Night Striker

The game is set in a futuristic city in 2049. A terrorist organisation has kidnapped Doctor Masker Lindberry and his daughter. The United Nations Special Service Agency has dispatched their agents to investigate, but to no avail. Its leader is leading a task force (code named Night Striker) using armoured vehicles to rescue them and destroy the organisation. == Gameplay ==

The player controls the car and shoots enemies encountered during the stage. Enemies and bosses include helicopters, aeroplanes, lorries, robotic spiders, and boulders. The car can be manoeuvred in a similar manner to Space Harrier and can be moved around the screen. There are 21 stages, although the player only needs to complete six to complete the game. Stages' themes include, factories, tunnels, and city themes such as centres, suburbs, and streets. Certain stages contain obstacles such as barriers which must be manoeuvred around. At the end of each stage, there is a boss, and after its defeat, the player is presented with a choice of route, like Out Run. The car's "armour" refers to its shield capability; the car can absorb a certain number of hits before being destroyed. Defeating a boss gives the shield the capacity to withstand another hit. If the shield has run out and the car is hit, the game is over. In certain final stages, the car transforms: depending on the stage, it can become vehicles such as a motorbike or a robot. The game features different endings depending on which route is taken. The Mega CD version features an arranged soundtrack, and the Saturn version a bonus mode with six levels exclusive to this version. == Reception ==

Night Striker received mixed reviews. The Mega CD version suffers from poor graphics quality, as noted by reviewers. Mean Machines Sega noted that the graphics are "stupendously bad", and the sprites are "totally unrecognisable". Your Sinclair praised the rolling road sequences, and commented that the car would look like a blob on the ZX Spectrum. == Music ==

The soundtrack was composed by Zuntata, and released on the Night Striker Complete Album on 21 May 1993 in Japan by Pony Canyon and Scitron. A similar album was released by Pony Canyon on 19 November the same year. The soundtrack was released on iTunes on 2 July 2008, and certain tracks were released on vinyl on Zuntata's Arcade Classics Volume One album. == References ==