One of the things I've been saying quite often about games on the Virtual Console since I took this job is that, most often, the wrong version of a game gets released. Capcom and Sega are the main targets for this particular criticism, because both of them have an enormous catalog of amazing arcade games, many of which have never been released for home systems or which received distinctly underwhelming console conversions.
Space Harrier is one of the first games to buck this trend. The Master System version is okay, but suffers badly from having completely inadequate music, as well as the ergonomic pocket nightmare of the SMS controller. For the Virtual Console version, you're getting a complete emulation of the arcade game, complete with having to push the - button to "insert coin."
The best arcade games don't tend to really age at all, and any attempt to "update" them is doomed to failure. Space Harrier makes that particular list, because the gameplay is very simple. You move forward at astonishing speeds, dodging rocks and enemy fire, and if any of it hits you, you lose. The first challenge is in adapting to an unusual perspective; the second is in pure reflexes. It's a fairer, more forgiving game than the bullet-hell shooters that have since taken over the genre, but it's still quite difficult. It's well worth the money.
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