It may be an infamous console add on, the 32x was received as well as a trip to the dentist by gamers in the 1994. But, did it have any good games? That is what I am here to find out.

Today’s game is Space Harrier, a port of the 1985 arcade game to the 32x. Released around launch in November or December 1994, at this time there is very little data on the month it came out, but as the 32x came out in November 1994 I am leaning towards it being a November release as a launch title. This is the first port to the genesis of the original game versus a sequel. As such there is not much to compare it to other than the master system version from the 1980s or the sequel from 1989 as far as home versions prior to 1994 go.

Graphics: 7/10
I gave the graphics a moderate score due to it being a 1985 arcade game, 9/10 for accuracy to the arcade, but 7/10 overall due to the fact that it does not seem to really use the power of the 32x except for scaling and colors. A game that could have easily been ported to the plain genesis unchanged graphically except for less smooth scaling type effects, using multiple sprite sizes. It is smooth, and is slightly letterboxed to allow a higher frame rate.

Audio: 10/10
You cannot get much better than this for an arcade port, I cannot tell any difference personally between this and an arcade version. The audio is arcade perfect. I cannot tell if it is using the 32x for the music and the genesis for the voices, since the 32x can use the Yamaha 2612 on the genesis for FM synth. But, this port really shows off how the 32x can be used to make sounds the genesis would have trouble with.

Game Play: 6/10 or 8/10 depending on controller
This is where you run into trouble, the gameplay is pretty decent. Fast and Frentic would be the best way to describe it. But I am unsure if the arcade had rapid fire/turbo/mega fire (depending on what you want to call it), so I have to give playing it on the standard genesis controller a 6/10, you will get a sore thumb after a while. My preferred way is to use the sega 6 button arcade stick when playing, and set the buttons to mega fire. It may be cheating to some, but this game is a quarter gobbler, and there are cheap deaths all around just like you would expect from a game designed to gobble up your quarters. No major game play mode changes are here, except for difficulty levels and adding more lives, up to 5 from the standard 3.


Final Verdict: 7/10 Not worth getting a 32x over, but if you get one, definitely a title to grab along with it. You will not be displeased by this port, it stands out as one of the better 32x releases.