NEC AVENUE/SEGA

9 DECEMBER 1988

One of the first of Sega's revolutionary 'super scaler' machines and my favourite arcade game of all time, Space Harrier is pure mindless blasting fun. Set in a bizarre fantasy world very much influenced by movies such as 'The Never Ending Story', you control a lone warrior equipped with a flying cannon - your mission to destroy everything in sight. Enemies come in all shapes and sizes: scaly wormlike dragons, rock heads, giant robots and bouncing octopus-like creatures - the imagination gone into the graphic design is top rate. Now and again the flying-into-the-screen action is split up with bonus stages where you ride on a dragon's back, trying to guide him into obstacles for points. Also, there are several levels where a ceiling drops down from above and you have to dodge wave after wave of increasingly fast pillars and other ground/sky objects. These levels are definitely the most heart-pounding, especially when floating rocks are shooting towards you almost faster than you can react!

Converting from a game that requires so much scaling is often a dodgy business, but NEC Avenue have pulled off this conversion with great success. Although the graphics are generally a little smaller than the arcade and a tad messy in places, the scaling is far better than expected for a HuCARD and there is little or no clash to be seen. The checkerboard floor has unfortunately gone, which is a big shame, to be replaced by a less interesting colour -cycled ground. Sound is generally good, but while the sound effects very faithful to the original, the fantastic Space Harrier music is arranged a little too lightly at times and I dislike the white-noise drums that NEC Avenue insist on using in all their games. All the speech samples from the arcade are included too, albeit very scratchy.

Space Harrier is simplistic blasting fun. And that, rather than a weakness, is where it's strengths lie. Forget pretentious storylines, forget fancy power-ups, this is pure gameplay and this is heart pounding fun. The thrill from narrowly missing towers or rocks is just as powerful here as it was in the arcade and it rockets along at such a speed on later levels that you'll be luck if your heart doesn't jump out of your mouth. For some people, they may get bored with it fairly quickly, but it's the kind of game that you can put on for a quick blast every now and again, and you'll be playing it for years to come and enjoying it just the same.