My first game ! That blue orange skull monster always used to creep me out when I was three. xD I still love this game to death though. I don't care about the graphics or the sound, just the good memories.
The best version of Space Harrier was for Atari 800, it has smooth scrolling graphics, 4 channel sound, and never locked up... Wha? You don't remember that version? It's right here on Youtube.
It's weird... as old as I am now and as many "better" versions of this game that I've played (including of course the arcade original), this is the one that still sticks in my mind to this day.
man, this wasone of the first ever game i played on my ST. i got a bundle that came with outrun, space harrier, bomb jack & carrier command. Great days
They shoulda bundled Dungeon Master, Turrican II, Another World & Carrier Command. THAT would have been a real discovery pack. As it was we got 1 epicly good game, and 3 arsed up arcade conversions.
@Ascyltos yep the very one. Aye Turrican 2 & Antoher world wouldve been amazing but as a 12 year old in 1992 playing half assed conversions of outrun and bomb jack was beyond amazing
God, everything is shit. What happened? I had a C64 as a kid but I never realised the programming for the ST version was this bad. I'm glad I never coerced my parents into buying one, which they wouldn't have anyway, the skint fuckers.
I own the amiga version, and since i read that Richard Frankish, one of the elite programmer took back the game code and adapted it to use the blitter and copper.
That's why the amiga version runs full screen and VERY FAST. The only thing missing as you can see is the horizontal scrolling of the mountains and also the chess like floor effect. Paul Cuisset from Operation Stealth fame was behind the atari ST coding of this game :)
Damn good looking all things considdered. Lookes better than th eamiga version IMO. :p
Sound isn't too bad either -again the Amniga's was sub par too.... The ST port seems to have been handeled a lot better than the amiga one. (th Amiga version should have been better)
For a conversion designed to run on the STFM, it's just about ok - the speed isn't too bad and scrolling is good but the animation leaves a lot to be desired. Again, just about as good as could be expected on an STFM, which is why I won't even discuss the sound lol
When it comes to ST games, especially those made by Elite - I always preferred Buggy Boy: now that's an ST classic! :D
God, I played this all the time. Why are you people discussing the details of the Atari's hardware? Who cares in the least? Did anyone of you actually play the game? Then what do you think about the game? The game!
Many people forget to realize that Atari ST line has absolutely no HW sprites or even blitter like much older 8-bit lineup. It shows on many games - slowdowns, bad framerate etc. ST was nothing but a simple office desktop with ordinary AY-like sound. Tramiels cheap trick to flood the market. '83 NES with its 64 HW sprites eats the whole ST...
100% true, only a fanboy could dispute it. The ST was knocked together quickly and cheaply by Jack Tramiel as a cheapo 2nd choice after his old company, Commodore got the rights to the machine he really wanted, the Amiga.
The STe was a huge improvement the STFM and included a blitter, amongst other things. Hardly any software houses produced games taking advantage of the new hardware and from what I remember the clueless Tramiels never commissioned any games that showcased the STe, crazy!
Yep I agree with you computers and consoles come and go and do end but of course these computers BOTH the Amiga and ST were great machines and should be remembered! I never actually felt sorry for ST owners and it was their preference what they bought! Yes Technically its fact the Amiga was a better machine but that doesnt mean the ST was bad and in fact both suffered from bad ports! I believe in giving credit where credit is due and I recognise the ST as a great machine like the Amiga was!
I had this version for PC. I remember being very dissapointed because it wasn't an arcade conversion. I spent much of my life trying to get this game in a close to arcade way conversion, only to discover that I like the SMS version best. HUGE sprites on that ol'SMS
I think you'll find the ST had a slightly superior processor and was better for vector games. It has also been used even up to today for its midi capabilities. :) I remember in school all the competative comparisons that went on, people got quite touchy about it :)
Most Amiga conversions on the ST are just horrible, take Turrican II (which does a nice job at emulating the Amiga sound)or Xenon 2, both suffer from horrible choppy scrolling.
Or Space Harrier, looks and sounds just awful, and its not even fullscreen. And vector games were already dead when the ST came out.
"Also I resent how you make out that all ST games were converted from the Amiga, I think I shall sulk :"
Never said that. You mentioned the "competative comparisons that went on" so I went there. When I think about vector graphics, I remember games like Battlezone, Astroids or the MB Vectrex System. Never played the ST version of Stunt Car Racers, but I don't think there's much of a difference between the Amiga and the ST version. I just think that the Amiga is the better system overall ;)
Ummmm superior processor? I think you will find the processor is the same (Motorola MC 68000) its just the ST has it clocked slightly faster (less than 1 Mhz). The difference is the ST does not have the custom chips the Amiga has! ST is a good machine but anyone with any technical knowledge knows the Amiga is technically better!
