27th March 2014, 9:04 PM
32X
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Space Harrier (Arcade mode, Easy, 5 lives per continue) - I first played 32X Space Harrier in emulation years ago, and it was one of the earlier games I bought after getting the system. It's one of my favorite rail shooters ever, no question, but I'd never managed to beat it before... but, after a solid week of playing the game frequently, I FINALLY managed it. It did require turning down the difficulty to the easiest setting, that is easy, 5 lives, and in Arcade mode, a mode you access with a cheatcode where you get 3 continues instead of two checkpoints with infinite continues; the last checkpoint is at level 13, and beating the last 5 levels without using up 5 lives was so hard that I eventually gave up and went over to arcade mode. Even that took quite some time to beat, but I'm really thrilled that I finally beat it! What a hard, hard game... amazing, but hard, even on "Easy".
Space Harrier is a classic Sega arcade game from the mid '80s, and it's one of their greatest rail shooters, right up there with Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon Orta on my list. The game has beautiful, colorful graphics, is full of interesting sprite work and weird enemies, and is fast, fun, and tough. This game requires both skill and luck to beat; it's more skill-based than After Burner (32X), but somehow is harder as well -- I beat 32X After Burner years ago. That game feels very random, but I had more luck getting through it based on chance. But in Space Harrier, luck will only get you so far; you'll need some, for some of the tough sections full of fast-oncoming obstacles, but skill is absolutely vital. Beating Space Harrier took a lot of learning and memorization, as I learned, and tried to replicate, what to do at each challenge. Among the 18 levels there are a nice variety of different level settings, and several different styles too. Level 17 was probably the hardest, but I died regularly at every level other than level 1 and the two bonus stages. Some were definitely harder than others, though; 13, the last of the three speed-dodging "tunnel" stages, is very tough for instance. So are levels 11 and 16; even in this game where I beat the game, I managed to die four times on level 11. Fortunately I had done better than usual in the first ten levels, and hadn't used a continue yet -- and then managed to do well after that too, and got to level 17 with two continues still left. That brings me to just about the only bad thing about this game, though: the last level. The last level is a boss rush, and I DID die there the first two times I reached it, but this time I got through it, and it's actually pretty easy. You just re-fight some of the bosses from the game (some of the bosses from the first 15 levels), and not even all of them, and they aren't much harder than before; their shots might move faster, but that's about it. And then there isn't even a new boss at the end! You just fight that same dragon boss again and that's it. Levels 16 and 17 had interesting, unique bosses who I thought I'd face again... but no. It's pretty odd, particularly considering how the level 16 'boss' flies away and can't even be attacked.... and then you never get a chance to defeat that mothership? Too bad. As a result I beat the game easily, and still had a continue plus several lives left at the end.
Apart from the lacking ending, though, Space Harrier is exceptional and absolutely one of my favorite rail shooters ever. With great graphics and great gameplay, it's one of the best games in the genre. The 32X port has a few downgrades visually, but they're very minor; this is an outstanding port and I have no issues with it. I wish that it saved your high scores, like newer ports do, but otherwise it's just about perfect. Incredible game, and I'm very happy to finally have beaten it!
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Space Harrier (Arcade mode, Easy, 5 lives per continue) - I first played 32X Space Harrier in emulation years ago, and it was one of the earlier games I bought after getting the system. It's one of my favorite rail shooters ever, no question, but I'd never managed to beat it before... but, after a solid week of playing the game frequently, I FINALLY managed it. It did require turning down the difficulty to the easiest setting, that is easy, 5 lives, and in Arcade mode, a mode you access with a cheatcode where you get 3 continues instead of two checkpoints with infinite continues; the last checkpoint is at level 13, and beating the last 5 levels without using up 5 lives was so hard that I eventually gave up and went over to arcade mode. Even that took quite some time to beat, but I'm really thrilled that I finally beat it! What a hard, hard game... amazing, but hard, even on "Easy".
Space Harrier is a classic Sega arcade game from the mid '80s, and it's one of their greatest rail shooters, right up there with Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon Orta on my list. The game has beautiful, colorful graphics, is full of interesting sprite work and weird enemies, and is fast, fun, and tough. This game requires both skill and luck to beat; it's more skill-based than After Burner (32X), but somehow is harder as well -- I beat 32X After Burner years ago. That game feels very random, but I had more luck getting through it based on chance. But in Space Harrier, luck will only get you so far; you'll need some, for some of the tough sections full of fast-oncoming obstacles, but skill is absolutely vital. Beating Space Harrier took a lot of learning and memorization, as I learned, and tried to replicate, what to do at each challenge. Among the 18 levels there are a nice variety of different level settings, and several different styles too. Level 17 was probably the hardest, but I died regularly at every level other than level 1 and the two bonus stages. Some were definitely harder than others, though; 13, the last of the three speed-dodging "tunnel" stages, is very tough for instance. So are levels 11 and 16; even in this game where I beat the game, I managed to die four times on level 11. Fortunately I had done better than usual in the first ten levels, and hadn't used a continue yet -- and then managed to do well after that too, and got to level 17 with two continues still left. That brings me to just about the only bad thing about this game, though: the last level. The last level is a boss rush, and I DID die there the first two times I reached it, but this time I got through it, and it's actually pretty easy. You just re-fight some of the bosses from the game (some of the bosses from the first 15 levels), and not even all of them, and they aren't much harder than before; their shots might move faster, but that's about it. And then there isn't even a new boss at the end! You just fight that same dragon boss again and that's it. Levels 16 and 17 had interesting, unique bosses who I thought I'd face again... but no. It's pretty odd, particularly considering how the level 16 'boss' flies away and can't even be attacked.... and then you never get a chance to defeat that mothership? Too bad. As a result I beat the game easily, and still had a continue plus several lives left at the end.
Apart from the lacking ending, though, Space Harrier is exceptional and absolutely one of my favorite rail shooters ever. With great graphics and great gameplay, it's one of the best games in the genre. The 32X port has a few downgrades visually, but they're very minor; this is an outstanding port and I have no issues with it. I wish that it saved your high scores, like newer ports do, but otherwise it's just about perfect. Incredible game, and I'm very happy to finally have beaten it!
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