At the San Diego Comic-Con 2013, Capcom’s panel included the surprise announcement of Strider, coming to most current-gen and next-gen consoles in early 2014. The game stars Hiryu, one of an elite group of soldiers known as Striders, and is a 2D sidescrolling “metroidvania”-style game. This means tons of exploration, a huge open world to explore, and lots of “maybe I should come back here later” moments. The game features 3D graphics but moves on a 2D plane, creating “2.5D” gameplay. Hiryu comes equipped with his trusty Cypher sword but also features new upgrades and abilities as the game progresses.

The game is being developed by Double Helix, who are currently reboot-central, as they are also creating Killer Instinct for Microsoft as an Xbox One exclusive.

The first Strider game was released in 1989 on Capcom’s CP System hardware, and subsequent Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, and NES versions followed. This new announcement marks the first major release in the Strider series since the PS1’s Strider 2 in 2000.

Capcom also delivered an announcement trailer and a 7-minute gameplay video (complete with remixed music!) which you can see below.

Strider will be released on the PSN, Xbox Live Arcade, and Steam download platforms on Playstation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and the PC respectively in 2014. How excited are you? Let us know in the comments!