Strider's gameplay is cited as a major influence on the video game franchises Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, and God of War.

It became one of Capcom's early hits, praised for its innovative gameplay, diverse and unique music, and multilingual voice samples.

The player controls the protagonist Strider Hiryu, a ninja whose main weapon is a tonfa-like plasma sword known as a "Cypher".

Hiryu will lose a life when either his health gauge is fully depleted, by moving him off the screen entirely (like falling into a bottomless pit) or when the game's timer reaches zero.

Hiryu, the youngest ever Super A Ranked[15] member of an organization of high-tech ninja agents known as the "Striders", is alone tasked with the Grandmaster's assassination.

Kouichi Yotsui, director of the coin-op Strider (who is credited as Isuke in the game), was chosen for his experience with the CP System hardware while working as a background designer on Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

[18] Speaking with Retro Gamer, Yotsui said that Strider Hiryu's climbing abilities were inspired by his personal experience when he got himself stranded on the roof of Capcom’s building; fearing freezing to death and with no way to call for help, he climbed down the side of the building to reach a nearby fire escape stairway.

Early revisions of the arcade game were missing the unique music for the Aerial Battleship and Third Moon stages.

These range from experimental and progressive futuristic sci-fi action themes to baroque, tribal and classical music pieces.

[10] Ports of Strider for the Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, and ZX Spectrum were published by U.S. Gold and developed by Tiertex in 1989.

Despite these changes, all of the U.S. Gold releases received high review scores by computer game magazines of the time.

This is then followed by the main credit sequence that sees Hiryu flying his glider in space and reminiscing about the various encounters he had during his mission as he heads back to earth.

[24] NEC Avenue produced a PC Engine CD version of Strider Hiryu, which was released exclusively in Japan on September 22, 1994 as a CD-ROM² title which requires the Arcade Card expansion.

The PC Engine CD version had a long development process, having been planned in various formats, including the SuperGrafx at one point.

[26] This makes this standalone version technically the last original PlayStation game ever made, released after the system's discontinuation in March 2006.

[58] In Japan, Game Machine listed Strider on their April 1, 1989 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles like Ninja Gaiden.

[43] Commodore User praised the "high definition graphics, brilliant movements and good old-fashioned blasting action" along with a "bit of tongue-in-cheek political" content.

Upon release, GamePro called the Genesis port "a faithful translation of the arcade hit", and praised its "gorgeous graphics, non-stop arcade-style action, and ... captivating and unusual sound track.

There was a uniqueness to Strider art design that gave it a distinctive look back in 1989 and still makes it stand out brilliantly today.

An untitled Strider reboot game was being developed by Grin in 2009, before being canceled by Capcom, soon after Bionic Commando was released.

[65] In 2000, Edge opined that "in terms of visual appeal and agility, Strider Hiryu ranks as one of the best characters ever designed.

Yotsui considers that game, titled Cannon-Dancer in Japan and Osman in the West, a "self-parody" of his work on Strider.

[85] The game Run Saber, released by Atlus in 1993 for the Super NES, is often compared to Strider due to them being similar in play mechanics.

According to Eurogamer, Strider was a vital influence on video game franchises such as Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden and God of War.

[86] According to Retro Gamer, the over-the-top action of future Capcom franchises, such as Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe, draws from Strider, particularly in their inclusion of the "boss rush".

[88] In October 2012, Brazilian guitarist Pedro Pimentel released a tribute theme to this game series - also named "Strider" and included in his debut solo album (self-titled).

In later years, various indie developers have published platform games featuring the gameplay style of Strider, with titles such as Oniken,[92] Cataegis: The White Wind,[93] Tänzer,[94] Blazing Chrome[95] and Bushiden.

Inafune has stated that he has always liked the "world view" of Strider and modeled the name of Mega Man X co-protagonist Zero after one of its characters (reportedly, Solo).

[97] Capcom has also stated that one of the game's villains, Tong Pooh, served as inspiration for Street Fighter character, Chun-Li.