Alienocide

User Rating: 6.8 | Space Harrier II GEN
It's the far future - the year is 6236 to be exact - and the 214th sector is under attack from hordes of alien creepies. Being the sort of guy that revels in a little alienocide, you grab a jet pack and the latest death dealing mega laser (sure its on sale in toys r us) and transport yourself to the areas via your cosmic gate to see if you can gently persuade them to go away.

Like the original game, space harrier 2 is a 3d shoot 'em up in which you fly into the screen, blasting the baddies that fly towards you. There are twelve yes count them twelve levels to clear of baddies, and any one of these may be selected at the start of the game.

Once you've made your selection, it's blasting time. The baddies instantly start to attack, and much dodging and blasting is required to survive. Just to make life a little more difficult, obstacles bar your way - trees, columns, pipes and even starfish on sticks ! ( I have no idea either) the result of crashing into one of these weird hazards is a lost life.

The end of each level is patrolled by an exotic guardian, including such delights as medusa's head, a giant jellyfish and three headed turtle, and these are destroyed to progress to the next level, as is normal with end of level bosses.

Overall

Space harrier was a sensation in the arcades because of its speed and sit down cabinets. However its playability never really matched its look and sound, and I'm afraid that's true of this game as well. Don't get me wrong, its fast and furious and great fun but lacks a variety of game play to make it a total winner. The aliens are brilliant, with the difficulty level pitched just right. Still well worth a gander if fast shoot em ups are your thing.

A slick and polished game that looks amazing, but is rather dull to play.