Harmful Park

Harmful Park: High-brow Gag and Pure Shooting[lower-alpha 1] is a 1997 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Sky Think System for the PlayStation in Japan. Set in a theme park, the game has been described as a cute 'em up and resembles Konami's Parodius games. It has become somewhat of a collector's item, and one of the rarest shooters on the PlayStation.[1]

Harmful Park
Developer(s)Sky Think System
Publisher(s)Sky Think System
Director(s)Kenichi Fujita
Producer(s)
  • Junji Ōura
  • Masahiro Kubota
Designer(s)Hisato Igami
Programmer(s)Tomohisa Yamagata
Artist(s)
  • Chinatsu Shibata
  • Eiji Kuroda
  • Hideki Nishimura
Composer(s)Hitoshi Sawa
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • JP: February 14, 1997
Genre(s)Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot

Harmful Park is a horizontal scrolling 2D shooting game.[2][3] Enemies in the game include gorillas, inflatable dinosaurs, and a gigantic woman.[4][5] The game also features exotic weapons, including jelly beans and ice cream.[6] The game has six stages in total.[7] There are four kinds of shots that the player's ship can fire, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. "Pie spread" for example fires continuously, while "Jelly Boomerang" tracks enemies, but has low attack power.[7] Three additional minigames are available as well.[7]

Plot

The game is set in a theme park, after a scientist named Dr. Tequila makes the rides and machines of the park go berserk.[2] Another scientist orders her daughters to reclaim the park, using flying machines.[2] The park has now been converted into a fortified base.[7]

Development

Harmful Park was developed by Japanese game developer Sky Think System, and it was the final game they developed.[3][8] The developer intended the game to have comedic elements, and to be enjoyable for a wide variety of gamers of all ages and genders.[9][10]

Release

The game was released in Japan on February 14, 1997 and re-released in 2012 for the PlayStation Network again only in Japan.[9] [7][11]

Reception

Upon release, Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40.[12]

Multiple reviewers noted the similarities between Harmful Park, and the Parodius series and described the game as a "cute em up".[3][8][5]

In 2014, Eurogamer listed the game among gaming's "most valuable treasures", praising the graphics, humor, and noting that while not difficult, it has personality.[8] GamesTM described it as a cross between Parodius, and Coryoon.[1] Retro Gamer listed it as number 6 on their list of "The 20 Greatest PlayStation Games You've Never Played".[3]

Notes
  1. Japanese: ハームフルパーク, Hepburn: Hāmufuru Pāku

References
  1. "Classic Console Quick Reference Buyers Guide". GamesTM (32): 159. May 2005.
  2. "It Came from Japan! Harmful Park". destructoid. Archived from the original on 2016-07-02. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  3. "Top 20 Greatest PlayStation Games You've Never Played". Retro Gamer (137): 40. January 2015.
  4. The PlayStation Book. United Kingdom: Imagine Publishing. 2015. p. 74. ISBN 978-1785-461-064.
  5. Kalata, Kurt (1 December 2008). "Harmful Park". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  6. Sullivan 2013-03-29T22:00:00.87ZFeature, Lucas (29 March 2013). "RadarPlays - Harmful Park". gamesradar. Archived from the original on 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  7. 電撃オンライン. "『ハームフルパーク』ポップな世界観と遊び心に富んだ演出が印象的な昔ながらの2Dシューティング【電撃PS×PS Store】". 電撃オンライン (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  8. "A guide to gaming's most valuable treasures". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  9. "ハームフルパーク". www.skysea-games.jp. Archived from the original on 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  10. "ハームフルパーク | ソフトウェアカタログ | プレイステーション® オフィシャルサイト". www.jp.playstation.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-15. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  11. 株式会社インプレス (2012-02-29). "週刊 ダウンロードソフトウェアカタログ 2012年3月第2週分". GAME Watch (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  12. "ハームフルパーク [PS] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
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