider 2 are faithfully replicated.
• Some areas in the facility use pneumatic tubes as a means of transportation. These are based on the Transport Tubes from the NES Strider.

Gallery

In-game map (item location)

Robotics Manufacturing

Robotics Assembly Line (Panther Run)

Vertical Assembly Line

Transport Tube

Electric Panel trap

Cloning Chamber

The Giant Brain

Organic Recycling Center ("Passage of death")

The Research Lab

Mecha Pon's boss room

Trivia

The capsule

• In one of the rooms in the Cloning Chamber, there's a broken "Light Capsule" from the Mega Man X series in the background, and when accessing the room Schlange will insist Hiryu to leave the area, as there is "nothing to see there". According to director Tony Barnes, this capsule was initially intended to hold Mega Man as a planned unlockable character. After a Capcom producer told Barnes to remove him from the game, he repurposed the capsule to hold an unlockable version of Hien instead. Although Hien was almost finished, Capcom once again instructed him to scrap the character regardless. The broken capsule was left as an eastern egg in the end.
• The large brain found in the room before the Light Capsule is also an easter egg referencing the Metroid series, its design bringing to mind the recurring series boss Mother Brain, most noticeable in the similar shape of their containers.