Released by Sega into the arcades in 1985, and designed by the legendary Yu Suzuki, Space Harrier is a shoot-em-up that ditched the horizontal or vertical views of most games at the time, and put the viewpoint right behind the player. Featuring a flight stick to emulate piloting a jet fighter, players

take control of the “Harrier“, a blond guy wearing a red shirt and blue pants.

Through means left entirely unexplained, the Harrier can fly over the landscape at incredible speed. Armed only with a huge cannon, he rushes forward, destroying the bizarre, dangerous creatures of Dragon Land. It wasn’t the first game to use this technology – Space Harrier is predated by Sega’s own 1982 3D shooter Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom – but it’s a huge technological improvement, and manages to look extremely impressive even today.

The action is remarkably simple: just fly, dodge, and shoot back. Even though there’s no targeting crosshair, aiming is remarkably easy, as you only need to shoot in the general vicinity of a foe to hit them. Bad guys also shoot directly at the Harrier, so as long as you keep moving and don’t backtrack over your previous position, you won’t get hit. All the while, you’ll be maneuvering the Harrier between stone columns, stationary poles, and various kinds of plants. While you’ll usually only trip over bushes and rocks, smacking into a tree spells certain death (the original arcade release also has a glitch where you’ll shoot right through bushes, though most later ports fix this).

The trippy backgrounds are a trademark of Space Harrier. The ground consists of a flat checkerboard which changes color every stage. The sky switches between from bright blue to the yellow of dusk, to the pink atmosphere of some otherworldly planet. Across the horizons are alien buildings and landscapes which fall and rise after the completion of each stage. A few levels even feature a ceiling, giving a hallucinatory feeling of claustrophobia. There are 18 stages total.

The enemies in Dragon Land are extremely creative and distinctive. The Harrier fights one-eyed mammoths, bulbous yellow squids, stone heads, and orbs that resemble cybernetic peanuts. Amidst all of the bizarre enemies are more standard types, like jets and flying mecha (which are basically the Doms from Mobile Suit Gundam), although even these designs are still incredibly cool looking. But the most impressive foes are the dragons, usually taking the role of the level boss. Each of these consists of a head and several segments which, in motion, gives the appearance of long, floating Chinese dragons. Their visage is reminiscent of Falkor the Luck Dragon from the movie The Neverending Story.

Keeping control over the Harrier, all while dodging and firing amidst the wild colors, is the kind of glorious chaos that is representative of the best in 1980s arcade gaming. The stages have strange names like Moot, Geeza, Minia, Parm and Absymbel, that help create a distinctive and thoroughly memorable game world. There are also a few bonus stages, where the Harrier hops on the back of a white dragon named Uriah. Although he’s hard to control, Uriah is invincible, and the goal is simply to smash as much of the landscape as possible.

Space Harrier’s theme song is incredible, composed by famed Sega musician Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and easily ranks as one of the most memorable in gaming. It only fades out during boss fights or special stages, but it’s long enough that it never gets tiring. There’s also the encouraging voice over, which yells “Welcome to the Fantasy Zone! Get Ready!“ or proclaims “You’re doing great!“ after the end of each level. Even after dying, as your Harrier screams in agony and falls to the ground, a friendly message pops up that says “Many more battle scenes will soon be available!“ as he picks himself off the ground and returns to battle.

Given its popularity, it’s natural that Space Harrier would be ported to every possible platform. Unfortunately, given the advanced hardware of Sega’s bespoke Space Harrier arcade board, there was no home system at the time that could pull off the scaling effects necessary to replicate the sense of speed found in the original. Not only that, but the analog control needed to be ditched in favor of digital, which greatly alters the gameplay.

The first console port was to Sega’s own Master System. The pace had to be stifled quite a bit for the 8-bit machine to keep up, and the scrolling is much choppier. Still, the huge enemies manage to impress. For the most part, the enemies and levels are comparable to the arcade version. Sega added an additional final boss named Haya-Oh (named after Hayao Nakayama, the then-president of Sega) and a real ending – which is much better than the arcade version, which simply showed up a huge “The End“ sign. Also hidden is the ability to play as a jet fighter and a secret message that urges players to write to Sega giving their opinions.

