Space Hunter is a Japan-exclusive video game that was released in 1986 for the Family Computer. The game was published by Kemco; which was then known as Kotobuki System. The plot apparently revolves around a robotic revolt led by a robot named De Gaulle. It is the year 2199 AD. By the explosions of global nuclear war, society has broken up into nine small expulsions, one of them disappeared and Venus collided with another celestial object. Humanity only slightly survived. Its thread of life barely connected to a body; which was rebuilt into a cyborg. The heroine is named Al Tiana and is also apparently a robot who does not support the rebellion. She is out to prove her loyalty to the humans.
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This was a game I wanted to try and review but it was on the wrong page for so long and saw it last night finally have its own page so I went and played it today. Did you know apparently Metroid was supposed to be called Space Hunter? Kind of crazy they both came out the same year. Space Hunter was developed by Kemco, which is already a red flag and gave me low expectations. I only knew it for one thing, the cover art was so good looking that it got Japanese players to buy it only for them to be disappointed. So is it worth your time nowadays? Well…
Well there’s not really much of a plot besides for the small blurb on wikipedia so I’ll just say you play as a 16 year old girl named Altiana as you go through 7 planets defeating a boss in each and having to escape in a time limit. Each planet has many enemies roaming around that you can destroy to get more power or all of your health back. There is no scrolling in Space Hunter as it’s screen by screen like it’s some computer game. Must be from all those computer ports to consoles they do. You start with two things, the ability to fly around by holding B and a bomb by pressing A. The bomb goes in a line and will only activate once you get out of the way. It’s pretty finicky to use.
You can go to any of the first six planets if you want but it’s recommended you go in the order intended which you won’t know unless the manual explains it. Planets have many buildings you can go into to fight enemies which leave notes or powerups. Some are just for your defense, some are weapons that require power to use and there’s an item to swim and one to stop enemies on the screen. You also won’t know what room has what. I’m sure the notes give hints but I didn’t realize there was a fan translation so I played it in Japanese. A lot of the level design is very samey, you won’t find gimmicks in the levels outside of the swimming which doesn’t really change much.
If that wasn’t enough, there are secret items to give you more power and even secret doors that can lead to more notes or powerups you need. Speaking of that power let’s talk about one of the worst things about the game which is the fact you can have up to 255 power, sounds neat? Well the problem arises when you grab more which instead of just always staying at 255, you instead go back to 0! This is just so annoying and it’s hard for me to tell if it’s deliberate or not. There’s also bosses which don’t cast much of a threat outside of trying to guess what the boss is weak too. Again I’m sure the notes tell you but I’m not sure. Trying to get out of a level is also not too bad but you will game over if it reaches zero and the timer gets more strict in later planets.
The gameflow is very copy and paste leading to a samey adventure all around but it somehow still feels kind of enjoyable? I don’t know, it feels so inoffensive that I kind of almost like it. I wouldn’t call it good though. Also goddamnit I’m sick of hearing this music in the game. You first hear it on the title screen, then the world map, then the first planet and it keeps going. In fact this song plays in almost the entirety of the game. It’s only when you go inside a building when it stops. Even The End screen plays this music. I’ve even been listening to it while writing it and I’m going insane! The graphics are also very minimal and kind of disappointing if you were expecting anything cool like all of the artwork on the box art or the manual.
It’s hard to recommend Space Hunter to people on this site. I think it can be a decent game if you know where to go or use a guide but it’s still a very unimpressive game that feels like it was made just to bait people into buying a game with a cool cover. It is at the very least not too frustrating and you do have continues which is nice. Kemco has done much worse than this but part of me still wishes more could have been done with the gameplay. Now I’m off so I can FINALLY TURN OFF THE MUSIC!
Well there’s not really much of a plot besides for the small blurb on wikipedia so I’ll just say you play as a 16 year old girl named Altiana as you go through 7 planets defeating a boss in each and having to escape in a time limit. Each planet has many enemies roaming around that you can destroy to get more power or all of your health back. There is no scrolling in Space Hunter as it’s screen by screen like it’s some computer game. Must be from all those computer ports to consoles they do. You start with two things, the ability to fly around by holding B and a bomb by pressing A. The bomb goes in a line and will only activate once you get out of the way. It’s pretty finicky to use.
You can go to any of the first six planets if you want but it’s recommended you go in the order intended which you won’t know unless the manual explains it. Planets have many buildings you can go into to fight enemies which leave notes or powerups. Some are just for your defense, some are weapons that require power to use and there’s an item to swim and one to stop enemies on the screen. You also won’t know what room has what. I’m sure the notes give hints but I didn’t realize there was a fan translation so I played it in Japanese. A lot of the level design is very samey, you won’t find gimmicks in the levels outside of the swimming which doesn’t really change much.
If that wasn’t enough, there are secret items to give you more power and even secret doors that can lead to more notes or powerups you need. Speaking of that power let’s talk about one of the worst things about the game which is the fact you can have up to 255 power, sounds neat? Well the problem arises when you grab more which instead of just always staying at 255, you instead go back to 0! This is just so annoying and it’s hard for me to tell if it’s deliberate or not. There’s also bosses which don’t cast much of a threat outside of trying to guess what the boss is weak too. Again I’m sure the notes tell you but I’m not sure. Trying to get out of a level is also not too bad but you will game over if it reaches zero and the timer gets more strict in later planets.
The gameflow is very copy and paste leading to a samey adventure all around but it somehow still feels kind of enjoyable? I don’t know, it feels so inoffensive that I kind of almost like it. I wouldn’t call it good though. Also goddamnit I’m sick of hearing this music in the game. You first hear it on the title screen, then the world map, then the first planet and it keeps going. In fact this song plays in almost the entirety of the game. It’s only when you go inside a building when it stops. Even The End screen plays this music. I’ve even been listening to it while writing it and I’m going insane! The graphics are also very minimal and kind of disappointing if you were expecting anything cool like all of the artwork on the box art or the manual.
It’s hard to recommend Space Hunter to people on this site. I think it can be a decent game if you know where to go or use a guide but it’s still a very unimpressive game that feels like it was made just to bait people into buying a game with a cool cover. It is at the very least not too frustrating and you do have continues which is nice. Kemco has done much worse than this but part of me still wishes more could have been done with the gameplay. Now I’m off so I can FINALLY TURN OFF THE MUSIC!