Sega Ages 4: Space Harrier |
PS2 |
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Review by Rob O'Hara |
Sega |
Arcade |
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Graphics: 3 |
Sound: 3 |
Gameplay: 3 |
Overall: 3 |
![]() Sega recently updated Space Harrier's graphics and has released it as volume 4 in their Sega Ages 2500 series (a reference to the games price in Japan, 2500 yen). Currently the Sega Ages collections have only been released in Japan, so you're going to need a Japanese Playstation 2 (or some other less scrupulous method) to play this game elsewhere. As with all the other Sega Ages releases, while the graphics and sound have been revamped, gameplay is essentially the same. You control a guy with a big-ass gun -- the basis of many an exciting video game. In Space Harrier, your gun also has a rocket in the rear, giving you the option of flying around the screen or just running really really fast along the ground. This gun packs a hefty punch, and you're going to need it, because straight ahead are eighteen levels of things that want to kill you. Flying "into the screen" so to speak, Space Harrier was one of the first games to be marketed as "3D".
The control system is so easy that most children should be able to pick up and play the game. The left analog stick controls your character, while the square button shoots. That's it. The complexity of Space Harrier is delivered through it's level design and it's barrage of enemies, not the control system. It's been over fifteen years since I played Space Harrier in an arcade, so I honestly can't remember what the music and/or sound effects sounded like. On Sega Ages Volume IV, the game isn't that sonicly impressive. Simple sound effects and repetitive music cycle throughout gameplay. After playing Space Harrier for an hour or so, I'd have to say ... this game doesn't seem that exciting anymore. Shoot, move, shoot, move, shoot ... that pretty much sums it up. In 1985, quickly moving 3D graphics alone may have been enough to earn our quarters, but in 2003 it just doesn't cut it anymore. The graphics and sound aren't updated enough to make the game exciting any longer, which leaves the game to stand on it's gameplay -- which doesn't seem that exciting any longer either.
Sound: 3/10 Gameplay: 3/10 Overall Rating: 3/10 |