Space Harrier 2 - Boss Rush (No Damage/Death, Hard Mode)
58Space Harrier 2's boss rush was one of the first videos I uploaded to YouTube. That was 14 years ago now (sheesh), so why not re-record that so you get nice shiny HD footage of a 32 year old game.
It was also the very first video game I ever beat as a kid, and whilst I don't think its a particular great game (the first one is objectively better), it still holds a soft spot in my heart for the Megadrive's janky attempt at replicating a faux-3d game.
It also comes with the world's easiest stage select - just hit left or right to select your starting stage. This doesn't let you skip stages though, you must still beat every stage, and once you clear stage 12, you go back to stage 1 and do any levels you hadn't yet beaten. I've found this is the my best way of clearing this game with both a high-score and a large stock of lives - defeating the two hardest levels out of the gate since the earliest stages allow you to refill said stock of lives.
Once all 12 stages are cleared, you face stage 13 - the boss rush. You face all end of stage bosses, although some have minor timing changes (Trimuller for some reason fires far fewer projectiles in the boss rush than he did in stage 1, Neo Dom is conversely much more chaotic than the first time.)
Clear the boss rush to fight the final enemy, and there you go!
A lot of the bosses aren't particularly difficult, but a few can get pretty close to taking Harrier down. Certain bosses are on a time limit, and failing to kill them in time will result in them running away - taking their score with them.
Noteworthy bosses are:
Trimuller - The first boss you learn to quick kill - the timing is pretty tight to do so though.
Neo Dom - Once one of the robots falls, they will try and bull rush you - if you haven't distributed damage between them fairly evenly, you will be left with no room to dodge. Try to spread the love before finally taking one down. Once the robots have bull rushed you, they escape.
Mantichora - The hitbox is a bit wonky when he rushes you, so playing chicken with his dash is rather fun.
Wizard - He's easy, but only the entity that is actively firing at you can take damage. He has only 9 HP overall, so single shots are more effective.
Medusa - Probably the game's signature boss - she appears on the box art and in a lot of the original marketing.
Neo Tomos - By far the most tricky - and chaotic - boss in the game. Stray shots are a nuisance and even killing them is a challenge - as they run away very shortly after they appear.
Bins Been - Poor thing, its trying its best.
Love Face - This Sigma-lookalike is pretty easy once you know the timing to dodge his split. Good name.
Dark Harrier - Fairly chaotic - and his twirling energy rush has a deceptively large (and square) hitbox. He's also on a timer, but damage directly reduces it - so you almost never seem to land the final blow. Still, this guy is a challenge.
0:00 Title
0:36 Trimuller
0:51 Paranoia
1:24 - Brizard
1:45 Neo Dom
2:08 Mantichora
2:40 Wizard
3:15 Medusa
3:59 Neo Tomos
4:18 Cragon
4:47 Bins Been
5:05 Love Face
5:38 Cthugha
6:10 Final Boss - Dark Harrier
7:05 Ending & Credits
I'm still figuring out what games I can, and cannot physically play. A lot of it is based on how repetitive the controls are. In Space Harrier's case, it comes with a rapid-fire built in, so that's handy.
Other Videos By ACESpark
Other Statistics
Space Harrier II Statistics For ACESpark
Currently, ACESpark has 67,312 views for Space Harrier II across 3 videos. Less than an hour worth of Space Harrier II videos were uploaded to his channel, less than 0.50% of the total video content that ACESpark has uploaded to YouTube.