Actually I think you'll find the ST was run by a commune of highly interesting ants. The Amiga was often plagued by a mild liking of Sandy Toksvig, whereas the ST preferred flan.
wow yeh you win I give in haha. Im going to go along with you now and start believeing that the Earth is flat and the moon is made of cheese haha. Yeh who cares about facts haha!
The CPU makes a lot difference in the frame rate in Stunt Car Racer. I guess they couldn't take advantage of the blitter since there is an entire 3D engine instead of sprites.
yeah thats what made the difference in the early Amiga games. There is a wikipedia article under Amiga Games that explains it. The blitter can fill polygons and more its just most games pre 1990 were programmed on the ST and then ported over to the Amiga so being the STs cpu was slightly faster made the difference.
Yeah it was pre 1990! I suppose developers dont have the time or man power to develop two versions for two different systems at the same time so they have a lead platform then port it from that. Of course things started to change for Amiga versions from 1990 onwards when developers started to use it as the lead platform. Still respect the ST and definatly should be remembered as a great classic system!
yeah the st was never designed to throw big sprites around the screen. i remember kick off 2 on the st was brilliant. very fast and fluid, much faster than the amiga version although the graphics were limited. i remember my amiga owning pal prefered my st version
i disagree, anyone who owned an ST would say otherwise, this game was awesome on the atari, fuckin epic gameplay. love the music so 80's yet modern for the time lol cheers mate
The graphics look nice when paused, but when they're moving, the game is much too choppy. The music would drive me up the wall, it just sounds like a lot of beeping.
Of course it did. The C64's sound chip is widely regarded as one of the best of its time. By comparison, the ST's Yamaha chip was simplistic and inflexible.
I'll have to take your word for it. When I saw this video, I was reminded of Outrun on the Amiga, which was a straight port of the Atari ST version and it was jerky as hell.
I've just had another look at the ST version, and it's actually a lot jerkier than I remember it. Not in any way as bad as this video, but the frame rate is generally below 10FPS. The ST conversion of this was pretty poor, sadly.
my sister was great at this
MartinK303 3 months ago
what on earth is the picture on the right supposed to be !? - was it beyond the abilities of the atari to be fullscreen?
alanlovedog 4 months ago
@JasonLee332002 Atari ST did not have the level of video and audio hardware support through dedicated ICs that Amiga did.
daredd5 6 months ago
My first game ! That blue orange skull monster always used to creep me out when I was three. xD I still love this game to death though. I don't care about the graphics or the sound, just the good memories.
DarkRedrose98 7 months ago
@JasonLee332002 Because it is better. Much, much better. Hail Amiga.
MrFlibble2011 8 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
The best version of Space Harrier was for Atari 800, it has smooth scrolling graphics, 4 channel sound, and never locked up... Wha? You don't remember that version? It's right here on Youtube.
youtube.com/watch?v=amjKdH2uKbk
robertmartinwhite 10 months ago
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robertmartinwhite 10 months ago
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robertmartinwhite 10 months ago
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robertmartinwhite 10 months ago
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robertmartinwhite 10 months ago
I USED TO LOVE THIS,WOULDNT GO 2 BED. LOL
DAVERUKY 10 months ago
It's weird... as old as I am now and as many "better" versions of this game that I've played (including of course the arcade original), this is the one that still sticks in my mind to this day.
rokninja 11 months ago
I was playing this when I was 8 or something like that lol. 20 years ago. Great memories.
Globox822 11 months ago
anybody who knows if there is a story to it? looks like sum northern god battling dragons and monsters.
croccofanto 1 year ago
I'm 27 years old,used to play this from 5 years and up, a big part of my life...i love my Atari! and it still works after 22 years!
peterpablo9000 1 year ago
Argh!! quechquehdy!! remember this game... Was delivered in the Atari package... Dreadful
PazuzuStalker 1 year ago
The noise channel of the ST is so unique in my opinion.... I love making music on these things
KaslarProductions 1 year ago
sorry amiga - your 2nd on this one and the atari version has a cool skull guy with a load of fuck on his head - how does it feel you stuck up wankers
sparklebucket 1 year ago
@sparklebucket
It feels good. The ST was nowhere near as good as Amiga.
