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517goldknight · 3 years

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Neobiontomania: Stormknight

Profil w komputerze:

Typ: Elektryczny/Metalowy

Charakter: Neutralny

Typ ciała: Skrzydlaty rycerz

Rozmiar: 2 m

Rozumny: Tak

Ludzkie pochodzenie: Nie

Systematyka: Pierwotniaki

Zdolności: Elektrokineza, super siła, szybkość, latanie, wytrzymalość, absorpcja elektryczności, miksotrofizm, oddychanie beztlenowe

Naturalna broń: Gromostrze, metalowe strzałki

Anatomia

Wygląda jak metalowy, żółto-srebrny rycerz albo robot z charakterystycznymi skrzydłami na plecach. Oczy zazwyczaj niebieskie. Na głowie mogą wystąpić elementy takie jak np. grzebienie podobne trochę kształtem do pióropuszy rzymskich centurionów. Przez mostek przebiega przezroczysty pasek, świecący tym samym kolorem co oczy, a także podobne do diod elementy na barkach, spodach dłoni i na podeszwach stóp. Wszystkie te półprzezroczyste elementy świecą szczególnie mocno, gdy Burzorycerz używa swoich mocy elektrokinetycznych. W walce posługuje się krótkim mieczem znanym jako Gromostrze.

Zachowanie

Zazwyczaj są oni poważni i odważni, a także uczciwi i spokojni. Ale gdy coś zagraża ich i/lub cudzemu życiu, potrafią się zmienić w bardzo niebezpieczne maszyny do zabijania.

Występowanie

Zazwyczaj można ich spotkać tam, gdzie znajdują się obfite złoża metali. Lubią też towarzystwo burz. Ale z racji, iż są istotami rozumnymi, stosunkowo wielu z nich żyje też w ludzkich miastach.

Zdolności

Są bardzo silni fizycznie i potrafią szybko latać. Umieją też generować wyładowania elektryczne i absorbować je, by się wzmocnić. Co więcej, są też bardzo odporni na wyładowania elektryczne, a także na wiele obrażeń fizycznych. Ich metaliczne ciała zapewniają im też zwiększoną odporność na wysokie i niskie temperatury. Potrafią też oddychać beztlenowo (co pozwala im wytrwać w warunkach beztlenowych) i wytwarzać sobie pożywienie na drodze chemosyntezy. Może też strzelać niewielkimi, naelektryzowanymi pociskami, które działają trochę jak noże do rzucania.

Słabości

Jako Neobionty Elektryczności są wrażliwe na obrażenia od plazmy. Istnieje górna granica energii elektrycznej, którą mogą pochłonąć. Ich metalowe części mogą zostać uszkodzone przez kwas.

Pokarm

Wszystkożerni, jak ludzie. Ale potrafią też, jak zostało to wspomniane powyżej, odżywiać się samożywnie na drodze chemosyntezy. Poza tym rolę pożywienia może pełnić w ich przypadku pochłaniana przezeń energia elektryczna.

Znane przykłady

Thunderion Fulgorix (Burzorycerz Grega)

Tłumaczenie na inne języki:

Angielski: Stormknight

Esperanto: Ŝtormkavaliro

Niemiecki: der Sturmritter

Polski: Burzorycerz

Translation:

Profile on computer:

Type: Electric / Metal

Character: Neutral

Body Type: Winged Knight

Size: 2 m

Rational: Yes

Human Origin: No.

Systematics: Protozoa

Abilities: Electrokinesis, super strength, speed, flying, endurance, electricity absorption, mixotrophism, anaerobic respiration

Natural Weapons: Thunderblade, metal projectiles

Anatomy

It looks like a metal, yellow-silver knight or a robot with characteristic wings on its back. Eyes usually blue. There may be elements on the head, such as combs similar in shape to the plumes of Roman centurions. There is a transparent stripe running across the sternum, glowing in the same color as the eyes, as well as LED-like elements on the shoulders, palms and soles of the feet. All of these translucent elements shine especially brightly when the Stormknight uses his electrokinetic powers. In combat, he uses a short sword known as the Thunderblade.

