Aliens

Aliens appear as a set of stage enemies in Strider II, exclusively on the 3rd stage The Alien Depths. Their appearance (as well as the stage's general design) are very reminiscent of the aesthetics from Fox's Alien film franchise.

Information

Hatchling

The "evil alien hatchling"^[1][2][3] is the basic enemy type in this stage. They appear as small, vaguely humanoid creatures with tails. Spawning from the walls, these critters simply stand up and run at Hinjo at full speed, trying to crash into him for damage.

In the lower regions of the stage, these enemies are instead spawned out of the green grass-like mold found in the floor. Regardless, they are easy to deal with. Alien hatchlings only appear in the Amiga, Atari ST and Mega Drive versions.

Alien Head

The Alien Head (official name unknown) is a large Xenomorph-looking head which appears as a static obstacle. This enemy attacks in the exact same manner as the Robopost, shooting three gray projectiles out of its mouth, which fly at different heights and arcs at Hinjo's direction.

Alien Heads appear only in the Amiga, Atari ST and Mega Drive versions. In the Master System and Game Gear, they are replaced by the genetically-advanced plant, which acts in the same manner.

Flower

The Flower^[3] is an enemy appearing exclusively in the Master System port. This alien is a strange, gray creature with green "legs" and an open top. It paces back and forth, every so often opening itself to throw acid globs ahead. The acid globs are shoot very fast and at different heights, making them hard to dodge.

Slime

Slime pits^[2] were introduced as a hazard in the Master System, Mega Drive and Game Gear ports. These pits of green slime are an instant death if Hinjo falls into them, and splashing globs of the substance are also dangerous. In the Master System port, globs of slime shoot out of the pits at different arcs against Hinjo, requiring him to destroy or avoid them as he goes over the slime pits. In the Mega Drive port the globs instead come out straight, rising from the pit and then coming back down into it, and can't be destroyed at all.

The Game Gear port presents an unique version: slime taking the shape of hands coming out of the pit and grabbing above them. These can't be destroyed and if Hinjo is caught when they close into a fist, he's instantly dragged into the slime pit.

Alien Mother

The Alien mother is the final boss of the stage in all the home computer versions of Strider II. The mother of all creatures in the stage^[1], it is a grotesque slender alien with a long neck and a seemingly eye-less head with a sharp-toothed mouth. It stands in place, in what appears to be a kneeling position, as it moves its head frantically and shoots really small fireballs from its mouth. The boss is quite easy to destroy as it barely does anything.

In the 8-bit home computer versions, likely due to space limitations, the alien mother is reduced to a floating head. It moves back and forth around the screen while shooting floaty round projectiles from its mouth.

Dinosaur

The final boss in the Master System port is a large green dinosaur (resembling a Tyrannosaurus Rex) with a metallic skull and upper body, holding a rocket launcher. Although a completely different entity from the original alien, the manual still refers to the stage's end boss as the "alien mother"^[3]. The dinosaur paces back and forth across the battle area shooting homing missiles periodically at Hinjo.

In the Mega Drive port, the dinosaur is given a much more detailed sprite, showing it to have patches of skin missing, revealing a metallic skeleton within, not unlike the Terminator. As before, the manual still identifies it as the "alien mother"^[2] despite not resembling any of the alien enemies in the stage. In this version, the dinosaur slowly walks forward while shooting missiles in a straight line and breathing fire from its mouth. The boss also appears as part of the boss rush in the final stage.

In the Game Gear port the dinosaur was altered completely, now a smaller red dinosaur (resembling a Raptor) with metal armor on its back and tail. Its attack pattern consists on shooting fireballs from its mouth, firing some bullets from its gun and then walking across the screen, after which it repeats its pattern from the other side.

References

Strider II / Returns
Hinjo
Equipment: Cypher • Climb Sickle • Gyro laser • Rotun shield • Shurikens Moves: Slide • Cypher Attack • Elite Mechanical Combat Unit
Stage Enemies
Alien Terrorists • Automatons • Wall Crawler • Wolf • Aliens • Turbo Wasp
Bosses
Helios • Energy discharging skulls • Alien Mother • Milsoma • Podulous • Inferno • Waspini • Anti-Gravity Device • Laser wall panel Terrorist Leader • The Master
Locations
The Forbidden Forest • Castle Metropolis • The Hive • The Alien Depths • The Master's Prison Ship
Related Articles
Lexia • Striders