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"Good game, bad port"

Space Harrier is a classic arcade shooter. I don't think any gamer will forget the music from that game, and what it felt like to play it. The Gamegear version offers the chance to play it on the move, which is a good idea, because the game would suit a handheld. Bit of a shame the port is poop.

Graphics:4/10
What did they do to it? The Sprites are all to big to fit on the Gamegear's screen. Granted, they look as they did in the arcade, but they could have made them a tad smaller.

And the sprites have another problem, too. They seem to be surrounded by a block of solid colour. For instance, the enemies that fly in the sky are surrounded by sky blue-so when they overlap each other or come over the grass, you see a big block of blue, and cannot see behind it. Would it have been hard to make it transparent? This is the game's only major flaw, and it's a shame that it ruins an otherwise enjoyable game.

Sound:5
The fantastic music is faithfully ported to the Gamegear. Although it doesn't sound as good, it sounds extremely similar, much like how a MIDI would sound compared to a no-lyrics mp3.

The sound effects are ok, if a little annoying. The gun sound does get annoying, and the 'Arrrrrrrrgaaaaaaargh!' noise will get frustratingly annoying when you have heard it for the 18,000th time.

Gameplay:5/10
What did they do to it?

You play as a little bloke who can kind of hover with his plasma gun. You fly past obstacles and you must shoot enemies. Only problem with this on the Game Gear is that the enemy shots take up 1/4 of the screen, so you have a very small chance of actually avoiding them, oncoming trees, and other enemies and obstacles.

All the levels are more or less the same basically, but they have different obstacles and enemies, and more of them, too. This was no problem in the arcade, but it's just too much on a Gamegear, as the whole screen fills with enemies obstacles and bullets. You'll be lunging the Game Gear at the floor with frustration.

Challenge and controls:5/10
The controls are a bit too tight, you have no time to move between oncoming obstacles because of the slow controls.

The game is hard, very hard, because of the amount of items that spring up on the small screen and block your path. With only 3 lives, the game is VERY hard. Thankfully it has a password system.

Spritey likes:
It IS Space Harrier!

Spritey doesn't like:
Bad sprites
Big sprites
Very hard because of the big sprites

Overall:6/10
A great game, a bad port. A shame, it could have been great.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/22/02, Updated 06/14/03