Here there be dragons! Or should that be demons? Perhaps PAUL MELLERICK doesn’t remember this classic coin-op as well as he thought.

Walk into any arcade these days and the first thing to catch your eye are the big cabinets with fancy hydraulic systems. Not just a gimmick to attract customers (honest!), they also give a new dimension to gameplay.

This all started back in the mid-’80s with Space Harrier from Sega (who else?), who’ve since become the most innovative arcade coin-op manufacturers. Believe it or not, you can now play Space Harrier on your humble Game Gear!

The most amazing thing about the arcade original was the fast scrolling and ‘shoot, shoot, then shoot some more’ gameplay. The idea’s no more original than any other shoot-‘em-up but the angle’s a new one: you run and fly straight ahead on a continuously scrolling play area while creatures of all descriptions fly at you. Armed only with a light phaser gun, you must kill EVERYTHING.

Superlative shoot- ‘em-up

There are 12 stages, each with a BIG end-of-level guardian to kill. Levels four and eight are bonus stages, where you’re picked up and must ride the guardian, collecting items on the way. Stage I 12 puts you up against all the end-of-level baddies you’ve just fought (tough, eh?!).

I held severe doubts whether the Game Gear could handle a game like Space Harrier. I was wrong: GG Harrier is amazingly close to the original. The graphics look like they’re from a Mega Drive and the scrolling’s the speediest and smoothest ever seen. The creatures are colourful and move fast even when there are many objects onscreen. But gameplay’s where a game lives or dies and this is GREAT, loads of tough, fast shooting — the action never lets up. Anyone who lacks blasting action for their Game Gear should buy this straight away. In fact, so should everyone else!

PAUL

Producer

Sega

MD

TBA

GG

Out now

Memory

128K

Players

1

Price

£24.99

SF Rating

Presentation

88% - No options, handy passwords

Visuals

94% - Colourful and fast 3D scrolling

Sonics

68% - Cute tunes that don’t fit the game

Playability

92% - Blasting action

Lastability

93% - Passwords kill the boredom

92%

Great action, great conversion, great game

Rating

92

Reviewer

Sega Force magazine

Region

UK

Scans

Sega Force - Issue 03

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