Behavior

They are usually serious and courageous as well as honest and calm. But when something threatens them and / or someone else's life, they can turn into very dangerous killing machines.

Occurrence

They can usually be found where there are abundant metal deposits. They also like the company of storms. But because they are rational beings, relatively many of them also live in human cities.

Capabilities

They are physically very strong and can fly quickly. They can also generate electrical discharges and absorb them to amplify themselves. What's more, they are also very resistant to electrical discharges as well as a lot of physical damage. Their metallic bodies also provide them with increased resistance to high and low temperatures. They can also breathe anaerobically (which allows them to persevere in anaerobic conditions) and produce their food through chemosynthesis. They can also fire small, electrified projectiles that act a bit like throwing knives.

Weaknesses

As Electricity Neobionts, they are vulnerable to plasma damage. There is an upper limit to the amount of electricity they can absorb. Their metal parts can be damaged by acid.

Food

Omnivorous, like humans. But, as mentioned above, they can also feed themselves via chemosynthesis. In addition, the electricity absorbed by them can play the role of food in their case.

Known examples

Thunderion Fulgorix (Greg's Stormknight)

Translated to other languages:

English: Stormknight

Esperanto: Ŝtormkavaliro

German: der Sturmritter

Polish: Burzorycerz

Traduko:

Profilo en komputilo:

Tipo: Elektra / Metala

Karaktero: Neŭtrala

Korpospeco: Flugila kavaliro

Grandeco: 2 m

Racia: Jes

Homa Origino: Ne.

Sistematiko: Protozoj

Povoj: Elektrokinezo, superforto, rapideco, flugado, eltenemo, elektrosorbado, mikrofotismo, malaeroba spirado

Naturaj Armiloj: Tondroklingo, metalaj ĵetaĵoj

Anatomio

Ĝi aspektas kiel metala, flava kaj arĝenta kavaliro aŭ roboto kun karakterizaj flugiloj surdorse. Okuloj kutime bluaj. Eble estas elementoj sur la kapo, kiel kombiloj similformaj al la plumoj de romiaj centestroj. Estas travidebla strio kuranta trans la sternumo, brilanta en la sama koloro kiel la okuloj, kaj ankaŭ LED-similaj elementoj sur la ŝultroj, manplatoj kaj plandoj de la piedoj. Ĉiuj ĉi tiuj diafanaj elementoj brilas precipe, kiam la Ŝtormkavaliro uzas siajn elektrokinetajn potencojn. En batalo, li uzas mallongan glavon konatan kiel la Tondroklingo.

Konduto

Ili kutime estas seriozaj kaj kuraĝaj kaj ankaŭ honestaj kaj trankvilaj. Sed kiam io minacas ilin kaj / aŭ la vivon de iu alia, ili povas fariĝi tre danĝeraj mortigaj maŝinoj.

Okazo

Ili kutime troveblas tie, kie abundas metalaj kuŝejoj. Ili ankaŭ ŝatas la kompanion de ŝtormoj. Sed ĉar ili estas raciaj estaĵoj, relative multaj el ili ankaŭ loĝas en homaj urboj.

Povoj

Ili estas fizike tre fortaj kaj povas flugi rapide. Ili ankaŭ povas generi elektrajn malŝarĝojn kaj sorbi ilin por plifortigi sin. Krome, ili ankaŭ tre rezistas al elektraj malŝarĝoj kaj al multaj fizikaj damaĝoj. Iliaj metalaj korpoj ankaŭ provizas ilin per pliigita rezisto al altaj kaj malaltaj temperaturoj. Ili ankaŭ povas spiri malaerobe (kio permesas al ili persisti en malaerobaj kondiĉoj) kaj produkti sian manĝon per kemosintezo. Ĝi ankaŭ povas lanĉi malgrandajn elektrigitajn ĵetaĵojn, kiuj iomete similas al ĵetaj tranĉiloj.

