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View Full Version : GOTD 4/28/2016: Gunblade NY (Wii)



celerystalker
04-27-2016, 11:24 PM
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Gunblade NY is a Sega light gun shooter first released in arcades 20 years ago in 1996. There was originally a planned port to the Sega Saturn, which housed several excellent gun ports, which was scrapped for various reasons. The arcade game would have several conversion kits such as LA Machineguns and Terminator... 3, I think? Anyway, it was kind of left to that kind of obscurity unported arcade games get, where a handful of people have great memories of them, whereas everyone else just politely smiles and nods, maybe checking them out on MAME or something later. Well, completely out of nowhere, Sega decided to port this one to Nintendo's Wii in 2007, packaging it with the also awesome LA Machineguns. When I saw it, it felt like one of those releases that was just for me!

The arcade cabinet for Gunblade NY was huge, having a large platform out in front of a big CRT monitor with 2 mounted turrets instead of handheld light guns. These were massive, and had great force feedback and sound effects to go along with the fast action swooping around, simulating gunning from a helicopter. Each player had an on-screen cursor, mowing down terrorists and robots throughout New York. The Wii Zapper does a pretty reasonable job for a home conversion in allowing force feedback and letting players feel like they're manning a turret. It lacks the weight of the mounted arcade gun, but for a chance to play it at home finally, it's an absolutely serviceable solution.

This is a damn near perfect arcade conversion, with all of the bright colors, speed, and accuracy of Sega's big machine. There are a few additions for this version, such as com chatter coming through the Wiimote speaker and unlockable extra weapons with ranks gained from repeated plays and high scores. There's also a neat score attack remix mode to try and rack up big scores to open new challenges. The fact that it's packaged with the arguably better LA Machineguns makes this one a no-brainer for light gun fans, and until very recently it was super cheap, though it seems to be on the rise.

I played the hell out of the arcade game in my late teens and early 20s at my favorite pizza place, Pantera's Pizza, usually with my buddy Ben while waiting for our pizza. I love Sega light gun games, but this cabinet is so big, I'd have to completely dismantle one to get it into my basement, where I can only fit a few more cabinets as is, so this Wii compilation was a real gift for me.

Played this one? Any arcade memories?

Cornelius
04-28-2016, 03:37 PM
That sounds really nice for you.
/me politely smiles and nods

I was and am terrible at light gun games, so they are usually just frustrating for me. You got me to look this one up, though, since the Wii is pretty great for these. But looks too expensive for what I'd get out of it.

Nice write-up as always! Really dig the pictures.

Leo_A
04-28-2016, 06:55 PM
I have this but haven't played it yet, but I'm looking forward to getting to it now since I have memories of playing this in the arcade. I just didn't realize it was the same game until I read your description and saw your pictures.

Should work especially well with my Nyko Perfect Shot gun shell. :)


But looks too expensive for what I'd get out of it.

I don't believe that this is expensive. Was a $10 game new barely a year ago when I bought it. Sega seemed to sadly overprint it, with the fans letting them down by not supporting this in the numbers they expected.

Of course if you think you'd only play it 2 or 3 times, I suppose it is too expensive.

Cornelius
04-29-2016, 09:05 AM
I have this but haven't played it yet, but I'm looking forward to getting to it now since I have memories of playing this in the arcade. I just didn't realize it was the same game until I read your description and saw your pictures.

Should work especially well with my Nyko Perfect Shot gun shell. :)



I don't believe that this is expensive. Was a $10 game new barely a year ago when I bought it. Sega seemed to sadly overprint it, with the fans letting them down by not supporting this in the numbers they expected.

Of course if you think you'd only play it 2 or 3 times, I suppose it is too expensive.

$10 I'd probably pick it up. My quick search was showing more like $30 (eBay). Not gonna break the bank or anything, but meh.

celerystalker
04-29-2016, 09:28 AM
Yeah, for the longest time it was running $2.99 at GameStop. It was actually my first Wii game, as I bought it before I even had the system. I saw it at a store brand new for I think $20 when it first came out, did a double take, and bought it on the spot. I played it at my brother's house that night, but it was a good year later before I actually picked up a Wii.

Koa Zo
04-29-2016, 05:42 PM
(...) It was actually my first Wii game, as I bought it before I even had the system. (...)
Same here. I still have it sealed along with a small stack of other sealed clearance games.
I bought a used Wii a few years ago, but have yet to turn the thing on.

I've never played Gunblade NY nor LA Machine Guns - somehow never saw either in an arcade. Big Buck Hunter (and the like) dominate the lightgun scene around these parts!

The images you posted give a strong impression of the game's lineage back to the Virtua Cop series.
I often think what could have been if the PS2 SegaAges series had taken off sooner and continued longer. Awesome as it is that we got Virtua Cop Rebirth, think how great it would have been to get an M2 developed Sega Lightgun Collection.

celerystalker
04-29-2016, 09:47 PM
Same here. I still have it sealed along with a small stack of other sealed clearance games.
I bought a used Wii a few years ago, but have yet to turn the thing on.

I've never played Gunblade NY nor LA Machine Guns - somehow never saw either in an arcade. Big Buck Hunter (and the like) dominate the lightgun scene around these parts!

The images you posted give a strong impression of the game's lineage back to the Virtua Cop series.
I often think what could have been if the PS2 SegaAges series had taken off sooner and continued longer. Awesome as it is that we got Virtua Cop Rebirth, think how great it would have been to get an M2 developed Sega Lightgun Collection.

That would have been awesome. The Terminator game that was a conversion kit for this was a load of fun, too. Sega's light gun games in the late '90s and early 2000s were probably the best light gun games ever made, no disrespect to Namco.