MrFlibble2011 8 months ago
man, this wasone of the first ever game i played on my ST. i got a bundle that came with outrun, space harrier, bomb jack & carrier command. Great days
an1m4l 1 year ago
@an1m4l Discovery Pack w/ 520STFM ?
They shoulda bundled Dungeon Master, Turrican II, Another World & Carrier Command. THAT would have been a real discovery pack. As it was we got 1 epicly good game, and 3 arsed up arcade conversions.
Ascyltos 1 year ago
@Ascyltos yep the very one. Aye Turrican 2 & Antoher world wouldve been amazing but as a 12 year old in 1992 playing half assed conversions of outrun and bomb jack was beyond amazing
an1m4l 1 year ago
Those pillars on the second level remind me of Chinese Spare Ribs
MartinK303 1 year ago
Detailed graphics,but too jerky for its own good.
johnwx777 1 year ago
AHHHHRRR. GET READY!
B0mu 1 year ago
quack quack oop
nath909 1 year ago
this looks 8 bit not 16 bit like the computer was
98reddevil 1 year ago
The Atari ST was the best platform for games :)
karadan100 1 year ago
I...LOVED THIS GAME!!!!
raiza0697 1 year ago
God, everything is shit. What happened? I had a C64 as a kid but I never realised the programming for the ST version was this bad. I'm glad I never coerced my parents into buying one, which they wouldn't have anyway, the skint fuckers.
Damn bloody the '80s.
MrWineDrinker 1 year ago
I own the amiga version, and since i read that Richard Frankish, one of the elite programmer took back the game code and adapted it to use the blitter and copper.
That's why the amiga version runs full screen and VERY FAST. The only thing missing as you can see is the horizontal scrolling of the mountains and also the chess like floor effect. Paul Cuisset from Operation Stealth fame was behind the atari ST coding of this game :)
dlfrsilver 1 year ago
bla bla blu
nath909 2 years ago
Damn good looking all things considdered. Lookes better than th eamiga version IMO. :p
Sound isn't too bad either -again the Amniga's was sub par too.... The ST port seems to have been handeled a lot better than the amiga one. (th Amiga version should have been better)
koolkitty8989 2 years ago
It always sounded like "Ra Ra U!", and just now I realise it's supposed to sound like "Get ready!".
Haha.
Ratznium 2 years ago
OH SHIT SPACE HARRIER!!!! I REMEMBER THIS!!! AH..... MEMORIES =)
That scream was messed up and i still dont know what he says? =S
And WTF IS UP WITH THAT FACE ON THE RIGHT? =s
Good Game =D
CarlitosWayz12 2 years ago
Great stuff! Atari ST were always the best!
Rich7714 2 years ago
stage 2 - geezer
lol
BoneHomer 2 years ago 2
For a conversion designed to run on the STFM, it's just about ok - the speed isn't too bad and scrolling is good but the animation leaves a lot to be desired. Again, just about as good as could be expected on an STFM, which is why I won't even discuss the sound lol
When it comes to ST games, especially those made by Elite - I always preferred Buggy Boy: now that's an ST classic! :D
JayArgonaut 2 years ago
the ST version sounds worse than the C64-version apart from the speech
malc1976 2 years ago
The sound is AWFUL on this version, but the graphics are better than the SMS version
GamerBoyGU82 2 years ago
Arcade perfect...well not quite but it's a good attempt.
Enzo012 2 years ago
Sounds like 8-bit sound, and the sampled voice sounds even grainier. Very cool though. Good old days! Thanks for posting.
dvamateur 2 years ago
Yeah the ST shared the same soundchip as the Speccy +2.
DADDYCOOL1975 2 years ago
i played this for hours and hours as a neut
cutters666 2 years ago
Used to play this when I was a kid. Love the audio.
paulstearne 2 years ago
why what?
Sipie007 2 years ago
Man this throws me back *sheds tear*
I LOVED this game on my good ole' ST!
taekwondobruceli 2 years ago
LOL classic!!! I Just turned 27 and can still remember every little detail about this game, great stuff.
*run into a bush* "AHHHHHHH!!........Get ready!"
budokai140 3 years ago 2
Ohh my favorite game, that time.
I think I spent each damn second playing it until I got trough it. : p
I was 7. ^^
Nikoslol 3 years ago
God, I played this all the time. Why are you people discussing the details of the Atari's hardware? Who cares in the least? Did anyone of you actually play the game? Then what do you think about the game? The game!