The Game Gear port is based on the Master System release. Due to the smaller screen size some of the proportions had to be changed, so the Harrier is much bigger. The enemy sprites have been altered to appear more organic. Some of the level names have been changed as well, and there are only 12 stages in total. A password function also allows players to skip to later levels. Despite running on the same hardware as the Master System, the music has been rearranged.

Takara ported Space Harrier to the Famicom. While the scrolling is smoother than the SMS port, the Harrier moves incredibly slowly. There’s a whole bunch of flicker, and all of the sprites are smaller. They couldn’t even fit any of the voices in. The enemy arrangement is based on the Master System version, so it has the additional final boss.

NEC Avenue and Dempa brought Space Harrier to the TurboGrafx-16. It’s smoother than the other 8-bit console ports, but it still doesn’t feel quite right, and it both looks and sounds ugly. The checkerboard floor is also gone.

Dempa also took care of the computer ports in Japan. The versions on the PC-6001 and the PC-8801 are the worst looking iterations out there. While the Harrier is a low-color sprite (as are the enemies in the latter version), everything else, including the clouds, trees and bullets, are just featureless colored rectangles. And yet despite how awful it looks (or perhaps because of this), it keeps up the speed, and actually plays more smoothly than most of the European computer ports.

The Sharp MZ and X1 conversions are slight steps up, though most everything still looks like colored blotches. The Fujitsu FM-7 version looks decent and plays alright. The X68000 port is by far the best of these, with smooth animation and almost completely faithful gameplay, though the checkerboard floor has been removed in favor of scrolling bars. All of these computer versions have slightly different but excellent soundtracks. The X68000 version features Haya-Oh, the SMS ending, and a new credits sequence, along with two new music tracks.

Elite handled the home computer ports for Europe and North America. The version for the

Commodore 64 is too fast and choppy, though the music is decent. The European version is slightly better, being that the floor has a scrolling effect, whereas it’s just a solid color in the American release. The ZX Spectrum version is sluggish and hideously colored. The Amstrad version looks nicer, though while the Harrier is a detailed sprite, the enemies and objects are simple wireframes.

The IBM PC version looks alright, but the animation is still very choppy, and the speed feels off. The Amiga and Atari ST versions are the best of these, with faithful graphics and good animation which isn’t quite as smooth as the arcade version, but far more playable than its brethren. However, due to the size, it had to be split into two separate games – Space Harrier and Space Harrier: Return to the Fantasy Zone.

It wasn’t until the 32X in 1992 that Space Harrier finally came home in nearly arcade perfect form, but it only runs at 30 FPS. The Saturn version was released five years later as part of the Sega Ages line, and is very nearly arcade perfect. It came out on a single disc in Japan, and was bundled together with OutRun and After Burner II for the Western release. It includes true analog control to mimic the original arcade game.

Space Harrier is also playable in both Shenmue titles for the Dreamcast and Xbox. It’s missing some of the customization options of the other ports, but if you can beat the game in one credit, you get a certificate from the arcade owner in the first Shenmue.

The Game Boy Advance version was featured as part of the Sega Arcade Gallery collection, ported by Bits Studio. Although it looks fine on the outset, it’s badly programmed, and just doesn’t feel right.

Space Harrier saw a remake on the PlayStation 2 under the Sega Ages 2500 series. The

entire game has been redone with polygons, but the whole makeover looks rather cheap, with jaggy visuals and low resolution textures. The redesigned look of the Harrier is lousy, with his silly goggles and spiky blond hair. The graphics lose much of the bright color that made the original so attractive, but since the objects here are actual 3D objects instead of 2D sprites, it gives a better impression of depth and scale. In the original game, all of the boss dragons were made out of individual segments that scrolled in unison, giving the illusion of a flying beast. Here, they actually look like dragons. There’s no option for analog control, sadly.

The remixed music tracks are quite good, and the new announcer spouts more ridiculous phrases, like “Get busy, Harrier! Dragon Land is screaming!“ There’s also now a lock-on laser similar to Panzer Dragoon, along with a limited-use rapid fire button. You can also get bombs to clear the screen, but these make the boss battles far too easy.

