Run Saber is a 1993 side-scrolling action platformer for the Super Nintendo, developed by Horisoft and published in North America by Atlus. It’s often cited as the SNES’s closest answer to Capcom’s arcade classic Strider, casting you as one of two genetically engineered super-soldiers — Allen, who fights with lightning, or Sheena, who fights with ice — sent to stop a rogue scientist’s mutant army after one of the project’s own creations, Kurtz, turns against them.
How to play
Guide Allen or Sheena, alone or together in two-player co-op, through five stages — Taj Base, Tong City, Jod Valley, Grey Fac, and Bruford’s stronghold — each filled with enemy hordes and at least three boss fights. Move with the arrow keys (tap a direction twice quickly to break into a run), jump with the SNES’s B button (usually your Z or X key), and swing your saber for fast, repeated slashes with the Y button (A or S). A separate button unleashes your character’s screen-clearing Hyper Bomb, and the shoulder buttons let you slide along the ground. Both Sabers can also climb walls and hang from ceilings to reach hidden paths off the main route.
Tips
- Save your Hyper Bomb for when you’re swarmed or facing a boss — it clears the whole screen and is far more effective as an emergency button than a first resort.
- Check walls and ceilings in every stage; Run Saber borrows Strider’s climbing moves, and several shortcuts and extra items sit off the main ground path.
- The game is short and plays easy on its lowest difficulty setting — reviewers have finished it in under an hour — so raise the difficulty first if you want a real fight.
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