DragonL 3 years ago
i thought the game was great, but it was a bit too hard. The further i got was level 7. I wish you could save your game!
BoneHomer 2 years ago
I think that the Atari 130XE version runs smoother than this.
Space Harrier on Atari ST is an example of badly programmed game.
alex76gr 3 years ago
Many people forget to realize that Atari ST line has absolutely no HW sprites or even blitter like much older 8-bit lineup. It shows on many games - slowdowns, bad framerate etc. ST was nothing but a simple office desktop with ordinary AY-like sound. Tramiels cheap trick to flood the market. '83 NES with its 64 HW sprites eats the whole ST...
maiki60fps 3 years ago
100% true, only a fanboy could dispute it. The ST was knocked together quickly and cheaply by Jack Tramiel as a cheapo 2nd choice after his old company, Commodore got the rights to the machine he really wanted, the Amiga.
The STe was a huge improvement the STFM and included a blitter, amongst other things. Hardly any software houses produced games taking advantage of the new hardware and from what I remember the clueless Tramiels never commissioned any games that showcased the STe, crazy!
JayArgonaut 2 years ago 2
Haha! I like how everything suddenly grinds to a halt when you die.
And the sound was horrible. I used to feel sorry for ST owners...
inphanta 3 years ago
Everything grinds to a halt in every version i've played, including Sega Megadrive and Amiga.
A lot of earlier games for any platform don't use the hardware very well. Space Harrier is just one example of dodgy porting.
You can feel as sorry as you like for ST owners that just goes to show how narrow minded you were back then!
zeusgb 3 years ago 11
Yep I agree with you computers and consoles come and go and do end but of course these computers BOTH the Amiga and ST were great machines and should be remembered! I never actually felt sorry for ST owners and it was their preference what they bought! Yes Technically its fact the Amiga was a better machine but that doesnt mean the ST was bad and in fact both suffered from bad ports! I believe in giving credit where credit is due and I recognise the ST as a great machine like the Amiga was!
Sipie007 3 years ago 2
@inphanta Dont be daft the amiga version was just as shit compared to arcade
bobbystar101 1 year ago
@bobbystar101: When did I say the Amiga version of this game was better?
inphanta 1 year ago
@inphanta Well that's what you implied ;) Otherwise your comment was sort of bemusingly irrelevant in the context of this video..
bobbystar101 1 year ago
Comment removed
robertmartinwhite 10 months ago
@inphanta I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU, YOU NEGATIVE PERSON,
PAVH79 8 months ago
@inphanta GO AWAY
PAVH79 8 months ago
@inphanta There is a Space Harrier mini-game on Sega Superstars Tennis.It is a LOT better.
sonicmasterman 8 months ago
I had this version for PC. I remember being very dissapointed because it wasn't an arcade conversion. I spent much of my life trying to get this game in a close to arcade way conversion, only to discover that I like the SMS version best. HUGE sprites on that ol'SMS
stringanime 3 years ago
Because the Amiga is the better system, both Audio and Visual.
Gamewitzer 3 years ago 2
I think you'll find the ST had a slightly superior processor and was better for vector games. It has also been used even up to today for its midi capabilities. :) I remember in school all the competative comparisons that went on, people got quite touchy about it :)
buzbybadman 3 years ago
Most Amiga conversions on the ST are just horrible, take Turrican II (which does a nice job at emulating the Amiga sound)or Xenon 2, both suffer from horrible choppy scrolling.
Or Space Harrier, looks and sounds just awful, and its not even fullscreen. And vector games were already dead when the ST came out.
Gamewitzer 3 years ago 2
Vector covers the majority of 3d gaming, as in points in a mathematical space calculated in real time, such as Stunt Car Racer/Elite.
But yes sprites and sound weren't as good.
Also I resent how you make out that all ST games were converted from the Amiga, I think I shall sulk :)
buzbybadman 3 years ago
"Also I resent how you make out that all ST games were converted from the Amiga, I think I shall sulk :"
Never said that. You mentioned the "competative comparisons that went on" so I went there. When I think about vector graphics, I remember games like Battlezone, Astroids or the MB Vectrex System. Never played the ST version of Stunt Car Racers, but I don't think there's much of a difference between the Amiga and the ST version. I just think that the Amiga is the better system overall ;)
Gamewitzer 3 years ago
Ummmm superior processor? I think you will find the processor is the same (Motorola MC 68000) its just the ST has it clocked slightly faster (less than 1 Mhz). The difference is the ST does not have the custom chips the Amiga has! ST is a good machine but anyone with any technical knowledge knows the Amiga is technically better!
