#4 Space Harrier II

 "Aye! The giant metal snake woman came to this giant checker board with me and that's who she's leaving with, disembodied samurai armor!"

 "I have had over half my animation frames sucked out of me and now I seek revenge!!"

I don’t want to talk about this game. Lets talk about Sin and Punishment : Star Successor! 

 Wii Ages! 

Man, I wish I still had a copy of that game! I should dust my wii off and grab one next time I see it around. I absolutely loved the story and the game play was addicting. I always say with arcade style games that I’m going to try to do a bunch of replays and get a really good score. I almost never actually do this. But Star Successor had me hooked enough that had I not gotten rid of that first wii I definitely would have tried. 

If you haven’t played it, Sin and Punishment : Star Successor is a third person rail shooter with serious attitude released on the wii. It is a sequal to the first Sin and Punishment, which was a Japanese exclusive N64 title before it was released finaly on the virtual console. If I had to compare it to something it would be Space Harrier. . . But that might be part of the reason for this game seeming a bit bland.

 But I thought it was gonna fall into crisis later?

We have to face facts – try as we might retro game reviewers live in the ages they live in. We write these articles because we love video games and even though we might claim to have a favorite classic console I sincerely doubt many of us play our games in a bubble. We might not be 100% up to speed due simply to time constraints but we do, at least occasionally if not frequently, play modern games alongside our retro favorites. If we could play in a bubble it might drastically change our opinions; but unfortunately how well a game stands the test of time will always be a factor a retro gamer must consider.

I bring up Sin and Punishment because while it vaguely has the aesthetic of Space Harrier - rail gun shooter about a guy hovering around jet pack style that can also run on the ground blasting bizarre enemies  with a rapid fire energy weapon - it definitely does not have Sin and Punishments level of involvement, re-playability, or charm. It is an interesting title to be sure – but not one I see myself returning to just for kicks. 

 

I’ve always felt that the PlayStation 1 along with its competitors was the crossing point to 3D gaming but that crossing point does not necessarily mean older style genres are dead. In general they fall into three categories. The first is genres that are superior in 2D format. In my opinion beat em ups and definitely run n guns fit the bill here. Understanding that my equivalent to a 3D run n gun is the third person shooter, I simply think 2D run n guns were a lot more fun. Then there are games that work really well in either format though the mechanics may be different. Fighting games and plat-formers fit in here. Then there are genres that just genuinely are superior on modern consoles. First Person Shooters, racing games, and though often over looked, rail shooters, definitely fit into this category.

The rail shooter got a second look on the wii and I think to great success, at least in terms of fun if not commercially. 

So enough about the wii and star successor, what about Space Harrier, does it hold any weight? 

Well like many early genesis titles this was sort of an arcade game – only not really. Space Harrier II is actually the console only sequel to the popular arcade game Space Harrier. But it doesn’t feel like any effort was put into making the game a competent home console game as opposed to an arcade novelty. In the Arcades I’m sure the first space harrier was fine. It was big and flashy with interesting controls and the environments then really were fantastic looking. It probably blew the cabinets on either side of it into obscurity. But it doesn’t translate at home because of the nature of the game play. The game is fun for about five minutes. But there are twelve levels followed by a boss gauntlet and a final boss. That’s a long time for a game that literally has you doing the same thing over and over. You just fly in a circle and shoot. It’s the best possible strategy you can implement.

 There would be better strategies except that the frame rate in this game is horrendous and that is its biggest critical flaw.  It feels like there is roughly two frames of animation before a projectile reaches you sometimes. 

The projectile is far away.

The projectile is close.

You're dead.

I'm sure this will turn out fine. 

So flying in a circle is your best shot at survival because when you die there is no health bar. Get hit once and your character plummets to the ground, followed by the “get ready” voice synth you will learn to hate with a passion. Your punishment for death is the fast paced flow of the game play gets broken up. This might be incentive for some masochistic players who loved games like R-Type to want to master this title, but it won’t be enough. Most deaths are not caused by enemies but by running head first into obstacles that skip jump through the terrible frame rate before you have time to react. 

I did beat this game. And I will say this, the ending genuinely surprised me. Mostly because this was an era when just putting “congratulations!” on the screen was considered a legitimate way to end a game. But for all the ways it feels shoddily made, Space Harrier II managed to actually have a story line ending. Don’t beat me up when you see it and are disappointed. I’m not claiming it was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald or anything, but it's there and its got a bit of thought to it. The fight with Dark Harrier, the final boss, even got me excited for it again for a second but the  repetitive gameplay and cheap deaths and frustrating frame rate just kill any chance of me coming back to the game “just for fun.” 

This game might be enjoyable to people who like other rail shooters from the era. It is certainly not the least playable of the bunch….oh... that is still to come…  But for me what it did more than anything was make me realize how much better this genre is now.