SEGA Master System

Space Harrier

Space Harrier does have a few flaws that keep it from greatness, but if you can overlook repetitive game play, similar level designs, and a few cheap deaths, then you are just the person Space Harrier is looking for. If you own a Master System and love 3D shooters, then there's no reason for you to delay picking this game up right now!

The second appearance of the Space Harrier series on the Virtual Console is just as disappointing as the first, and only highly nostalgic fans of this particular version should consider spending 500 Wii Points to download it. It's just unfortunate that that's the case, though, since Space Harrier is actually a capable classic game -- these emulated, downgraded ports just don't do the original concept justice. There is a more faithful conversion of Space Harrier that was released for the TurboGrafx-16 years ago, which could conceivably come to the VC itself some day in the future. And if it does, maybe it will prove to be more worth your while. But for now, stay away. Keep your Points saved for later, or else spend them on a different Master System title that doesn't make that machine look quite so bad.

Space Harrier is awful. It doesn't deserve any amount of interest because it sucks. It's one of the worst games I've ever played. I thoroughly enjoy suck, if it sucks right. But there are some games that just suck so bad they're not even enjoyable. This is one of those games. It's so bad on so many levels that it nearly defies imagination. Just look at how much I wrote up there, I couldn't believe it myself and I probably didn't cover everything.

Sorry, but there's no way you can do a game like this on the Master System. In Harrier, you control a man flying over a planet surface, shooting all types of monsters and objects that come over the horizon. The intense scaling really requires some hardware support. Heck, even the Genesis couldn't pull this off. The rough animation and obvious "shape stamping" makes the screen look like a total mess. The more objects you have on the screen, the more ugly and confusing it looks. Control is good, and there are a few voice sound effects, but overall this game is a lost cause. If you're looking for some fun arcade action, stay away from this.