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Space Harrier

 
Games: Space Harrier
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Space Harrier
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  • Release Date: 1994
  • Genre: Shooter
  • Style: Third-Person 3D Shooter
  • Similar Games: 3-D WorldRunner (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Game Description

Believe it or not, Dragonland used to be a peaceful place. That is, until the evil demon Valda decided to invade and take over. Now it's up to the last Sentinel of Dragonland to stop the forces of Valda and restore piece to his planet.

In Space Harrier, you control this warrior, otherwise known as Harri. Movement in all directions is at your disposal as you use his special jet-pack to maneuver to any place on the screen just as in the 1980s Arcade version. As Harri whizzes through the colorful 3D environment, he'll be attacked from all directions by Valdan invaders of varying types. But his trusty laser cannon has never met a Valdan it couldn't handle. Now it's time to put that jet-pack and laser cannon to the test!
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

Space Harrier was a very successful, somewhat revolutionary Arcade game from 1988. This 32X version brings it home in its most colorful console representation ever.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

One of the lesser known quality Arcade games of the '80s was Space Harrier. Though its fame may not equate to the likes of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros., the game's unique perspective, colorful graphics and incredible speed earned it a strong fan base. While attempts were made to duplicate its greatness on the Sega Master System and with a Genesis sequel, no Sega system had come along with the capabilities to truly do justice to the Arcade classic -- until the 32X, that is.

And what a great Arcade conversion it is! Granted, my memory from the era when the NES made your jaw drop might be a little hazy, but this conversion appears to be near perfect. Few 32X games (if any) do a better job of displaying its ability to show thousands upon thousands of colors. This is a big step up from the Genesis' 64 hues! While the 16-bit system may have been able to duplicate the amazing speed and overall gameplay, it takes 32 bits of power to truly emulate Space Harrier's Arcade greatness. (There's even a code that changes "Press Start" to "Insert Coin"!)

Make no bones about it, this game defines the word "shooter." Don't count on needing your 6-button control pad, as even an Atari 2600 joystick would be enough for this one! That's right. All you do is shoot and move. It doesn't get much simpler than that ... but it also doesn't get much more fun.

If you're playing Space Harrier to add another title to the "games I've beaten" list, then you're playing for the wrong reason. It's the type of game you play when you've got 15 minutes to kill and need something worthwhile to do. And its emphasis on blasting away at stuff mindlessly makes for a great stress reliever!

Another good reason not to play Space Harrier just to beat it is that you may be there for a long time! Though you can probably play straight through it in less than 30 minutes, attaining the necessary skills to do so will take you MUCH longer. This is a very hard game, folks.

Still, Space Harrier sticks to its Arcade roots and remains a total joy to play. No fan of the game who owns a 32X should be without it. It's one of the few must-haves on the system.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

A true classic, this game is always a complete joy to play (unless you're just out to beat it, in which case you shouldn't be playing anyway).
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

The most colorful incarnation of this classic Arcade game.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

Sure it doesn't make much sense to be told to "Get ready!" when your game has just ended or that "You're doing great!" when you only have one life left after the first stage, but the great sound effects, music perfectly suited for the gameplay and all-out nostalgia factor make Space Harrier sound absolutely fantastic.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

It's one that you can always come back to.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

A solid instruction manual.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide
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Wikipedia: Space Harrier
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Space Harrier
European arcade flyer of Space Harrier.
European arcade flyer of Space Harrier.
Developer(s) Sega-AM2
Publisher(s) Sega
Designer(s) Yu Suzuki
Platform(s) Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Nintendo Famicom, PlayStation 2, Sega 32X, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn, TurboGrafx-16, Virtual Console, ZX Spectrum
Release date(s) October 1985, 1986 (Arcade)
Virtual Console
Master System
JP July 23, 2008
NA November 3, 2008
PAL October 17, 2008
VC Arcade
JP March 26, 2009
NA June 15, 2009
PAL May 29, 2009
Genre(s) Rail shooter
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: E (Everyone)
PEGI: 7+
Input methods Joystick, 1 button
Cabinet Standard and sit-down
Arcade system Unique
Display Raster, standard resolution
horizontal orientation

Space Harrier (スペースハリアー?) is a rail shooter game, released by Sega in 1985. It was produced by Yu Suzuki, the man responsible for many popular Sega games. It spawned several sequels: Space Harrier 3D (1988), Space Harrier II (1988), and the spin-off Planet Harriers (2001).