Malfortoj

Kiel Elektraj Neobiontoj, ili estas vundeblaj al plasmo-damaĝo. Estas supra limo al la kvanto de elektro, kiun ili povas sorbi. Iliaj metalaj partoj povas esti damaĝitaj de acido.

Manĝaĵo

Ĉiovora, kiel homoj. Sed, kiel menciite supre, ili ankaŭ povas nutri sin per kemosintezo. Krome, la elektro absorbita de ili povas ludi la rolon de manĝaĵoj en ilia kazo.

Konataj ekzemploj

Thunderion Fulgorix (Ŝtormkavaliro de Greg)

Tradukita al aliaj lingvoj:

Angla: Stormknight

Esperanto: Ŝtormkavaliro

Germane: der Sturmritter

Pola: Burzorycerz

#storm #knight #neobiontomania #neobiont #sword #armor #wing #electric #metal #thunder #bolt #lightning #stormknight

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legendofgrump · 7 years

Note

I don’t know the name of your oc that has short brown hair, lots of ear piercings, and wears a bro tank but I love them and would die for them.

haha that’s Snail! they’re kinda my little mascot boi~ they’re like 30 but still desperately clinging to their college days. A freelance animator/artist that used to live paycheck to paycheck in a shitty studio apartment, where the only nice thing they ever bought was Gourmet Cheese for the mouse that found its way into their apartment that they named Captain Thunderblade.

But nowadays they live with their boyfriend, @cantolopejeevas‘s OC Daniel, in a waaaay nicer place. If you’re super into them, you can always go give the blog/fic for the plot between those two that Cantolope wrote~ There’s quite a few parts (and various AUs about the pair that aren’t related) so totally go binge all of it and tell me/Cantolope what you think when you’re done!!! I’m sure Cantolope would love to know what you think haha.

Here’s a link to the blog itself: x

And here’s a link to the first part of the fic, Smash Buddies

#my ocs #chatter #spaaghettii #ask

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smashbuddies · 7 years

Text

Part Eight: The Tutorial

“For fuck’s sake, just pick one already! We’ve been here all day!”

Daniyal jumped, eyes quickly flicking back and forth between the two suits Daniel held up. Really, there wasn’t much difference besides color. He had a particular style he liked. But that didn’t change the fact that Daniyal had to hurry up and help him narrow his options soon. Lord only knows what would happen if he made Daniel late for his date with Snail.

“I think you’d look nice in both of them,” Daniyal mumbled, hands clasped together and thumbs twiddling. His face was red, and he looked like he really didn’t want to be there. “I can’t decide.”

“This isn’t about what you think,” Daniel muttered. It was almost torture not being able to put his hands on his hips, or make wild, heated movements. “It’s about what Snail would think. I need to look extra nice for them. So put yourself in their shoes and pick one.”

“Well…” Daniyal’s eyes lingered in the outfit in Daniel’s left hand. “They like purple. So maybe that one?” Then his eyes switched over to the other suit. “But I’m sure they’d also like the black one…”

Oh my fucking god.

“Alright, fuck it!” Daniel said, shoving the suits into Daniyal’s arms. “Make yourself useful and hold these. I’m gonna call Snail and ask them myself.”

“O-Okay…”

He grumbled under his breath- “backwater, indecisive pissbaby”- and quickly dialed Snail. It only took them three rings to answer, thank goodness.

“What’s up?”

Daniel froze, having just realized he didn’t think this through. Wouldn’t really be surprising them by looking nice if he outright asked them, would it? Fuck, how could he go about this subtly?

“Nothing much,” he began casually. “Just wondering something, really.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Here goes nothing. “Daniyal and I are having a debate. He says that black’s the most appealing color on other people. But I said purple. So who’s right?”

They hummed, then said, “Fuck, I like both, really.”

