"Welcome to the Fantasy Zone! Get Ready!"

The simplicity and immediacy of those words combined with Harrier's running animation and the first notes of the theme song playing will forever be cemented as one of the greatest intros to a videogame ever, an enthusiastic invitation to a surreal psychedelic dimension of 3D sprite scaled colors and geometries that extend into the infinite background, akin to an interactive prog rock album cover.

Ditching the methotical built up acceleration of its contemporaries like Hang-On or Outrun, Space Harrier propels you forward on gear 5 from the get-go, turning its shooter facade into a game of dodging and avoiding everything at breakneck speed, as the action is conducted by one of gaming's all-time anthems of pure arcade expression and joy, the spacial ELO sounding main theme that accompanies you from start to finish, never getting dull and dictating the pace of your adrenaline.

Having the confidence to lack any sort of formal narrative, the storytelling happens within the subtle shifts of its relentlessly forward moving checkboarded planes, like the genuine surprise of a one-eyed mammoth in the middle of a blue iced landscape or the relieved sight of open skies and giant mushrooms after going through a claustrophobic gauntlet of grey pillars supporting an enclosed restrictive ceiling. But there's never time to linger.

With its quickly dispatched bosses that can be done within 2 secs and the controls always leading you into the center of the screen towards event horizon, Space Harrier obliges the core appeal of wanting to see what lies ahead, hypnotizing you with its eternally beautiful 3D illusion effect and motivating you on with its announcer's "You're doing great!" remarks. In the span of 30 minutes, you see everything Space Harrier has to offer, and without wanting to overstay its welcome, it bows out dignified as Harrier jumps on his trusted dragon friend and finally rides off into the forever distant background.

Wearing its influences on its sleeve, Space Harrier is a mish mash of what the devs were passionate about at the time, and combined with the non-aging sprite scaller technology, it constitutes one of SEGA's finest that will always stand the test of time, so magical that home consoles at the time couldn't possibly recreate the arcade experience, and I'm left sad with the realization that until I sit down on one of its hydraulic moving arcade cabinets, I won't have experienced it either.

I totally get you, Kamiya. 

Reviewed on May 12, 2022


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