Space Harrier was originally made for the arcades, and later saw ports to many home game systems (see below). Space Harrier's release on the Sega Master System is notable: there were two versions. One was just like the arcade, while the other, entitled Space Harrier 3D, supported 3D glasses and FM sound.

Contents

Gameplay

Space Harrier is set in "the Fantasy Zone", a surreal world composed of bright colors and a checkerboard-styled ground. The enemies are also unique, featuring prehistoric animals, Chinese dragons, and alien pods. The player is forced along the levels, running or flying around enemy fire, while shooting back with fireballs via the character's under-arm cannon (which doubles as a rocket-esque device allowing the character to fly). The character graphics are sprite-based, though the level backgrounds are faux 3D. The 3-D Battles of World Runner by Square bears more than a slight resemblance to the game. Even more similar is Pony Canyon's parody, Animal Attack Academy in which a Japanese schoolgirl fights Australian animals in nearly identical gameplay.[1] The arcade version of Space Harrier used digitized voices. When starting the first level, for example, you would be greeted with "Welcome to the fantasy zone!; Get ready!". After defeating a boss, the player is assured that "You're doing great!"

Like After Burner, Space Harrier was among the first (perhaps the very first) arcade game to feature a console in which the player sits, and which moves according to the joystick movement. There is also a non-moving sit-down version and a standard upright version.

The arcade version has a total of 18 levels, each containing a boss at the end. Three exceptions are the bonus levels (5th and 12th), and the 18th level, which is a boss rush containing some of the bosses encountered up to that point.

Ports

The game was translated to various home computer systems and consoles. Among these, the ports for the Sega 32X, the Sega Saturn and the Sharp X68000 (the latter being a Japan-only) are considered to be the most faithful to the original arcade version.

The game is also playable on the Dreamcast (within Shenmue, Shenmue II and Yu Suzuki Game Works Vol. 1) and Xbox (within Shenmue II). It is included in Sega Arcade Gallery for the Game Boy Advance and the Sega Classics Collection (a compilation DVD including other games from the same era that were remade for modern audiences to negligible success in the US and big success in Japan) for the PlayStation 2.

Space Harrier II for the Sega Genesis was released for Nintendo's Virtual Console on December 18, 2006 while the first Space Harrier for the Sega Master System, was released in Europe on October 17, 2008 and in North America on November 3, 2008.[2] The arcade version was released on the Virtual Console in Japan on March 25, 2009, in the PAL regions on May 29, 2009 and in North America on June 15, 2009.[3]

The arcade version of Space Harrier is available as an unlockable game in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles. The port suffers for a few sound issues, such as off-pitch voices and music.

Notable ports

  • Space Harrier Complete Collection. This collection offers the arcade version of Space Harrier, Space Harrier II, the Sega Master System version of Space Harrier and Space Harrier 3D. Also included as an easter egg was the Game Gear version of the game. It was released for the PlayStation 2 as the 20th volume of Sega Ages.

Complete series

References

  1. ^ Arcade - NES - Attack Animal Academy • Every Video Game • Play Nintendo NES games online free
  2. ^ "Two WiiWare Games and One Virtual Console Game Added to Wii Shop Channel". Nintendo of America. 2008-11-03. http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/j1juM0fGdQv87PxGIT24rMn7SvRVp3rT. Retrieved 2008-11-09. 
  3. ^ "Mario Calculates the Time Needed to Catch Toasted Rainbows in Space". Nintendo of America. 2009-06-15. http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/FA4QXiUiUL5bfh2ONyhKqWirAOQ3C4K7. Retrieved 2009-06-16. 

External links

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Space Harrier
Main series
Space Harrier (1985) · Space Harrier 3-D (1988) · Space Harrier II (1988)
Spin-offs
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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