Can a lightgun game ever get a 10/10

[DeathAdder]

Someone on rllmuk wrote the following

I'm impressed and surprised by the scores HOTD OverKill is receiving. An Edge 8 is as high as you're ever gonna get for a lightgun game today (maybe ever, I can't remember what your previous Houses of the Dead, Virtua Cops and Time Crises received).

The wankered state I find myself in, thanks to plentiful cheap Chilean Chardonnay and someone fouling the hell out of me in 5-a-side football today, is making me agree with this, that in principle, a light-gun game is unlikely ever to get the best mark a review is ever likely to give.

What would make a perfect light-gun game? Could one ever get a top score? 10/10's are attainable - those places that give marks out of 100 probably never give 100%s. What other genres are similarly handicapped?

Gamine brethren, I look forward to reading your comments

[eastyy]

i thought the original time crisis for the psone was the closest you could get

arcade conversion....and a exclusive and awesome psone exclusive mode

Think for a perfect 10 on a lightgun game....they will have to make one without thinking of it like a arcade game.....needs far more depth then that

[egparadigm]

I wonder if this might be a genre error. Thinking about games as being part of a specified genre and rating it accordingly is a mistake. But if we accept that line of thinking, are light-gun games not a part of the broader genre of shooters? As such, light-gun games are essentially a severely crippled FPS; would it be possible for such a linear game to hold up against something as complex as Halo?

[NekoFever]

I don't think they could because they're just too limited. A 10 is reserved for a classic game, and it's just difficult to imagine one being up there with the Zeldas and Marios that can hit that number.

They can be outstanding as far as light gun games go, but giving one a 10 would be like giving a particularly good simulator ride at the fairground the Best Picture Oscar.

[Kaladron]

Ghost Squad comes close, for me. Seriously. It's masterfully designed and is the only lightgun game I can think of that can still throw something new at you after several months of play.

[noobish hat]

I think you're all forgetting one game.



Yoshi's Safari.

*nods sagely*

[Skull Commander]

Can't beleive no one has mentioned Point Blank yet. That game is a 10/10 for me. Surely it's due for a Wii revival.

[Kubrick]

I would say no, but Virtua Cop came close.

[Welrain]

I don't think they could because they're just too limited. A 10 is reserved for a classic game, and it's just difficult to imagine one being up there with the Zeldas and Marios that can hit that number.

They can be outstanding as far as light gun games go, but giving one a 10 would be like giving a particularly good simulator ride at the fairground the Best Picture Oscar.

I couldn't disagree more. Entertainment value is how I rate my games and imho Ghost Squad (for example) is every bit as entertaining as Mario and Zelda and the like.

[Kaladron]

I couldn't disagree more. Entertainment value is how I rate my games and imho Ghost Squad (for example) is every bit as entertaining as Mario and Zelda and the like.

Good to hear. You'd be surprised how many professional games critics can't grasp that simple concept. Which is exactly why you're unlikely to ever see certain genres reach 10/10.

[NekoFever]

I love the Virtua Cop series but I still wouldn't give them a 10. Like I said, I just don't think there's enough to them, both in terms of gameplay hours and variety, to justify it. They're rollercoaster rides, and even if they're great rollercoaster rides I don't think there's enough to one to justify the highest accolade that we can give.

One might come along to prove me wrong, because you could argue that there's not a lot to Tetris but I'd still give that a 10, but I haven't seen it and I honestly have no idea how you could make one that can sit up there with the best of the best.

[Welrain]

Have you played Ghost Squad?

[mekanor]

Ghost Squad comes close, for me. Seriously. It's masterfully designed and is the only lightgun game I can think of that can still throw something new at you after several months of play.

I couldn't disagree more. Entertainment value is how I rate my games and imho Ghost Squad (for example) is every bit as entertaining as Mario and Zelda and the like.

As Kaladron and GMass have said, for a 10/10 light gun game look no further than Ghost Squad. I really cannot emphasise how much pure fun that game is. There really isn't enough love for this game.

[Finsbury Girl]

Mad Dog McRae

That is all

[Team Andromeda]

HOUSE OF THE DEAD II, and The Lost World are 10 out of 10 games imo. But in this IGN and every game must have 50+ hrs of gameplay age we will in No Light Gun, or Arcade shooter will ever get a 10 .

Quite sad really