Series Review: Space Harrier (1 and 2)

Game: Space Harrier
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 1986

Space Harrier is a third person shooter, originally an arcade game, it was scaled down to become a game for the Master System. Gameplay involves shooting anything and everything in your way, from enemies to projectiles to trees in the surreal landscape provided. You're constantly moving forwards as enemies come toward you from the background to the foreground, anything you don't shoot becomes something you have to dodge. Later levels also feature obstacles which must be dodged in addition to you shooting duties.

The game has 18 levels, of increasing difficulty, leading up to the final boss. There is a plot to why you've got to shoot absolutely everything in existance, but as with most 80's arcade games, the plot is based around the gameplay and not the other way around. There's a fair selection of enemies throughout the levels with somewhat varied bosses, a lot of them psychedelic and strange, with bright colours.

Graphically the game is strange, with detailed enemy sprites especially for the time, yet due to the hardware restrictions and scaling being an issue with enemies coming towards you, a lot of the time you can see a box around the enemy, or flicker when they overlap. This isn't to say that this problem makes the game unenjoyable, however perhaps Sega were a little overambitious with how many enemies they could fit onscreen at one time versus the processing power of the Master System.

Musically the game has a lot of different, catchy tracks which suit the game well. Personally I'd say the music is some of the best on Master System. The soundclips do not fare so well however, with the lowest quality I've possibly ever experienced. The game gets pretty difficult towards the end, speeding up and adding more and more enemies, its a good concept but the more complex it gets, the harder it is to tell what's going on.

Overall this is a fun game to play for the Master System, it responds well and is different to a lot of the games you'll find of the era. The fun crazily themed enemies and bosses are reminiscent of Fantasy Zone, another classic game for the console. The only real limitations to this game are the console's processing abilities itself, which do hold back the game a little sometimes. Its definitely worth a try, and will fit into any Master System collection.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Game: Space Harrier II
Console: Sega Mega Drive
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 29th October 1988 (JP)

One of the original launch games for the Japanese Mega Drive, Space Harrier II was not based off an arcade game like its predecessor. The game features the same basic idea and controls; the player moves around the screen, dodging attacks from enemies scrolling toward them. The graphics have been improved for the Mega Drive and the game runs much more smoothly, in terms of processing.

The visuals are once again brightly coloured, featuring an array of strange enemies, of various shapes and sizes. The controls are as simple as ever, with any of the three buttons on the Mega Drive controller used to shoot, and the control pad to move around the screen. Space Harrier II feels somewhat easier than the first installment in the series, perhaps due to the smoothness of the processing, with a lot less graphical issues with multiple enemies onscreen.

Musically, the game has a lot of different tracks to offer, with a different theme for every boss battle and a couple of different level themes. Overall the quality is good, and the sound effects have also been vastly improved from the last game. With 13 stages, its a shorter game than the original, and the final stage is every boss, in sequence (somewhat a tradition in early Sega arcade games).

The player is also able to select any of the 12 levels preceding the final level to start on, from the level select screen, which saves the frustration of having to complete the game in one go, but the option is still there if you're up to it. Series-wise there was an installment inbetween the two games in this review called Space Harrier 3-D. Not only did it require Red/Cyan 3D glasses but it is also one of the hardest Master System games out there.

Overall this is a better game than the original Space Harrier, if only for the fact that the Mega Drive had better graphics, sound and processing than the Master System. Another factor that helped Space Harrier II is the fact that it was built for home console, unlike its predecessor which was a scaled down version of the arcade release. Its an enjoyable play with varied enemies and stages, which almost make up for the fact that the gameplay doesn't have much variation in itself.

Rating: 76/100
Grade: B