Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 20: Space Harrier II: Space Harrier Complete Collection may not be in any danger of claiming the shortest game title award but the slightly odd headlining of Space Harrier II, the Japanese Mega Drive launch game nobody thinks of if they hear the words “Space Harrier“, probably helps to distinguish (and distance) this set from the 2500 Series’ earlier 3D remake of the arcade classic.
What we’ve been given this time around isn’t any sort of remake but a celebratory twentieth anniversary collection containing every significant Sega made/owned version Space Harrier ever created, with a dose of Space Harrier II on top.
As tempting as it is to rush straight to the disc when offered such delights, I’d like to spend a little time talking about the game’s pleasantly thick manual first. Its got all the usual helpful bits and pieces—control schemes and so on—and once you’ve flipped past those you’ll find a section towards the back laden with treasure. There’s a multi-page interview with Yu Suzuki to read, as well as messages from several notable figures and key staff members, including Yuji Naka (listed here as the main programmer of Space Harrier’s Mark III—that’s the Master System by another name—port) and Hiro, who wrote the arcade game’s timeless music. There are also several photos of the “rolling type” (moving) arcade cabinet in there too, helpfully displayed next to its technical specifications and physical dimensions so you can work out exactly how much space you’ll need to make at home before you exhaust a credit card or three buying yourself one of these iconic machines. It’s a manual most people will learn something new from, and those who are sure they know it all already can still enjoy the clean and crisp artwork frequently found throughout, and appreciate the enormous amount of love that’s been poured into the paperwork.
As far as the games go, I thought we may as well tackle them in the order they’re listed on the game select menu, which means we start with Space Harrier II, the newest (1988) game in this set.
I’ve never been all that keen on Space Harrier II, but I ended up appreciating it much more after spending some time with this PlayStation 2 port. Giving the game pride of place in an impeccably made collection gave me the chance to look at it afresh, free from the grimy baggage of finding it exclusively in battered bargain bins, a perpetually outdated cart on a console filled with classics, or something mentioned only to fill out more modern digital sale lists. I ended up having a great time. Is it my new favourite Space Harrier? No. But did I get to see—really see—through fresh eyes all the game does right (the dramatic lightning flashes preceding a boss battle, for example) from its extremely disadvantaged position as a game made to expand upon an arcade legend while selling an entirely new console at the same time? Definitely.
Each game in the collection offers a range of tweakable settings, including the ability to display the currently running game at 480i/240p/480p, with the option to slightly stretch the image if you want to make sure it covers every last available pixel on your screen, and new control options bring finger-saving autofire to the games that didn’t have it, as well as the ability to invert Harrier’s direction and assign movement to the d-pad or either analogue stick.
Each game also comes with its own gallery stuffed with manuals, flyers, and more too. These are all presented in a very high resolution for the hardware, making it possible to zoom in to read all the text and get a close look at the smallest details. Every image is accompanied by a brief header, so you always know exactly what it is you’re looking at.
In Space Harrier II’s case the gallery not only includes the expected cover art (that’s the full front/spine/back as a single flat image) for the Japan/US/EU regions, but also the Japanese cartridge sticker art as a single flat image. The full US manual’s in there too, as well as a clean version of the cover artwork. It’s a good mix of practical preservation “here’s the box to go with the game you’re playing” and unique titbits that would otherwise only be found in Sega’s archives, and it’s well worth spending some time looking through them all.
Next up is the game everyone came for: Space Harrier, available to play here in its original arcade, Mark III, and—secretly—Game Gear forms.
Any time spent with the arcade version swiftly reminds you just how glorious Sega’s fantasy zone is, every stage an astonishing mix of organic and angular shapes drenched with colour. This port is so spot on it somehow manages to bring back not just the look but also the awe of Space Harrier, of sitting down in an arcade for the first time and watching these bizarre alien forms fly towards you. It’s wonderful.
Equally lovely is the support for both of Hori’s gorgeous USB flight sticks, so you can control the arcade game in as authentic a manner as is reasonably possible. Looking at the current prices of those sticks I’ll probably never get to use this control method myself, but it makes me happy to know that I could if I had one.
I’m also glad this recreation of the arcade experience allows you to throw as many virtual coins into the machine as you please, eschewing any (well-intentioned) attempts to restrict your play in favour of the sugar-rush of excitement and awe the game was always supposed to bring. You don’t need to master Space Harrier, you just need to be given the tools to enjoy the ride.
