Space Harrier (Arcade) - Let's Play 1001 Games - Episode 26
15This game raises a lot of questions...
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I'm Gaming Jay: Youtube gamer, let's player, retrogaming fan, and determined optimist... Join me in this series while I try out EVERY game in the book 1001 VIDEO GAMES YOU MUST PLAY BEFORE YOU DIE, before I die. The game review for each game will focus on the question of whether you MUST play this game before you die. But to be honest, the game reviews are just for fun, this series is more about the YouTube gamer journey. Let's try out those classic retro games we grew up with, have fond memories of, or heard of but never got a chance to try! And with that said, the game review for today is...
Space Harrier
Released 1985
Developer(s) Sega
Platform(s) Arcade
Genre(s) Rail Shooter, Third-Person Shooter
Jay's Thoughts
Space Harrier is a classic arcade game that had the player take the role of some kind of space commando who was hurdling across a planet's surface at breakneck speeds. What's crazy is that he normally is flying by jetpack but if he gets close enough to the ground he starts to run... at the same speed as the jetpack! Truly, this man is superhuman... or just really determined.
So what kind of enemies are you fighting? Rocks. Space Dragons. Mushrooms. Robots. Glowing balls. You know, the usual. Space Harrier is truly one of those old games that doesn't really make a lot of sense. But it's still kind of fun. The mechanics of moving around and shooting stuff are pretty straightforward. My real complaint with this game is that you're moving so fast that it's frequently really easy to run into things and die. And oh yeah, 1-hit deaths. This was definitely an arcade game that existed to get your quarters.
The one last thing worth mentioning is that as weird as the world of Space Harrier is, supposedly it takes place in the Fantasy Zone, which is the same setting for another Sega series called Opa Opa (or Fantasy Zone, depending on the game). Why is this weird? Because Opa Opa games are NOTHING like Space Harrier. They are more like a weird cross between Pac Man and Space Invaders with Mario-era graphics. Essentially, the game taking place in the same universe as Opa Opa really just raises more questions than it answers. But hey, that's how video games were back in the day. It don't gotta make sense if it's fun!
Space Harrier seems like a game that really would've been an experience in the arcade, as the original arcade cabinets were semi-enclosed ships you could sit in, with the screen and the scrolling creating the illusion that you were hurdling along the surface of the planet along with your character. However, playing this outside such a cabinet leaves you with a tough and frantic game where it's hard to make any real progress before dying randomly. You can credit-feed your way to victory but that's not terribly fun in the end. As a result, unless you get a chance to play one of the original arcade cabinets, this is a game I would recommend skipping.
➙ Must You Play It?
Space Harrier is a game that involves you flying around shooting tons of random enemies at break-neck speeds. The gameplay is simple and, to be honest, repetitive. If you get a chance to play one of the original arcade cabinets then this is a game that might make for a fun experience, but otherwise, this is one that could easily be skipped.