Gamest

Gamest
Publication
Publication date	May 5, 1986 - September 30, 1999
Published by	Shinseisha

Gamest (ゲーメスト) was a Japanese video-game themed magazine published by Shinseisha, focused primarily on Arcade games. Throughout its life it became one of the more popular video game magazines in Japan, thanks to its high quality coverage of the medium and the detailed game guides, high scores compilations and assorted sections it provided.

Gamest started publication on May 1986, initially focused specifically on the shoot'em up genre of Arcade games; and ended its run on September 1999, following the bankrupcy of its publisher.

Following its cancellation, most of the magazine's staff moved over to publisher ASCII and launched Monthly Arcadia, Gamest's successor.

Strider coverage

Here is a list of all the coverage the Arcade Strider received in Gamest, both before and after release. Gamest is specially notable for the Strider series in that it published detailed backstory and art as provided by the development staff, making it one of the main sources of official information for a long time. Several pieces of backstory that Gamest published first were confirmed to originate from hand-written text found next to the original character artwork pieces, which were scanned as part of the 2014 Strider Hiryu Visual Chronicle artbook.

This list doesn't include issues where the series is mentioned as part of awards, rankings or top lists.

Cover	Information	Summary
	Gamest #25 October 1, 1988 Japanese archive site	Sections: Introduction (pg. 5)
	Features the first news blurb written for Strider, written roughly a month before its unveiling in the 1988 AM Show event. The short text included a brief synopsis and a quick rundown of stages. Most notably, this article states that following the first two stages, the player would be able to select the order of the "Amazon" and "Flying Battleship" stages. It also features screenshots from an early Arcade version with a red gradient health bar. This screenshots would surface years later, mistaken as images from the SuperGrafx port.
	Gamest #27 December 1, 1988 Japanese archive site	Sections: Report: AM Show (pg. 4)
	A full-page article describing Strider from the AM Show event. The article describes the first three stages of the game revealed at the time. The Amazon stage is described as the 3rd stage, which means the stage selectable order mentioned in the previous blurb was removed by this point.
	Gamest #29 February 1, 1989 Japanese archive site	Sections: Introduction (pg. 4)
	A full page article reintroducing Strider after its December delay, in expectation of its return at the AOU Show to be held later in the month. The article briefly describes the "Flying Battleship" stage and touch on gameplay and future stages, with a few screenshots of the Amazon and Third Moon.
	Gamest #30 March 1, 1989 Japanese archive site	Sections: Gallery (pg. 98, 99)
	A two-page spread titled "Strider Hiryu Characters Original Image Collection". This section features official artwork for a number of characters with accompanying backstory text provided by the development staff. The original handwritten version of some of these texts was later found on scanned artwork featured in the Visual Chronicle artwork, confirming their official status.
	Gamest #31 April 1, 1989 Japanese archive site	Sections: Introduction (pg. 105 to 107)
	Strider is covered on a three-page article giving a general view of the gameplay, including Hiryu's abilities and description of the Options, the information accompanied by screenshots of the first four stages. The article also prints the first official prologue of the game's story, describing Hiryu's arrival on St. Petersburg. This is one of the Gamest issues available on Capcom's official Strider site.
	Gamest #32 May 1, 1989 Japanese archive site	Sections: The 4th AOU Show (pg. 3 to 5) Game Capture Stages 1-2 (pg. 12 to 15)
	The first part is a three-page article about the game's appearance on the AOU Show event held back in February, and includes a two-page spread art of the Flying Battleship Balrog which details part of its structure and functions, as well as the official backstory for its Anti-Gravity Device. This information was seemingly provided by the staff back at the event. The second part covers a walkthrough of the first two stages, covering four pages. The cover artwork of this issue features the Flying Battleship Balrog, making this the only Gamest to feature Strider on its cover. This is one of the Gamest issues available on Capcom's official Strider site.
	Gamest #33 June 1, 1989 Japanese archive site	Sections: Game Capture Stages 3-5 (pg. 30 to 32)
	This issue of Gamest finishes the game's walkthrough with a guide throughout the final three stages of the game. This is one of the Gamest issues available on Capcom's official Strider site.
	Gamest #38 November 1, 1989 Japanese archive site	Sections: Speech Synthesis Final Edition! (pg. 89 to 93)
	Strider is featured on a special section called "Speech Synthesis Final Edition!" (音声合成決定版！). No further information about this issue is known at the time of writing.
	Gamest #47 July 1, 1990 Japanese archive site	Sections: Gallery (pg. 49 to ??)
	Strider is featured on a gallery section titled "Gamest 5th Anniversary Rush" (GAMEST ５周年突入), which gathers a number of rare settings from video games. This seemingly includes more about the official game's backstory, including information about the Research Staffs. No further information about this issue is known at the time of writing.
	Gamest #81 November 30, 1992 Japanese archive site	Sections: Capcom Game Street (pg. 42 to 45), Game Capture (pg. 102, 103)
	A special issue of Gamest focused entirely on Capcom's list of Arcade games from 1985 to 1992. Strider has its own introduction section, as well as a short walkthrough guide. No further information about this issue is known at the time of writing. Strider characters are also featured on the issue's gallery sections, which gather several character types from Capcom's entire game library. Hiryu appears in the "Protagonists" and "Ninja" galleries; Tong Pooh, "Black Tong Pooh" and the Amazoness appear in the "Heroines" gallery (which also covers female stage enemies and bosses), and Grandmaster Meio appears in the "Bosses" gallery.
File:Gamest 145.png	Gamest #143 May 15, 1995 Japanese archive site	Sections: Memorial Heroes Story (pg. 73 to 76)
	Strider is featured on a special section called "Memorial Heroes Story" (メモリアル・ヒーローズ・ストーリー). No further information about this issue is known at the time of writing.
	Gamest #269 July 30, 1999 Japanese archive site	Sections: Introduction (pg. 2, 3)
	The first "scoop" written about Strider 2, covering the game in two pages. No further information about this issue is known at the time of writing.
	Gamest #274 September 30, 1999 Japanese archive site	Sections: Introduction (pg. 6, 7)
	The final issue of Gamest before its cancellation. This issue included a second introduction article for Strider 2, giving a brief overview of gameplay and items, a glossary of official information about Hiryu and brief blurbs for the first three stages. This is one of the Gamest issues available on Capcom's official Strider site.