You don’t need to—but somebody obviously did. If you ever wanted a stranger to confirm you’ve been playing Space Harrier wrong your entire life, just watch the prerecorded super play found in the arcade game’s option menu. Sadly any chance of learning from this silent expert’s technique is hobbled by the lack of features here; you can’t fast forward or skip to specific sections, so if you just wanted to see how they handled a particular stage or boss you’d have to watch everything before it first and then hope you memorised the whole thing because you’re not seeing it again unless you watch the entire run from the beginning. It’s the only real slip-up in the entire collection.
Clearing arcade mode—whether in one flawless go or through stubborn credit feeding—unlocks a little bonus extra: the chance to take a look at scans of Space Harrier’s hand-pencilled sheet music. They even went so far as to include scans of the backs of these sheets too, just to show the scribbles and fragmented ideas sketched on them. Engaging with any part of this collection really does feel like you’ve been given the keys to the world’s greatest Space Harrier museum.
The Mark III version of Space Harrier is clearly a step down from the original in every way, and that’s part of its charm. Coming straight off the original game you can see where all the differences and compromises are, using them to make educated guesses about the tricks required to bring this valiant approximation of the game to life, little hints remaining in the clashes when objects layer over one another and the plain coloured boxes surrounding the incoming sprites.
The settings for this one allow you to toggle between FM and PSG sound as best suits your ears, and there’s also an option to play as the jet without having to remember the old cheat (although you’re still free to unlock these features the old fashioned way if you’d prefer).
Space Harrier’s Mark III gallery includes a cute secret, almost as a special treat for taking the time to stick with it to the very end. The last image is of the Japanese Master System’s Space Harrier style start up screen, the one you see when you power on the system without a game inside. The descriptive banner for this image ends with an unusual comment: “If you press the Start button…” and if you give that off command a go the game boots up the real thing, background stars synchronised to the music and all. I was overjoyed when I saw it: if that’s not going above and beyond purely out of love for the project and everything within it, then I don’t know what is.
The Game Gear port shown above is hidden away, accessed by holding right until “Game Gear” appears in Space Harrier’s System Menu’s “Machine” setting. This one is… it’s impressive work for the hardware but I have to admit I found it a bit hard on my eyes whether I used the original display setting with the large black border or the zoomed-in alternative. Still, even this tiny secret includes a full range of options and its own gallery stuffed with Japanese and US scans as well as the original logo-free artwork, and on balance I’d rather have it here and not play it than see the game left behind.
Last but certainly not least is Space Harrier 3D (Mark III). This ambitious title mercifully defaults to 2D on boot (unlike the original cart) which on the one hand mutes the game’s main selling point but on the other saves everyone from accidental headaches. New for this version of the game is a classic red/blue 3D mode, and to prevent this from being a simple novelty eyesore every copy of the game came with a small envelope containing red/blue cellophane pieces to go with the template printed in the manual (all shown in the photo at the top of this page), allowing you to make your own 3D glasses so you can actually make use of this screen-popping effect. You’ll look daft but it is worth seeing for yourself, because the depth experienced here is as strong as anything on a 3DS: backgrounds really do seem to be further away and for the first time ever enemies actually are heading out of the screen and straight towards you. I wouldn’t want to spend an entire session playing that way (I don’t think my eyes could take the strain) but I’m glad they included it, and I’m glad they included the materials necessary to try it out.
And because Complete Collection can’t help but go two steps further than every other retro compilation, Space Harrier 3D includes two hidden 3D modes, accessed by holding right for a short while on the “3D Type” menu setting. The first is a shutter-style 3D mode, mimicking the technology used in the original 3D glasses hardware, and the other creates a stereoscopic 3D effect, where the entire image is split into two separate and slightly different displays. It’s easy to see why these are hidden away: when viewed on an ordinary display—which is where everyone playing this collection is going to see it—the shutter style is guaranteed to bring on at least a severe headache in seconds, and the stereoscopic one is an impressive piece of work that isn’t actually compatible with anything at all, I think? Short of playing the game through something like Metal Gear Ac!d 2‘s “Solid Eye” accessory on an appropriately sized screen, anyway. Even so they’re a combination of preservation of the original technique and an interesting “what if”, so it’s great to see them tucked away in there, perhaps for some far-off future use.
Complete Collection’s quiet a complicated thing to pull off: there are four different systems to emulate here, and one game is based around a fancy bit of tech that was under-supported at the best of times. Yet in spite of these challenges the end result feels so relaxed and natural. You get a heap of Space Harriers to flit between at will, with enough extras to satisfy everyone from the casual players hoping for a quick game to dedicated fans with their flight sticks set up and ready to go. It’s interesting to see what was considered an integral part of the Space Harrier experience—that “Get ready!” speech sample, the chequerboard floor, the memorable theme tune—and then experience every major variation of them for yourself. This disc’s an utterly essential collection, and the best twentieth anniversary present Space Harrier could have wished for.
Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster 