There is not a lot you can say about American Laser games. I have this one, The Last Bounty Hunter and Mad Dog McCree, Mad Dog McCree 2, Space Pirates and Crime Patrol 1 and 2.
They are all pretty much the same. Essentially you as the player are armed with a virtual Light Gun, you watch the screen and when someone mean and nasty pops up, you have to shoot him or her or it, before they can shoot you.
All American laser games were converted from the arcade machines of the same name and lost nothing translation.
I like these games in any form. Virtua Cop springs to mind, as does Namcos' Time Crisis. I have enjoyed them all.
Why, and it is a subject that is dealt with in other reviews, were these games never banned? They do after all simulate killing and dealing death. They also teach anyone tall enough to see the screen the basic rudamentry skills for handling a fire arm. The world is weird place isn't it? Any sign of nudity, a topic that touches all our hearts, and immediatetly it gets banned. Show someone being shot and falling off a building, well that's life isn't it?
Take a look at the screen shots below. Would you rather the brunette was shot or naked? If she had been naked, the game would have been banned. But if you can shoot her...?
Eh--? Wha...? Never mind, I digress.
The movie elements of these games and I'm talking of The Last Bounty Hunter and its counter-parts again, are top notch. The sets, the props, the costumes and even the scripts and actors, that while not perfect, certainly wouldn't look out place stood next to an episode of the A-Team or Air Wolf.
Sadly, and this is true of all the games that require a gun, the following statement is true:
'With a gun they are fun, with a 3DO D-Pad they are not'.
The gun sights moves too slowly when using the D-Pad, making the game almost unplayable without the official American laser games Light Gun. To make matters worse, I heard a rumour that US sourced NTSC light guns, won't work on PAL TV's. Which is a great shame.
These games are available two for a penny but for me the nostalgia value is very high. Even if it is only memories of playing these games at the local arcade.
3DO Kid.