The new “Fractal Mode“ turns off the classic checkerboard pattern and replaces it with a texture map, which looks pretty ugly. It also changes certain parts of the level so you can’t run on them and need to fly. Additionally, there are a few extra tunnel stages, where you zoom through an enclosed tube. These would have been cooler had they not pasted the same low-res textures on the walls. Both the PS2 and the Japan-only Sonic Cafe mobile releases change the robots to look less like Doms.

There is also an almost arcade-perfect port of Space Harrier available on the Space Harrier II Complete Collection for the PS2. Since the analog stick on the Dual Shock is much better than the Saturn controller, this is the best way to go. The arcade version is unlockable in Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but the scaling effects are dodgy, and the audio is too high pitched.

In 2011, a hobbyist programmer named Chris Hutt ported Space Harrier to the Atari 8-bit computers. It’s a true work of art, because it’s better than the official computer ports that came out in the 1980s, with excellent visuals, fast action, and smooth gameplay. It is free to download.

In 2012, 3D Space Harrier was released for the 3DS. Ported by M2, it features 3D visuals and widescreen. There’s a mode to simulate the moving cabinet of the arcade game that tilts the screen back and forth, complete with simulated gyro noises. Also included is a stage select and Haya-Oh as a hidden final boss, along with a new track by Manabu Namiki for the final battle.

Space Harrier 3D is not merely a remake of Space Harrier with 3D effects, rather it’s a new title created to take advantage of the Master System’s 3D shutter glasses. The effect is pretty remarkable – although nothing flies out of the screen, it gives the playing field a sense of depth that is incredibly cool.

The unfortunate tradeoff is that the scrolling and movement is even choppier than it was in the Master System version of the first game. Since it’s harder to judge enemy and projectile motion, it’s also far more difficult than the original, and not in a good way.

Still, it is an interesting experience, even if the fundamental gameplay hasn’t changed all that much. There’s a whole new array of monsters, including gigantic mechs and ferocious flying samurai. There are a few more obstacles to avoid, like indestructible bouncing balls and rods that seem small at a distance but grow to full length as you approach them. Some of the color schemes used in the later levels (especially the dark red and pitch black) are a far cry from the pastels of the original, leading to an atmosphere that feels more oppressive than fantastical.

The plot is that Uriah, the good dragon from the first game, has been kidnapped, and it’s up to you to save him. This accounts for why the bonus stages are gone. The Space Harrier main theme is back, along with a handful of new songs. The Japanese version also supports FM synth.

There is an option to turn off the 3D functionality, although it requires that you play the game to get a high score, then enter a code to enable the selection. Both the PlayStation 2 port and certain emulators allow you to turn off the 3D effect from the beginning, in addition to viewing the game with the traditional red-blue glasses used in other media for years. Although a lot of the visual impact is lost, it’s the only way to really get the experience without shelling out for the actual hardware.

Space Harrier II was one of the first titles for both the Mega Drive and Sega Genesis when released in their respective territories. The game was planned by Kotaro Hayashida (creator of Alex Kidd) rather than Yu Suzuki.

Not much has changed from its predecessor, other than offering 13 new stages, along with a handful of new enemies. The coolest of these are a three-headed turtle, a winged tiger, and the penultimate foe, the Dark Harrier. Boss fights are heralded with a darkened playing field and some lightning cracks in the distance – one of the few new special effects. You can choose your starting level at the outset, although you still need to conquer all of the stages to beat it.

The dragon bonus stages are gone, and are instead replaced with levels where you ride on top of a jet. It’s pretty much like a regular level (except you’re invincible), which is under-whelming. The new main theme, composed by Tokuhiko Uwabo, is actually pretty catchy, even though it doesn’t quite hold a candle to the original. Some of the sound effects are also a bit odd, as if the programmers hadn’t quite mastered the Genesis’ sound chip.

Although the 16-bit hardware was able to replicate other arcade titles like Altered Beast, the lack of any scaling meant that it still wasn’t quite capable of delivering an arcade-like experience. The scrolling is definitely smoother than the 8-bit ports of the first game, and the horizon view actually changes as you move up and down, but it’s still choppy and ultimately somewhat clumsy. When it was released, this was acceptable, but with the numerous quality ports of its predecessor now available, Space Harrier II is really not up to par.

