The original Strider (released on Capcom’s CPS1 board in 1989) features a more straightforward, high-stakes plot compared to its manga or NES counterparts. It is set in a dystopian 2048, known in Japan as “Meio Year One.”

Story

In the year 2048, an otherworldly being known as Grandmaster Meio has seized control of Earth’s technology and military. Ruling from his orbital base, The Third Moon, Meio oversees a dystopian world where the Kazakh Federation serves as his seat of power. 

The Mission

To end this tyranny, a clandestine organization of high-tech ninjas known as the Striders is hired by rebel forces. They dispatch their youngest and most elite “Special A-Class” member, Hiryu, on a solo mission to assassinate the Grandmaster. 

The Journey

Hiryu’s mission takes him through five diverse and dangerous locations: 

• Kazakh: An infiltration into the capital to destabilize Meio’s terrestrial control.
• Siberia: A brutal frozen wasteland filled with wolves and military forces.
• The Aerial Battleship Balrog: A high-altitude assault on a massive flying fortress.
• The Amazon: A jungle trek where Hiryu faces tribal warriors and prehistoric-like beasts.
• The Third Moon: The final confrontation in space against Grandmaster Meio himself. 

Key Adversaries

• Grandmaster Meio: The mysterious dictator with plans to repopulate Earth with his own lifeforms.
• Solo: A recurring bounty hunter hired to stop Hiryu.
• Tong Pooh: A deadly martial artist leading a trio of sisters.
• Captain Beard Jr.: The pirate commander of the Balrog. 

Unlike the NES version, which follows a complex manga plot involving betrayal and brainwashing, the original CPS-1 arcade story is a streamlined, cinematic “lone wolf” mission focused on the direct elimination of a global threat.