Sipie007 3 years ago
Actually I think you'll find the ST was run by a commune of highly interesting ants. The Amiga was often plagued by a mild liking of Sandy Toksvig, whereas the ST preferred flan.
Bah! Who needs knowledge, I win :)
buzbybadman 3 years ago
wow yeh you win I give in haha. Im going to go along with you now and start believeing that the Earth is flat and the moon is made of cheese haha. Yeh who cares about facts haha!
Sipie007 3 years ago
Well I didn't really have anything sensible to add to that as you squashed my argument ;)
Hmmmmm, cheesy moon
buzbybadman 3 years ago
yeh I kinda like the idea now of the cheesy moon haha. mmmmmmmmm
Sipie007 3 years ago
The CPU makes a lot difference in the frame rate in Stunt Car Racer. I guess they couldn't take advantage of the blitter since there is an entire 3D engine instead of sprites.
Schnitz1 3 years ago
yeah thats what made the difference in the early Amiga games. There is a wikipedia article under Amiga Games that explains it. The blitter can fill polygons and more its just most games pre 1990 were programmed on the ST and then ported over to the Amiga so being the STs cpu was slightly faster made the difference.
Sipie007 3 years ago
Thank you for clearing that out! What a waste of excellent hardware!
Schnitz1 3 years ago 2
Yeah it was pre 1990! I suppose developers dont have the time or man power to develop two versions for two different systems at the same time so they have a lead platform then port it from that. Of course things started to change for Amiga versions from 1990 onwards when developers started to use it as the lead platform. Still respect the ST and definatly should be remembered as a great classic system!
Sipie007 3 years ago
Funny you should mention Space Harrier 2 on the Mega Drive because I played and finished it again this morning.
zeusgb 3 years ago
I don't know why?
zeusgb 3 years ago
That medusa face on the right side looks ugly
betamanATstage6 4 years ago
elite
they're the same people that made sonic 1 on the sideckick
shalpp 4 years ago
yeah the st was never designed to throw big sprites around the screen. i remember kick off 2 on the st was brilliant. very fast and fluid, much faster than the amiga version although the graphics were limited. i remember my amiga owning pal prefered my st version
shanebongos 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
the c64 version was far superior than this
uggla03 4 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Dont do drugs!
YangShengVT 4 years ago
I never experienced any jerky framerate when recording the video.
zeusgb 4 years ago
OMG - This was the game of all games - i spent hours n hours on this and completed it
slickstaisback 4 years ago 6
This was my favourite game of all time!
nounnoun 4 years ago 4
i disagree, anyone who owned an ST would say otherwise, this game was awesome on the atari, fuckin epic gameplay. love the music so 80's yet modern for the time lol cheers mate
spacecowboy22 4 years ago
The graphics look nice when paused, but when they're moving, the game is much too choppy. The music would drive me up the wall, it just sounds like a lot of beeping.
lurkerrekrul 4 years ago
The graphics look a lot better when playing, it's just YouTube video quality. The best bit of the whole ST was the chip tunes it had.
zeusgb 4 years ago
I hate to say it, but even the C64 version had better music.
lurkerrekrul 4 years ago
Of course it did. The C64's sound chip is widely regarded as one of the best of its time. By comparison, the ST's Yamaha chip was simplistic and inflexible.
MrHeli 4 years ago
I'd say that zeusgb is right; don't trust YouTube video, it often makes things look jerky or blocky due to bandwidth/frame-rate-conversion issues.
I certainly don't remember it looking jerky, matter of fact I loved this game on the ST. Only real problem was the loading time between levels.
NotATube 4 years ago
I'll have to take your word for it. When I saw this video, I was reminded of Outrun on the Amiga, which was a straight port of the Atari ST version and it was jerky as hell.
lurkerrekrul 4 years ago
The port to the Atari ST was already bad.
zeusgb 4 years ago
I've just had another look at the ST version, and it's actually a lot jerkier than I remember it. Not in any way as bad as this video, but the frame rate is generally below 10FPS. The ST conversion of this was pretty poor, sadly.
MrHeli 4 years ago 2
A lot of the games were, but thats probably because of the port overs, I don't think we really ever got to see the st's true potential
rainxxxx 4 years ago
Please rate and comment.
zeusgb 4 years ago