“You have to pick one,” Daniel immediately snapped. No way in hell he was gonna deal with two indecisive fuckheads. Especially on the day of his very first actual date with Snail.

“Jeez, okay, umm… Purple.”

“Thank you,” Daniel breathed out. Finally. “Now I can rub it in his stupid face. Anyway, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Right! See you tonight.”

He didn’t miss their tone shift. From casual to almost excited. Even as he hung up, he lingered on it, and let a small smile bloom on his face. It was nice knowing they were just as eager for this as he was.

“So did they tell you?” Daniyal asked, coming up behind him.

“Yeah.” Daniel turned around and grabbed the purple suit, smile still in place. “This one.”

Daniyal stared at him for a moment, then grinned like he’d just seen a chicken, or whatever farm animal bullshit he liked. “Wow. You look so… Happy. ”

Daniel’s smile fell.

“Well, I am,” he muttered before heading off for the dressing room. “You better have that stupid look off your face by the time I get back!”

It was a hassle changing into the new suit, especially since the employee trying to help him was clearly new and a little incompetent. Honestly, he felt a little bad for getting on Snail’s case when he brought them there. Still, he managed just fine, with just a few wasted minutes.

One look in the mirror told him it was perfect. Of course, he looked stunning no matter what, but now he was radiant, mesmerizing, enticing. Snail wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off of him, that’s for sure. Especially once he got in a nice shower and did up his hair. They’d be all over him.

He checked the time on his phone, and nearly died right on the spot. Only a few hours until the date. Fuck, if he didn’t get home ASAP, he would barely have any time to get ready.

After hurriedly getting dressed in his actual clothes- without any ‘help’ this time- he rushed out of the dressing room. As he passed Daniyal, he quickly muttered out a “give that suit to an employee, we have to go” and made his way right to the cashier.

God, this is why Daniyal should’ve just fucking picked a suit when Daniel told him to.

Right as Daniel finished brushing through and touching up his hair, the doorbell rang. Snail. Butterflies fluttered about in his stomach, making him feel a little nauseated. What was there to worry about? He was all sparkling and clean, dressed in his new suit, sprayed with his best cologne. So why the hell wasn’t he feeling more confident than ever?

He got to the door just as it a rang a second, third, and fourth time. Holy fucking shit. Swinging it open, he said, “Don’t break my doorbell.”

“I won’t if you answer the damn door faster.”

Whatever snide comment he wanted to make died in his throat. Wow. They looked amazing. Honestly, he didn’t expect them to dress up or anything, and they didn’t, really. Not by his standards. But by Snail Standards, well… It was easy to tell how much effort they put in.

When he finally met eyes with them, he noticed how pink their cheeks were. Did that mean they were impressed?

“You look nice,” he finally said, leaning against the door.

“Uh, yeah. You too,” they replied after a long moment. Then they looked him up and down several times, for once without any sort of leer or devious look.“So… Purple, huh?”

His face grew hot. “It’s the best color on other people.”

That just made them grin wide at him. There was the Snail he knew. “You trying to impress me or something?”

“Yeah,” he answered honestly with a huff. “It’s our first date, you moron. That’s kind of what this whole thing’s about.”

Immediately, their grin fell. “Right. Yeah.” Their tone went back to being cocky, but their smirk was clearly half-assed. “But you’re always impressed by me, so…”

“Impressed by your stupidity,” he mumbled, stepping out and slamming the door shut. Then, in an unprecedented move, he pressed a quick kiss to their cheek. Just to ease the bite of his insult. “Anyway, let’s take my car.”

“Actually,” they started, face red and looking just a bit nervous, “I wanted to drive there.”

He raised an eyebrow at them. “Why? You don’t even know where we’re going.”

They huffed and crossed their arms, like a kid who’d just gotten their favorite toy taken away. “Does it really matter? Maybe I just wanna let you relax a bit.”

