History of: Space Harrier

[Melf]

Harrier has been around for over twenty years, yet hasn't had the exposure such an enduring series deserves. Maybe that has something to do with him only having four original games? Regardless, he's a true icon, and we've got a special retrospective of Sega's most famous flying man. Check out our latest installment (http://www.sega-16.com/Feature-%20Space%20Harrier%20History.htm) of History of series and see just how far Space Harrier has come.

[winona]

Hmm, taht planet harriers looked pretty cool. A bit slow scrolling though.

[atm55]

Great article, now I really can't wait for the next Space Harrier!

[ryosnk]

I understand that in Shenmue, space harrier is in the game (arcade section). Can I use my dc mission controller on space harrier arcade game?

[David J.]

Yeah, same with Yu Suzuki's gameworks.

[Drixxel]

Thumbs up to Space Harrier. One day, I will make a Space Harrier arcade machine mine..

The TurboGrafx-16 port has always been a personal favourite, but they all have their charms.

[ary incorparated]

sore the 32x didnt come out of its shell,it had many great arcade conversion after burner complete,space harrier virtua fighter,and could had darkstalker.its a bit lesser that sega just dropped the console very early because of the arrival of the flopping saturn,if there where more games for 32x,at least more arcade ports the system could atleast have a bit potential for those who try to like the system for what it is but that ends with a few good games.I personally liked to see a bit more games for it aswell,why was sega sooh stupid to quited it like a bomm,developers would make games for the system which is positive and sega wouldnt let em to make the 32x upp to date.look where it brought sega.Still have my love for sega game and consoles.

[Joe Redifer]

I am probably one of the biggest Space Harrier whores out there. It was my first Master System game back in 1987 or so when I chose an SMS over the NES. I worked so hard to beat that game and finally did. I beat the arcade version much to the amazement of bystanders as they watched me blow through stage 14. I've beaten just about every incarnation of Space Harrier there is, from the TurboGrafx-16 version to the 32X version to the Saturn version to the PS2 version(s) and beyond.

When Space Harrier 3D came out, it floored me. Not with its awesomeness, but with its insane difficulty! I still have yet to beat this game. No, red and blue 3D glasses will not work for this game UNLESS you play the import Sega Ages version on the PS2 called Space Harrier Collection or something like that. It has a 3D mode which uses the red and blue glasses and it works, but not as well as the LCD shutter goggles, obviously. The cool thing about the PS2 version is that it lets you play in 240p, which is progressive scan on any regular analog television, just like a real Master System!

Space Harrier 2 on the Genesis was a different story. Almost up until the release of the Genesis, magazine all over were writing about the hardware scaling and tracking features built into the machine. Of course, this was BS. But no mag printed anything like "Turns out the Genesis can't do hardware scaling. We suck for printing that it could." So when I powered up Space Harrier II for the first time, I was appalled at the lack of scaling and instead we had jumpy sprites. Ug. I do like the game though. It was the first game ever released in Japan for the Mega Drive. Very clear voices!

The 32X version was the first time I played a near-perfect home version of the arcade. I was so excited and it delivered in spades. I don't know why people complain about the 32X audio in this game, it is nearly 100% identical to the arcade in every way! It is very good! Check it out:

Click here to listen to 30 seconds of gameplay from the 32X version of Space Harrier. (http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/crap/32x.mp3)
Click here to listen to 30 seconds of gameplay from the Saturn version of Space Harrier, which is identical to the arcade. (http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/crap/saturn.mp3)

As you can hear the two versions are virtually identical with the exception of a bit better high frequency response in the Saturn version. Pretty damned good for a cartridge, I say! The only thing I would really complain about the 32X version would be the letterboxing (minor complaint) and the stuttering framerate/slowdown.

The PS2 version of Space Harrier raped my memories and I have yet to recover.

** Note to MELF: Sorry I did not see this thread even though I looked for it. Please delete the other thread. Thanks. :)