Space Harrier is a third-person arcade rail shooter game which was both developed and published by Sega hitting the arcades in 1985. Originally Sega's idea had been to make a realistic military-themed third-person game which would feature a fighter jet, but technical and memory restrictions resulted in Sega developer Yu Suzuki deciding instead to go with the idea of a jet-propelled human character flying through a fantasy setting. 2 years later Sega would return to the military Jet Fighter idea and we would get After Burner a game I have already reviewed.
The Space Harrier arcade game is controlled by an analogue flight stick as well as featuring a simple stand up version the game also came in a deluxe arcade cabinet which featured a cockpit-style hydraulic motion simulator cabinet that tilted and rolled during play, this probably sounds very familiar if you watched my After Burner Video.
Space Harrier was a highly commercially successful arcade machine leading to the game being ported to over twenty different home computer and gaming platforms, some of which were done by Sega with others being handled by outside developers
Ok so on to The Master System version now how does it fair? Well I certainly think that Sega put a lot of effort in to trying to downscale this arcade game on to a Master System cart but I do have some issues with it, lets put it this way it in some areas excels but in others its problematic.
The most obvious thing to grab you is that the graphics not only are a serious downgrade but they also don't fully work, the limited colour palette, and the lack of proper backgrounds are to be expected and wouldn't really hurt the game, my biggest issue is the incredibly blocky edges around both enemies and obstacles they don't look like they are part of the actual game world, they look awful and it really breaks my immersion, it actually makes the game look like it was never properly finished. When you get to the glitchy first boss swirling round you will wonder if there is a problem with your cartridge, trust me there is not this is how the game was programmed.
This graphical issue is an absolute crying shame, because if you can get past this then the gameplay in this version is not too bad at all, your characters movement is good firing feels right, its not a bad game to play at all, its fun if you can push past these issues.
For me the best thing about this Game on the Master System is the sound. The music has been ported across from the arcade game wonderfully, the music is awesome and it really meets the fantasy feel of this game.... Maybe it has something to do with my Dad watching a whole lot of reruns of Blakes 7 with him but one of the Tracks in this game really really sounds like a remix of the Blakes 7 them but maybe that's just me. I also have to point out that they did an amazing job of porting two of the Arcade games voice samples across, you will hear both the phrase, “Get ready!” as well as the main characters death cry. Sure there are other voice samples which are missing from the arcade machine but the ones that are here are done brilliantly and really add to the feel of the game.
If I was to give this game a score I would give it a 6 out of 10, despite the fact Sega Used a large Master System Cart they just didn't manage to do quiet enough in my opinion, if only they had found a way to iron out some of the jagged graphics this would be better.
If you want to get a copy of this for the Master System well copies seem to be a bit thinner on the ground than they were for After Burner... Apparently CEX sell it for £4 for a loose cart but at present there are no copies of it available. the cheapest copy I could find online anywhere was a boxed copy missing its manual for £18 including postage and that's not a price I would recommend people to pay for this game.
The Space Harrier arcade game is controlled by an analogue flight stick as well as featuring a simple stand up version the game also came in a deluxe arcade cabinet which featured a cockpit-style hydraulic motion simulator cabinet that tilted and rolled during play, this probably sounds very familiar if you watched my After Burner Video.
Space Harrier was a highly commercially successful arcade machine leading to the game being ported to over twenty different home computer and gaming platforms, some of which were done by Sega with others being handled by outside developers
Ok so on to The Master System version now how does it fair? Well I certainly think that Sega put a lot of effort in to trying to downscale this arcade game on to a Master System cart but I do have some issues with it, lets put it this way it in some areas excels but in others its problematic.
The most obvious thing to grab you is that the graphics not only are a serious downgrade but they also don't fully work, the limited colour palette, and the lack of proper backgrounds are to be expected and wouldn't really hurt the game, my biggest issue is the incredibly blocky edges around both enemies and obstacles they don't look like they are part of the actual game world, they look awful and it really breaks my immersion, it actually makes the game look like it was never properly finished. When you get to the glitchy first boss swirling round you will wonder if there is a problem with your cartridge, trust me there is not this is how the game was programmed.
This graphical issue is an absolute crying shame, because if you can get past this then the gameplay in this version is not too bad at all, your characters movement is good firing feels right, its not a bad game to play at all, its fun if you can push past these issues.
For me the best thing about this Game on the Master System is the sound. The music has been ported across from the arcade game wonderfully, the music is awesome and it really meets the fantasy feel of this game.... Maybe it has something to do with my Dad watching a whole lot of reruns of Blakes 7 with him but one of the Tracks in this game really really sounds like a remix of the Blakes 7 them but maybe that's just me. I also have to point out that they did an amazing job of porting two of the Arcade games voice samples across, you will hear both the phrase, “Get ready!” as well as the main characters death cry. Sure there are other voice samples which are missing from the arcade machine but the ones that are here are done brilliantly and really add to the feel of the game.
If I was to give this game a score I would give it a 6 out of 10, despite the fact Sega Used a large Master System Cart they just didn't manage to do quiet enough in my opinion, if only they had found a way to iron out some of the jagged graphics this would be better.
If you want to get a copy of this for the Master System well copies seem to be a bit thinner on the ground than they were for After Burner... Apparently CEX sell it for £4 for a loose cart but at present there are no copies of it available. the cheapest copy I could find online anywhere was a boxed copy missing its manual for £18 including postage and that's not a price I would recommend people to pay for this game.
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