SPACE HARRIER is a very unusual shoot-em-up from the mind of Yu Suzuki, who would later go on to create classic games like SHENMUE. Its wonky but enjoyable gameplay, wacky sense of humour and over-the-top visuals cement it as an arcade game meant to grab your attention from the start, and it doesn't let go. Of course, it was later ported extensively like many games of its ilk, all of which varied in quality.
You play as an anonymous badass out to shoot aliens and - well, there's a deeper story than that, but let's be honest, who needs it when there are cyclops mammoths to be killed? The visual style of the game is very reminiscent of Square's 3D WORLD RUNNER - the ground is a two-colour checkerboard while you view your character from behind.
It basically takes the shoot-em-up stages from World Runner and makes a whole game out of them, something that would later inspire games like SIN AND PUNISHMENT. The controls, especially on PC, seem to be a bit twitchy, but hitboxes from far away are generous enough to make up for it.
The arcade version easily had the best gimmick going for it: you sat in a cockpit and maneuvered your character sitting down, which at the time was unheard of. While I've never had the chance to play the arcade version, it definitely looks fun. I remember playing the Super Nintendo version and thinking it was alright, and on PC I had a much better time. The first few levels are a bit tame, but afterwards it gets
really intense.
Easily the best part of SPACE HARRIER is the presentation. The colour and vibrance, not to mention the sprite scaling and (in the arcade version) digitized voices, really grab your attention, which while great for arcades seems a bit unneccessary on consoles and PC. It's still a pretty game though, and the sprites scale nicely for the time at least.
SPACE HARRIER is a classic in a very traditional sense - it doesn't hold up to way back in the day, but it's a monumental step in 3D worlds in gaming, as well as shooting games, arcade layouts and artistic style. It may not be the gem it was then, but if you can find a copy (or even, dare I say, download one?), or even find the hidden version in SHENMUE, it's worth a try just to see the grandaddy of SIN AND PUNISHMENT doing his thing.
