Futuristic and mesmerizing Taito rail shooter. Impressive 3D visuals for Saturn, intense and rhythmic action. Multiple endings depending on path taken. A rare genre well represented on the console, essential for fans.
Your verdict
Category
Shooter1 player12+
Description
Rail shooter in a futuristic cockpit neutralizing cybernetic vehicles in illuminated tunnels. Published by Taito, released in Japan in 1998. Free movement within the shooting corridor, multiple branch points offering different routes and endings, weapon power-ups and neon electronic atmosphere. Saturn port of the 1989 Taito arcade with additional difficulty modes and content.
Night Striker S review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
Everything rests on neon: suspended motorway tunnels, skyscrapers reduced to lines of light, enemy vehicles surging out of the dark in coloured streaks. The city is never shown except through its reflections and its lighting, which gives this night race the look of eighties science fiction, held remarkably steady from one branch to the next.
Taito's sound team delivers a floating electronic score, cast against the expected nervousness: sustained pads, repetitive arpeggios, hushed drums that let the light occupy the foreground. Each route opens onto a distinct musical colour, so replaying to find another branch also means discovering another piece.
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Collector interest
Japan exclusive Saturn edition of Night Striker S, distributed by Ving in March 1998, a 3D conversion of the 1989 Taito rail shooter with an enriched S mode added specifically to the Saturn version. Ving Japan run was short, jewel case with intact obi, and the combination of the Taito Saturn standing with the scarcity of Ving arcade conversions on the platform makes a complete with obi marked Night Striker S copy a targeted archive object for Taito 3D rail enthusiasts. Complete with obi clearly sought after.
Is Night Striker S still worth playing in 2026?
A Saturn adaptation of the Taito rail shoot, Night Striker S offers a futuristic rail shoot through neon cyberpunk urban scenery with multiple path choices. The sublime cyberpunk art direction, cult ZUNTATA soundtrack and branching system make it an absolutely overlooked gem of the Saturn catalogue. For anyone fond of atypical Taito rail shoots or seeking a cult cyberpunk classic on the Sega machine, a warm recommendation still valid today without any hesitation for genre fans truly here indeed for any returning newcomer.
