SEGA's arcade 3D shooter brought to the IBM-PC. The arcade game was
fantastic for its time (1985) and mainly lived from its great graphics
and sounds. Most conversions were unable to capture anything from it,
and Space Harrier is no exception, although unique gameplay still makes it better than many games of that period.
Space Harrier is a shooter where you, as Space Harrier, must
fly through the Land of Dragons to defeat the evil beings who would
dare put the dragons in peril. You do this by flying straight at them
with a big cannon, and what a cannon it is. Not only does it have
unlimited ammo, but it appears to have a "happy face" on the back (two
dots for eyes and a curved area for a smile).
Was this smile a happy nod to the game's beautiful graphics,
explosions, and intense action? Before the days of first-person shooters
where you could sneak up on your opponents, Space Harrier let
you take control of a guy running and flying directly into other foes
who used the same tactic, leading to some frenzied clashes and more than
a few mid-air collisions. Although the checkered backgrounds make the
world look more like a surreal painting than an alien planet, the fact
that they constantly scroll straight at the player gives a sense of
speed, which is often good as a warning when navigating dangerous areas
with indestructible buildings. The double-checker levels like Ceiceil
are especially gratifying when the ceiling drops down, checkers flash
different colors on both floors, the scroll rate speeds up, and enemy
Binzbeans fill the screen. Extra details like different poses when at
different parts of the screen, explosive chain reactions when defeating
the largest bosses, and stumbling over the low weeds in the first levels
made the game something to behold. Then of course there were the levels
where the local dragon Euria decided to thank Space Harrier for lending
a hand. So how can this creature help a flying bazooka-man who has
everything? Give him a ride, of course. By jumping atop the big fuzzy
dragon in two bonus stages, you have the chance to demolish a variety of
objects, some of them otherwise indestructible in the game. If you and
Euria destroy enough, Harrier can get an extra life
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