Developed and published by Sega in 1985 Follow me on Twitter:
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In today's video, we go all the way back to 1985 to check out the technical masterpiece that is Space Harrier, a 3D third-person shoot 'em up from the legend that is Yu Suzki. The game has no real plot, other than you control some guy called Harrier as he embarks on a mission to tackle 18 levels of shooting action through the Fantasy Zone, destroying enemies and avoiding obstacles to rack up high score. Each level features numerous obstacles that hurtle towards the player at speed and should be avoided at all costs. Smaller obstacles, such as shrubs and bushes will cause Harrier to stumble should he collide with them, preventing him from being able to move for a couple of seconds, whilst hitting larger objects will bring him down to earth with a bump, costing a life in the process. Waves of enemies will appear on screen as you progress through the level. Not only must you avoid running into them, you must also watch out for the projectiles that they fire back at you too! Although a good tactic is to keep moving, you're just as likely to veer into the path of a pylon or 50 foot toadstool in the process, so it will take plenty of practice on top of quick reflexes if you hope to have a chance of beating the game. In fact, what with all the flying around and hammering on the fire button, this is certainly a game that sufferers of RSI and carpal tunnel should avoid! Occasionally, the player will enter a bonus stage where Harrier can ride atop Uriah, a friendly space dragon, who can then be controlled to smash into various obstacles for bonus points. Each object destroyed gets added to the running total on-screen, with more points contributing towards a much-needed extra life. Of course, the first thing that hits you about the game once you fire it up is just how amazing it looks. The pseudo-3D visuals really steal the show and it's amazing to see what Yu Suzuki and his team manged to create way back in 1985. The hardware features a pair of 2 x Motorola 68000 CPUs clocked at 10 Mhz, support for up to 128 sprites on screen and is the first platform in the series to feature Sega's Super Scaler sprite-scaling technology. The game, for the most part, manages to deliver a solid 60 frames per second, only dipping occasionally when some of the more complex enemies (i.e. the multi-segment bosses) appear on screen. The game also features some excellent music, audio effects and speech samples that put many other arcade titles of the day to shame. With it's cacophony of whooshes, zaps, pings and booms, there's no doubt that Space Harrier would have drawn quite the crowd on the arcade floor. So what's it like to play, you might be asking? Well, it's surprisingly fun, if uncomplicated blasting action all the way. This is certainly a title where any lapse in concentration is going to be punished by a swift death, although I think it's more forgiving than After Burner and is definitely more fun to play than Thunder Blade. Space Harrier is definitely a game worthy of your attention, not just because it looks and sounds amazing, but because it's also bloody good fun to boot! Strap on your anti gravity boots, grab your blaster cannon and head into the Fantasy Zone for some top blasting action! #retrogaming
