Retro|Spective 202: Arcade Lightgun Shooters

[QualityChimp]

Never played it, but that looks really good fun!

[fuse]

I've only played it briefly and will admit it didn't click immediately, but some I know some folks whose opinions I hold in pretty high regard do like it a lot. That it's not been ported at any point is hugely disappointing.

[wakka]

I've only played it briefly and it felt, on those initial goes, like a really good game. Like it could be a real contender, up there with the best of TC and GHOST Squad. But as I say, brief playtime here and there on a couple of cabs, never off stage 1.

I'd love to be able to properly go through it a few times.

[Neon Ignition]

I enjoyed what I played both via the arcade machine back in the day and via the Xbox, my biggest gripe has always been that nothing at all about it feels like a Virtua Cop game

[QualityChimp]

I'd love to be able to properly go through it a few times.

A lot of these games are making me want to go to an arcade with them on freeplay and work my way through them!

I really need to get to Arcade Club in Bury, as they have TC1, 2, 3 and Crisis Zone, plus Quick and Crash and that new Elevator Action game:

[Neon Ignition]

Game 22 - Lucky & Wild
Bleeding over the two current threads, this machine blended the action of a light gun shooter with the thrills of arcade racing using a machine designed around two players working together to control the action. The games approach would mark it out as unique amongst the genre and a favourite of those who experienced it.











Did you ever get to tango your cash into this machine?

[Asura]

Game 22 - Lucky & Wild
Bleeding over the two current threads, this machine blended the action of a light gun shooter with the thrills of arcade racing using a machine designed around two players working together to control the action. The games approach would mark it out as unique amongst the genre and a favourite of those who experienced it.











Did you ever get to tango your cash into this machine?

Loved this. They had it at a nearby theme park when I was a kid, my friends and I used to play it 3-player with one of us driving and one on each gun. Great fun. IIRC the only other game to do this was the PS2 Starsky & Hutch.

[teddymeow]

A lot of these games are making me want to go to an arcade with them on freeplay and work my way through them!

I really need to get to Arcade Club in Bury, as they have TC1, 2, 3 and Crisis Zone, plus Quick and Crash and that new Elevator Action game:

Whenever I've visited Japan, I've always tried to track down a cabinet of this and play a credit or two. I love it!!

[Neon Ignition]

Game 23 - Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighter
A prequel to the first game, this game abandoned the cops stylings of the original and shifted the action to the American wild west. The gameplay remained mostly the same with arcade operators able to select on system start up whether to have the game work with linear levels or allow players to select for themselves.









Was this sequel a darn tootin' hit?

[fuse]

Never really tried taking Lucky & Wild too seriously, but every time I've found a machine I've ended up having a total blast with it. It pains me that no-one's really tried anything similar and that Namco have done absolutely nothing with it since. Particular with another player it's superb - I love it.

Elevator Action Death Parade I'm fairly sure I played in NY's Chinatown Fair, and I didn't rate it. I have distinct memories of it not feeling fluid enough, while the mechanism for the doors seemed overly complicated and just felt like the probable cause of many maintenance headaches.

Never played Lethal Enforcers 2 though, either in the arcades or at home. Don't feel like I've missed out too much as a result, either.

[Hirst]

I don't remember ever seeing a Lethal Enforcers 2 cabinet in the wild, but I didn't reckon much to the console ports. I must have seen the original cabinet in at least 100 different venues, never the sequel though.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 24 - Time Crisis 4
Because we're on a roll with the series, the fourth Time Crisis moves the action to California and its main gameplay addition was to bring back the multi-location hiding mechanic that had been once used by the PS1 entry Time Crisis: Project Titan. Otherwise all the mechanics from the third entry returned with responses to the game being a tad more mixed than prior entries.










A great Time for the fourth entry or Time up?

[fuse]

Not played this one much but honestly didn't feel like I was missing out on much. The "terror-bite" sections soured things in particular.

[wakka]

Yep, really unfamiliar with this one, and probably never got off stage 1. The insect shooting 'Terror Bite' segments....Fuse, you're spot on, my god, I think I had repressed the memory of that. Truly terrible. They took the annoying little worm things from HOTD2 and thought it would make it more fun to multiply them by fifty.

Maybe I'm giving it short shrift, but this was never one I enjoyed particularly when I've had the opportunity to sample it.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 25 - Silent Scope 2
The sequel to the original came out as a pretty conservative follow up, largely offering new levels as its set up remained unique in the light of other rival lightgun games.







Did you find the second game to be worth a... shot?