Space Harrier

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Space Harrier
System(s): Arcade (Sega Space Harrier Hardware), Acorn Electron, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 16, Commodore 64, Game Gear, NEC PC-6001, NEC PC-8801, Nintendo Famicom, Sega 32X, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn, Sharp MZ, Sharp X1, Sharp X68000, TurboGrafx-16, Virtual Console, ZX Spectrum
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega AM2
ESRB Sega PEGI

Space Harrier (スペースハリアー) is a successful rail shoot 'em up game developed by Yu Suzuki and Sega AM2 which makes use of Super Scaler technology. It has inspired numerous sequels.

In Space Harrier the player controls a blonde haired man with a jetpack and laser shooting at various objects and enemies while making sure not to get hit. There are 18 levels, each with a boss at the end, excluding the 5th and 12th levels which are bonus stages, and the 18th which is essentially a boss rush.

Space Harrier and its sequels are set in the "Fantasy Zone", the same setting as the arcade game with the same name. This relationship was explored further with the Sharp X68000 port of Fantasy Zone, which includes a Space Harrier level, and the cancelled TurbografX-16 title Space Fantasy Zone, which was a hybrid between the two games.

Ports and Rereleases

Space Harrier was ported to numerous consoles and computers including the Acorn Electron, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 16, Commodore 64, Game Gear, NEC PC-6001, NEC PC-8801, Nintendo Famicom, Sega 32X, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn, Sharp MZ, Sharp X1, Sharp X68000, TurboGrafx-16 and ZX Spectrum. It has also been included in numerous compilations, inlcuding the Game Boy Advance's Sega Arcade Gallery, the PlayStation 2's Sega Classics Collection and the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360's Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection. A remake and port was also released in Japan under the Sega Ages 2500 label.

The Sega Master System port was handled by Sega AM4, featuring a final boss which was absent from the Arcade verision. This version went on to inspire the exclusive Space Harrier 3D, and was one of the most popular games for the system during its lifespan. Most of the western computer ports were handled by Elite, and, like the Master System game, had to sacrifice the smooth scaling and framerate due to weaker hardware. The Japanese-only X68000 version would the only home copy of Space Harrier to feature perfect scaling until a Sega 32X port showed up in 1994, and later a Saturn port in 1995. Surprisingly the game was ported to extremely weak hardware such as the NEC-6001 and Sharp MZ computers, forcing the developers to reduce most of the graphics to coloured squares. Despite this, the digitized voices often remained in the game.

Space Harrier was even ported to the Nintendo Famicom by Takara (with many other Sega games being ported illegally by Tengen). Squaresoft's The NES game The 3D Battles of WorldRunner is often considered to have been heavily inspired by Space Harrier also.

The game was included as a minigame in both Shenmue and Shenmue II, and more recently the Master System version of the game was made available via the Wii's Virtual Console service in 2008, followed by a Virtual Console Arcade release a year later.