TGS 2005: Space Harrier Complete Collection Hands-On

TOKYO-The PlayStation 2 has already been home to a wide collection of polygonal remakes of old Sega games. Under the Sega Ages banner, Sega has released updated versions of games like Alien Syndrome, Golden Axe, and yes, even Space Harrier. The catch is that for the most part they've been completely terrible. Perhaps even Sega is aware of that now, as the Sega Ages games being shown at this year's Tokyo Game Show are actually emulations of the original games, as opposed to bastardized budget remakes.

Space Harrier is a behind-the-back shooter starring a flying man holding a large cannon. He sort of thrusts himself through the air, and you're left to control him, keeping him from ramming into objects and constantly shooting ships out of the sky. The game originated in arcades, though the original game would be ported to the Sega Master System along with an updated version called Space Harrier 3D, and a sequel, Space Harrier 2, would later be released for the Sega Genesis. Space Harrier Complete Collection contains all of these games in all their different incarnations, which is pretty cool. The marquee game of the collection, obviously, is the original Space Harrier, but being able to see how the game looked on the Sega Mark III (the Japanese version of the Master System) is also a cool inclusion. These games appear to be emulated, and the emulation appears to be spot-on. Additionally, the game even supports 480p when playing the arcade Space Harrier, which should help to present it at its proper arcade sharpness, though the TV displaying the game at TGS wasn't HD-capable, so we were unable to test this for ourselves.

With its bevy of options and complete look at Space Harrier on Sega's hardware, this one should be a nice treat for fans of the series, especially if those fans have already been burned by the rather weak remake of Space Harrier that was released last year. Space Harrier Complete Collection is scheduled for a Japanese release in October.