Russian Infantryman (ロシア軍歩兵) is a type of stage enemy found in both the original and NES version Strider. In both games, this enemy is identical design-wise and serves a similar function, being the most basic and simple type of stage enemy. Even then, they use completely different weapons and strategies, and have different precedences. These soldiers also appear in the early chapters of the original manga, serving the same role as in the NES adaptation, being expendable members of the Kazakh Secret Police.
Information[]
Strider (CPS-1)[]
Appears in Stage 1 (St. Petersburg) and Stage 2 (Siberia).
Regular infantry soldiers belonging to the Russian army, now under the employment of Grandmaster Meio[1]. These soldiers wear a green winter uniform with a fur hat and a visor covering their eyes, and battle using rifles with a bayonet[1]. The Russian Infantrymen usually attacks in crowds, charging forward at Hiryu and trying to stab him while up close; but if they are at a far enough distance they will shoot at him instead.
At times, some of these soldiers are intimidated by Hiryu's presence, falling on their backs if Hiryu looks at them and crawling away in fear if he approaches them. One can use this to force them to basically kill themselves by crawling into a nearby pit. If Hiryu turns his back to them, however, they seem to gather up courage and dash madly at him with their guns raised over their heads.
There's also a specific group of soldiers known as aides or close advisers (側近) that can be recognized by their red uniform[2], and seem to serve Kazakh's ruling party directly. Hiryu meets four of these soldiers at the very end of the first stage, right next to the Council's chambers where Hiryu fights Ouroboros. They are practically identical to their green counterparts, though they don't seem to panic in front of Hiryu at all.
Strider (NES)[]
Appears in Kazakh
The bulk of the Kazakh Secret Police, these soldiers appear all throughout the Kazakh Police headquarters. They wear the same uniform, fur hat and visor, but appear to wield some type of blade rather than rifles. These infantry soldiers run back and forth trying to hit Hiryu with their weapon. Sometimes they perform a jump forward when running at Hiryu instead of just running into him, allowing them to avoid the Cypher's edge and damage Hiryu as they fall onto him.
Armored Sentry[]
Appears in Kazakh, Phantom Train, Egypt, Australia.
The Armored Sentry (official name unknown) is a variation of the common infantryman. These sentries can be seen using the same visor and fur hat, but are clad in full body armor and wield machine guns instead. They remain stationary in one location and shoot at the direction they are facing a few times, after which they turn the other side and repeat the pattern.
Despite wearing full body armor, they are still as easily eliminated as their unarmored counterparts, by a single strike of Hiryu's Cypher.
Design Notes[]
The Russian Infantryman's official art shows the character having a mechanical face, possibly indicating the enemy was part of the military-clothed robots opposing the "Stylish Robots" that were cut when the enemy count was reduced to the bare minimum[3]. In the final game, the enemy's sprite shows a skin-colored face instead and official text state they are human.
The idea of fully mechanical Russian soldiers, however, would be later revisited with the Light Troopers, the basic enemy type featured in the 2014 Strider.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Capcom (October 2006, PlayStation). Gamebook: Strider Hiryu (Japanese). Pg. 13. ISBN 4-86233-076-2.
- ↑ Sega (September 1990, Mega Drive). Strider Hiryû (Japanese). Instruction Manual, Pg. 18
- ↑ Scion; Dire 51 (24 April 2010). "Interview with Kouichi "Isuke" Yotsui". LSCM 4.0. Translated by Gaijin Punch. Accessed October 6, 2015.