After a somewhat tense stare-down, he scowled and tossed them his keys, which they fumbled in catching. “Fine,” he conceded. “But we’re not going in that piece of junk you call a car. I don’t want people giving us looks.”

Snail didn’t stop grumbling about his comment even as they began driving. Whatever. He just sat back and gave them direction, maybe enjoying the feeling of being chauffeured like this. It was actually pretty nice of them.

“So, how fancy is this place?” Snail suddenly asked, taking their eyes off the road just a second to give him a worried glance. “It’s not… Super expensive, is it?”

“I mean, I couldn’t get a reservation for somewhere really nice on such short notice,” he answered with a shrug. “It’s decent, I guess. But you don’t have to worry about prices. I’ll cover everything.”

The frown on their face grew. “Maybe I wanted to pay.”

“I was the one who asked you on this date,” he reminded them, tone a little harsh. “That’s how it works. If you ask next time, I’ll let you pay. Besides, I don’t need you wasting your money when you clearly don’t have a whole lot to spare. Can’t have Captain Thunderblade going without his good cheese.”

They winced and muttered under their breath, “Keep fuckin’ getting on my case for being poor, why don’tcha?”

Well, shit.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he looked out the window. There was more he wanted to say. Only it was easier to look at all the buildings and pedestrians than to face them like this. But now the silence was thick and suffocating. His hand automatically went to the stereo, and he just pressed play on whatever CD was in there.

Snail immediately snorted as a chiptune melody filled the air. “What the fuck are you making me listen to?”

“...The soundtrack from Sonic and Knuckles,” he reluctantly answered. At least they weren’t pissed at him anymore.

“Really?” It was really obvious how much they struggled not to laugh in his face. “I didn’t think you were this much of a nerd.”

“I made a show just so I could talk about video games for half an hour each weekday,” he deadpanned, shooting them a blank look. “Are you fucking kidding me with that?”

“Okay, but that’s, like, different than actually buying the fucking soundtrack and keeping it in your car,” they tried to defend, but it was clear even they knew their argument was pulled completely out of their ass.

“Whatever,” he grumbled. The last thing he wanted was to be made fun of something as stupid as this. “I like the music and it helps me focus. So shut the fuck up about it.”

Well, things were a little tense again, but at least it wasn’t quiet. He just focused on the music and tapped his fingers along to the beat. After a little bit, he cooled down and outright started to hum along. And he wondered, did Snail every play Sonic and Knuckles? Maybe he could show it to them sometime.

“Are you humming?” Snail asked, giving him a weird look.

His face instantly burst into flames. He quickly built his defenses up as he snapped, “Maybe. Got a problem with it?”

“No,” they said, as if they were trying to choose their words carefully. “I just think it’s cute.”

That threw him for a loop. Cute?

Before he could question it, they pulled into the parking lot and quickly said, “Looks like we’re here, cool. And I didn’t even crash your car, so that should get me bonus points or something.”

“Yeah, sure,” he muttered, stepping out of the car. “You can cash them in at the end of the date for something nice.”

They just rolled their eyes at him.

Once they got inside the restaurant, Snail got unusually quiet and tense. Of course, they did kind of stick out in a classy place like this. But that was kind of their fault. And maybe a little bit his, too. He could’ve picked somewhere less uppity.

Looking around, he noticed other waiting couples. Mostly girls clinging to their boyfriend’s arms, practically fawning over them and batting their eyelashes. Like hell he was gonna do that with Snail. But maybe there was something he could do to put them a little at ease.

His hand found Snail’s and grasped it lightly, just in case it was too much. But instead of pulling away, they just held on tightly. And honestly, that made Daniel the happiest man on earth.

He only let go once a server brought the two of them to their table. Couldn’t really hold hands throughout the whole date, much to his disappointment.

That warm, fuzzy feeling went away as Snail picked up a menu, took one look at it, and said too loudly for comfort, “What the fuck?”

“Snail!” he admonished in a harsh whisper. “Watch your fucking language!”