Although Space Harrier II was originally released on the Mega Drive, it was ported to numerous computer platforms in Europe. The quality of these ports is about the same as the ones developed for the original game. The Amstrad version has filled-in sprites but the speed is slower. The Atari ST and Amiga ports are very close to the Mega Drive version. The music conversions by Matt Furniss are quite excellent.

In 2000 Sega resurrected Space Harrier with a completely new arcade game, Planet Harriers. This update plays much more similarly to Panzer Dragoon than any of the old Space Harrier titles.

The stages are fully defined, rather than blank landscapes, through the scrolling is rather slow. The jet-equipped main character can dash and spin around the screen, all while aiming a targeting reticule. Weapons include both a regular shot and a lock-on laser. You can earn gold to buy life replenishments, lock-on fuel (to increase the number of enemies you can target at once), barriers, and additional power bombs. The game was also distributed in two-player sit-down cabinets. If playing with another person the two players can share energy and increase each other’s life meter.

Due to technical restraints the original Space Harrier was reduced to checkerboard patterns. Now with more powerful hardware, Planet Harriers expands extensively on the universe. The graphic designs mix futuristic sci-fi landscapes with gorgeous and luscious environments, including forested canyons and ice caverns. The final stage takes place in hyperspace, against the backdrop of several colorful galaxies. It’s never quite as trippy as the old games, but it’s still classy. Unfortunately there are only five stages in total.

It also has a rather strange sense of humor, which manifests in the playable characters. The new Harriers include Cory, a nurse with a gigantic syringe; Nick, a baseball player; X, a rock star with a guitar; and Glenn, the “normal“ guy. Opa-Opa from Fantasy Zone is available as a hidden character, and he also shows up during gameplay to resurrect players when continuing. The exaggerated running animations while on the ground are also quite comical.

It’s all rather weird, but it keeps some elements from the older games, seeing as the first-level boss is a multi-headed dragon. The final boss is also incredibly cool, as it’s composed from a series of cubes that take on different forms, similar to Seven Force in Gunstar Heroes. In addition to shapes like guns and grenades, it’ll occasionally turn into the Dreamcast logo.

Planet Harriers runs on Sega’s Hikaru board, which also ran Cyber Troopers Virtual On 4 and Star Wars Racer Arcade. Most of the music is, unfortunately, largely forgettable electronica. It’s a pretty cool game which, alas, never saw a home release. There were rumors of Dreamcast and Gamecube ports, but unfortunately nothing ever came to fruition.

Typing Space Harrier

Original Release: 2002

Platforms: PC

Following Sega’s masterpiece Typing of the Dead, itself a spin-off from House of the Dead, someone decided it would be cool to combine Space Harrier with a typing tutor. So it’s much like watching someone play a game of Space Harrier, except when enemies pop onto the screen, you need to type some Japanese words (in Romaji) to shoot them down. Type too slowly and you’ll get killed. Quick single letters will also occasionally pop up.

Space Harrier in Bayonetta

The 2010 Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 title Bayonetta, developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega, is filled with all manner of classic Sega fan service throughout. During an early cutscene in a car, one of the songs from OutRun is played on the radio. Chapter 08 has a section on a motorcycle, which is tangentially similar to Hang-On, and also plays a song from After Burner.

In Chapter 14, Bayonetta and her crew hop onto a missile, where you then proceed to play a minigame which is exactly like Space Harrier. In the cutscene that introduces this segment, Bayonetta proclaims, “Welcome to my fantasy zone. Get ready!“, before taking off over the sea. The enemy sound effects and patterns should be familiar, and the music is, of course, an arrangement of the original Space Harrier theme song. One of the boss creatures you fight in this section is even a long-bodied dragon.

Space Harrier Hacks

The X68000 version of Space Harrier was easily hacked by amateur gamers, resulting in a number of variations with different sprites and sound effects.

Some of these include (clockwise from top-left): Rumic Harrier, with characters from Rumiko Takahashi manga like Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2; Otaku Harrier, where all sprites are now mecha from famous anime; Street Harrier, starring Ryu from the first Street Fighter but also featuring lots of other Sega icons (during bonus stages Ryu does a handstand on the After Burner jet, and the spinning diamonds are now tumbling OutRun cars); and Harrier Desse, which stars a flying squirrel, steals many enemies from Dragon Quest, and is otherwise cartoonishly bizarre.