Space Harrier
| Developer: Sega | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Elite | Sound: |
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| Year: 1989 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Shoot’em up | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
5/10 | |
The Amiga adaptation of a legendary arcade title (1985) and the forerunner of 3D pre-rendered shooting games (Star Fox, Panzer Dragoon…). You control a character who flies around, shooting everywhere in a faux 3D flashy world, scrolling at breakneck speed.
It’s the kind of game that’s fascinating to watch as a spectator, but far less fun to actually play, given how demanding it is. On top of that, back in the day, when you had to insert five francs into the machine, only to get humiliated within seconds in front of a smug audience, it was enough to scar you for life.
Today, you’ve got no excuse. The arcade emulator lets you play it at home, no one’s going to laugh at you, and you can insert as many virtual five-franc coins as you like!
Despite the rather questionable quality of this conversion (and the option to play with a mouse), I fail to see the point of emulating anything other than the original. Note that on Amiga, part of the levels were chopped up, rewrapped, and served up as a second game: Space Harrier: Return to the Fantasy Zone. Its true sequel, Space Harrier 2, hit arcades in 1988 and arrived on Amiga two years later.
And for the genealogy: Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom (arcade, 1982).
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