“But I can’t even pronounce half the shit in here!” they argued, still not lowering their voice. “Where’s the burgers? The fries? All the good shit?”

Daniel huffed and flipped through his own menu, quickly scanning through it. There. He showed it to them, pointing at the section titled Gourmet Burgers. “It’s right here. You won’t get fries, though.”

They quickly flipped to the page and scrutinized it heavily with narrowed eyed and a hard frown. “These better be damn good burgers.”

After the waiter came and took their orders, Daniel and Snail began to have an actually somewhat pleasant chat. He learned that they were an artist- something that maybe he should’ve known sooner. They talked about some of the things they did- freelance work for whoever paid the right price. It was a living, if not the best one. Thankfully they didn’t go on too long about it. But they did promise him to show off some of their stuff sometime. That was certainly something to look forward to.

Even after their food arrived, they kept up with the pleasant conversation. Although he did have to deal with them talking with their mouth full. No matter how many times he told them to not do that, it seemed to just go in one ear and out the other.

Eventually, the conversation lulled into peaceful silence. Daniel gave Snail the occasional glance, not wanting to get caught staring. As if he would, but they’d sure think so with their huge ego. Unfortunately, Snail seemed to have no shame as usual, and every time he locked eyes with them he found himself growing just a little bit more nervous.

“What?” he finally asked, furrowing his eyebrows together. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Well, you did,” they said teasingly, with a fitting grin. “You know, you’ve got a really nice smile. I don’t think I’ve seen it before. You’re usually all pissy and frowning, like you’ve got a huge fucking stick shoved up your ass.”

He almost choked on his fettuccine. “Language!”

They winced and gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry. But I mean what I said. I wanna make you smile more.”

Oh. His heart fluttered in delight. Who would’ve thought that they could be so sweet? He almost didn’t know how to react to it. So he just raised an eyebrow up at them and said, “Well, you’re gonna have to work real hard to make that happen.”

Their eyes practically lit up. “Is that a challenge?”

“Maybe it is.”

The look on their face grew devious. Like they had a plan. To distract them, he started up a conversation about video games. That seemed to grab their full attention, and he almost let out a sigh of relief.

After a little while, the two of them decided to pack up their leftovers in to-go boxes and head on out. Snail insisted on driving back, of course, but he let them without any argument this time. And the whole car ride back was silent. Just the two of them basking in the afterglow of a successful date.

Much to his delight, they actually walked him to his door. Like a gentleman. He stood there next to them for a moment, wanting to say something, but not quite sure what. Thank you? I had a great time? When should we do this again?

“Hey, uh, I think I wanna cash in those bonus points,” they said, watching him. But strangely, they weren’t looking at his eyes. It took him a second to realize where they were looking.

His lips.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, leaning in closer just a bit and not-so-subtly making eyes at them. “What do you wanna trade them in for?”

They didn’t say anything. Instead, they brought a hand to the back of his head and pulled him in for a kiss. Soft, sweet, yet still passionate enough to make him swoon. He melted, returning the kiss eagerly with a pleased hum.

Suddenly, they pulled back. But that break only lasted a second, because he couldn’t resist dragging them back in, deepening the kiss. They groaned and put their hands on his hips. Before he knew it, Snail had him pinned against the door, and they were making out like hormone-driven teenagers. But there was still that tenderness about it that satisfied some affection starved part of him he thought died a long time ago.

Snail moved to kiss along his jaw, soft and slow and teasing, then whispered in his ear, “Do you wanna fuck?”

There was something nice about them asking. He took a moment to catch his breath and cool down before answering. As much as he wanted to, it wasn’t the best idea. “Not tonight, Daniyal’s home. Maybe tomorrow?”

They grinned. “Sure. Just let me know.”

After one final kiss- that maybe he drew out because he didn’t want the moment to end- they wish him goodnight and went on their way. He stood there for a long moment, questioning if the day really did happen. But he could still feel the tingle on his lips from all those wonderful kisses, and the weight of his leftovers sat heavily in his hands.

