Space Harrier

Space Harrier is Sega's landmark 1985 arcade shooter, and this MS-DOS conversion brought a taste of it to home PCs at the end of the decade. In the original, you control a jet-pack-wearing hero who blasts through surreal, checkerboard landscapes populated by dragons, floating mammoth heads and endless waves of enemies, all rushing toward the screen in a fast pseudo-3D rush. It was one of the games that defined Sega's 'super-scaler' arcade style.

The design is pure momentum: you fly across the ground plane dodging obstacles and firing, weaving between columns and boss creatures while the whole world hurtles at you. There is no map to learn, just reflexes and pattern recognition, punctuated by the cheery voice sample urging you to 'Get ready!'. It is fondly remembered as much for its dreamlike imagery as its speed.

The arcade original leaned on custom hardware that home machines simply could not match, so the DOS port is a compromised version of a spectacle, scaled down in colour and smoothness. Still, the fundamental thrill of the on-rails dash survives, and as a piece of arcade history Space Harrier remains an influential and instantly recognisable slice of mid-80s Sega bravado.