"When gamers today think of rail shooters, they might think of players furiously smashing buttons, but they may not remember that one of the earliest and most innovative rail shooters of all time was also a flying game about a guy whose primary weapon was also his mode of transportation. The game was Space Harrier, a Sega Arcade Game designed by developer Yu Suzuki."
"Years after the success of the game, in 2010, Suzuki revealed that market research of the time suggested that 3D shooters simply "didn't succeed," signaling that he "shouldn't make the game." He pressed ahead anyway because Suzuki realized the problem with previous arcade shooters of this kind is that the target was too small, meaning the goal of Space Harrier was to make the targets small at first, but then, larger as they got closer to the player."
"But changing the size of moving targets in a video game is pretty meaningless if the video game isn't fun. Instead, Space Harrier was a rare kind of early 3D shooter that truly went wild with what kinds of targets you might encounter. Sure, there are some requisite flying saucer-type aliens that might remind a player of Galaga, but the fantasy creatures that make up the majority of targets are bonkers to the point of being hilarious."
Space Harrier is a Sega arcade rail shooter released on October 2, 1985, designed by Yu Suzuki. The game paired flight-based movement with the player's primary weapon serving as transportation, creating a distinctive control and visual style. Market research in 2010 revealed that 3D shooters were considered risky, but the game solved a key problem by dynamically scaling target sizes from small to large as they approached. The gradual size change constituted a major technical and design innovation. Space Harrier combined that mechanic with imaginative, often bizarre fantasy enemies, balancing artistic weirdness with simple, addictive play.
Read at Inverse
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