Almost as soon as he stepped inside, Daniyal was there, grinning, asking him, “So, how was your date with Snail?”

He let out a contented sigh. “It was really nice.”

#smash buddies #pt8 #snailbitch #fic

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antiques-for-geeks · 4 years

Text

Game Review : Space Harrier

Elite Systems / 1987 / Originally £9.99 / Commodore 64

In Space Harrier, save the ‘Fantasy Zone’ from certain destruction by flying into the screen and blasting stuff until you meet a bigger thing to blast at the end of the level. Then blast more stuff while looking at a differently coloured background!

The rate at which graphics and sound advanced in the arcades in the early 1980’s was genuinely astounding. As a kid I only made contact with this exciting world a few times a year, and I would be greeted with something new and potentially jaw dropping on nearly every occasion. A case in point: try comparing SEGA’s 1981 driving game Turbo with their 1985 fantastical 3D shooter Space Harrier. Turbo was a really impressive game for ‘81, but it was made to look colourless, jerky and ridiculously limited within just a few short years.

Space Harrier was a notable early entry in SEGA’s ‘super scaler’ series of arcade games, which used hardware sprite scaling effects to provide a convincing into-the-screen 3D effect without the need to render a real 3D space.

In the arcade. Fast, smooth and colourful!

The effect of movement is amplified here by a smoothly animated checkerboard ground pattern. It’s a very simple game at heart; you view your flying character from behind as they weave in and out of columns and trees, trading shots with enemies that dance in front of them. At the end of each level you come to a dead stop and face off against a larger boss; basically a mobile bullet sponge who guards the way to the next level.

Every few stages you get to ride a dragon and smash into trees to earn points. The battle is played out to a memorable theme tune, and has a few scattered speech samples thrown in for good measure (‘welcome to the fantasy zone!’).

From the very beginning, reproducing a game like Space Harrier on the C64 was a bit of a non-starter. Where 8-bit home computers could often produce a reasonable facsimile of arcade games at the beginning of their life-span, they were soon completely out-paced by the sounds and visuals offered in the arcade.

Despite this fact, arcade licenses remained sure sellers on home systems which could never do them justice.

You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we walk in fields of brown.

The impossible job of converting such a technically advanced game to the C64 was handled by Chris Butler, whose efforts on the beige box I generally have a lot of time for. He produced very playable (if truncated) versions of Commando and ‘Ghosts and Goblins’. He also went on to make several other madly ambitious C64 conversions of SEGA’s super scaler arcade games, with some degree of success. His games though, had a definite tendency to look plain and functional. If you take a candy coloured fantasy like Space Harrier and replace 90% of the colour with turd-brown and battleship grey it’s hard to hand out plaudits for what’s left.

And yet, if you squint… and approach it with a lot of charity… this *is* a half decent effort for the time. It’s nice and fast and contains all the essential gameplay elements of dodging and shooting in a 3D space. It’s a shorter game, with much less variety in enemies, no dragon riding bonus sections and no character speech, but the graphical effect that renders the enemies and obstacles as they get closer until nearly filling the screen has been done fairly effectively.

It’s certainly much better than the laughably feeble Amstrad CPC effort, which rendered all the enemies and obstacles with vector graphics to keep the speed up. It’s also much less likely to give you a seizure than the Spectrum port, throwing its shaded monochrome sprites and horrible colour clash right into your retinas.

The conversion is obviously a rush job; apparently Chris was given a stupidly short deadline and it would have been much better if he’d been allowed the time to finish. This is evidenced by the later US release which added a raster bar effect on the ground and tidied up the sprite work.

U.S. Space Harrier. A slap in the face to British gamers!

Ultimately, what sinks this game on the C64 is that fact that in the arcade it was more of an attempt at sensory overload than a deep and engaging game. The deluxe cabinet even threw the player about courtesy of a hydraulic chair! It was about as imaginatively made a sensory overload as you were going to get back then, and I still retain a lot of fondness for it, but strip it of its theme park ride trappings and there isn’t really a whole lot left to keep you entertained.

