The Space Battle Featuring Haruhi Suzumiya

The Space Battle Featuring Haruhi Suzumiya is a rail shooter video game developed by Azumanga Interactive, co-developed by Argonaut Software and Nintendo EAD, and published by Bandai Namco Games and Nintendo for the Bandai Extreme, Revolution, Bandai CD, and PocketTurbo Plus.

The game is a re-skin of Star Fox on the Super Nintendo, but now has a 2-4 player mode where you can play as Kyon, Haruhi Suzumiya, Yuki Nagato, and Mikuru Asahina. And the game is set in real outerspace where you visit existing planets.

Plot
The game is set in "The Day of Sagittarius III" computer game made by the Computer Research Society club. Where the SOS Brigade has to battle against the computer club's side by playing this rail shooter game.

Where the game takes place in space and the SOS Brigade go to different planets to battle against the computer club's president who is the villain of the game.

Gameplay
It's a rail shooter in a third-person and first-person 3D perspective. The player must navigate Haruhi's spacecraft, an Arwing, through environments while various enemies (spaceships, robots, creatures, etc.) attack them. Along the way, various power-ups are placed in the stage to help the player. The player receives a score at the end of each level based on how many enemies have been destroyed and how well the player has defended their teammates. At the end of each level there is a boss that the player must defeat before progressing to the next level.

It possesses certain unique elements that differentiate it from the standard scrolling shooter. Most scrolling shooters force the player forward at a constant speed. There are thrusters and retro-rockets on the Arwing that allow the player to temporarily speed up and slow down. These can be used to manoeuvre around enemy attacks and other obstacles.

The damage model is another difference. In the standard scrolling shooter, touching almost any object results in the immediate destruction of the player's craft. The Arwing has a certain amount of shield energy that represents how much damage can be absorbed before the destruction of the craft. The game also has a small degree of locational damage detection: if the ship's wings clip against obstacles or the ground too much, they will break off, adversely affecting the craft's handling and removing the ability to upgrade weapons.

The difficulty is also set in a unique way. Most scrolling shooters, if they have selectable difficulty levels, allow the player to set the difficulty by choosing an option (e.g. "Easy," "Normal," and "Hard") at the beginning of the game. This option usually affects variables such as the number of lives a player has, the number of enemies encountered in the game, the speed of enemies, and so on. In contrast, at the beginning, the player is given a choice of one of three routes to take. Each of these routes corresponds with a certain level of difficulty, but each route has its own series of unique levels. This gives the game somewhat more replay value than other scrolling shooters that have a fixed series of levels each time the game is played. The three game paths all contain the planet Mars (the first level) and Neptune (the last level), but they each have different versions depending on the path taken.

In each level, the player is accompanied by three computer-controlled partners, except in 2-4 player modes, where the players can help the 1st player throughout the game. At certain pre-scripted points, one will fly into the player's view, often either chasing an enemy or being chased and asking for assistance. Ignoring a partner's pleas will result in him/her taking damage, or even being shot down. They cannot be damaged by the player's own lasers (although they will complain if hit). Regardless of their survival, partners are not present during boss battles but rejoin the player before the next stage. A player may choose to help their partner when they ask for assistance, as doing so will allow them to engage some of the enemies not destroyed by the player, helping the player to succeed and additionally making it easier to achieve maximum score in a given level. Additional points are also granted at the end of each level depending on the health of each partner. If a partner gets shot down, he/she will not return for the rest of the game.

Sound Effects Used

 * Anime Bamboo Sound (High pitched, Bandai CD version only.)
 * Anime Swish Sound 8 (Bandai CD version only.)
 * Anime Zip Sound (Bandai CD version only.)
 * Censor Bleep (Bandai CD and PocketTurbo Plus versions only.)
 * Hollywoodedge, Bottle Rocket 2 Picco PE098501 (Low pitched, Bandai CD version only.)
 * Hollywoodedge, Explosion Large Shar PE097801/Hollywoodedge, Explosion Large Shar PE097901 (Bandai CD and PocketTurbo Plus versions only.)
 * Hollywoodedge, Laser Blast Short CRT050606 (Low pitched in the Bandai Extreme version, and normal pitch on other ports.)
 * Hollywoodedge, Wood Door 3 Open SlamM PE180301 (Bandai CD version only.)
 * Hollywoodedge, Yelper Siren Close PE081001 (Bandai CD version only.)
 * Miscellaneous Anime Sound 1 (Bandai CD version only.)
 * Sound Ideas, AIRPLANE, JET - LEAR: EXT: PASS BY 01 (Use for the Nintendo logo when a spacecraft passes by the logo in the Bandai CD version.)
 * Sound Ideas, BELL TREE - ASCENDING MEDIUM, MUSIC, PERCUSSION (Bandai CD version only.)
 * Sound Ideas, EXTERIOR SHOTS, AUTO WEAPONS - AK-47 03 (Bandai CD version only.)