Buying it today

This was a successful mainstream release, and there are plentiful cassette copies available for a few pounds.

Commentariat

Tim: The odd thing is, for years I never saw an actual Space Harrier arcade machine. Our local leisure centre was the point of reference for such things and while it was fine for Double Dragon, Thunderblade, Xenophobe, Outrun and Operation Wolf, they never seemed to ever get Space Harrier. So in my mind, this game has always really been a mish-mash of low res graphics and turgid colours. Oddly, it’s the arcade that feels wrong. Messed up, I know.

The C64’s version is alright; it whips along at a decent pace and the music, what there is of it, is nicely done. True it’s nowhere near arcade accurate and at times makes little sense, but it’s a solid attempt even if it quickly bounces against the limitations of the hardware it’s running on. Compare it to some other versions and the arcade and sadly, it’s nothing to write home about.

Pop: When I think of Space Harrier, I’m always transported back to a specific moment in my childhood. Some of my friends were keen mountain bikers, and since I’d just been given a cheap imitation of a mountain bike I decided to join them on one of their weekend trips. This quickly resulted in me travelling at speed down a gravelly hill on my arse. Luckily Tim lived nearby; his mum was a nurse and with her expert help I survived. I remember coming home that evening battered and bruised and playing my new copy of Space Harrier for the first time. I can’t remember enjoying it that much, but it was certainly a surreal experience, still vivid in my mind.

In retrospect, this wasn’t much cop. The C64 was plagued by over-ambitious arcade conversions. There’s just not enough gameplay here, and it’s all quite unattractive to look at.

Meat: The graphics are ugly, the main character runs like he’s shat himself, there’s minimal gameplay, half the levels are missing, the bonus stages are missing, the synthesized speech is missing. Other than that it’s fine.

Score card

Presentation 5/10

A standard cassette jewel case with inlay instructions. The cover artwork is attractive courtesy of the original arcade game. There’s very little that’s special about the in-game presentation, with a very bare title screen. This has all the hall-marks of a rush job.

Originality 6/10

From a graphical design standpoint the arcade game was very original. The gameplay itself was only an iteration on what had come before. There weren’t too many games attempting this into-the-screen viewpoint on the C64 at the time, given how difficult it was to pull off successfully.

Graphics 5/10

They’re fast, but much more jerky than in the arcade thanks to the lack of any custom sprite scaling hardware in the humble ‘64. The effect just about works, but the lack of any ground animation is a let down. Everything is splotchy and ugly, and there’s far too much brown!

Hookability 6/10

Very easy to get into, and nothing much to explain. There’s a certain appeal to seeing what comes next, for a while at least.

Sound 7/10

A well made rendition of the arcade Space Harrier theme plays on every level, with a separate end-of-level boss tune. The spot effects are pitiful, however. The C64 surely could have handled the synthesized speech, though this may have been cut due to memory constraints and to avoid having to make the game a tape multi-load.

Lastability 3/10

Space Harrier is not a deep game. There isn’t even as much incentive to see later levels as in the arcade, because the background and enemy variety has been cut right back.

Value for Money 3/10

1987 was something of a vintage year for the C64, with the release of original titles such as Wizball, IK+ and The Last Ninja. There really isn’t enough here to make this a worthy purchase at full price.

Overall 4/10

While this was a brave attempt at home conversion of Space Harrier, it was a minor disappointment at the time. It may have been the best on an 8-bit computer, but that’s clearing a pretty low bar. It also rankles that we got something half finished where the U.S. saw a significantly more polished release.

If you really feel the need to play an 8-bit conversion today, we would recommend the efforts on the Master System or PC Engine. There’s also a highly impressive modern homebrew for Atari computers.

#Commodore 64 #AFG #retrogaming #retrocomputing #antiquesforgeeks #C64 #retro review

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