Game of the Day 3/23/2016: Gangster Town

[celerystalker]

Gangster Town for the Sega Master System is my very favorite 8-bit light gun game, and I don't say that lightly. I am a big enthusiast of the style, from the first time I played Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley to feeling outclassed by Safari Hunt to being mesmerized by Virtua Cop and laying waste to Gunblade NY, I've kept playing just about everything I can get my hands on. Whether it's Lucky & Wild or Death Crimson 2, I always give light guns a chance. Sega has long been the masters of the genre, rivaled really only by Namco overall, and Gangster Town was really a portent of what they would eventually become.

For starters, Gangster Town supports 2 player simultaneous play. So precious few games of the era afforded such a luxury on home consoles, and Gangster Town does so gracefully. The screen flashes are minimized, enemies come from all angles, and the bonus levels encourage competition between players searching for a key by shooting through bricks in layers of wall. Co-op really brings the arcade feel home, and the on-screen action supports it without demanding it. Great balance.

Secondly, there is a load of variety. Not just cool stage backgrounds with prohibition-era gangsters on the streets and in bars and the like, but also car chase scenes that spice things up with more action and tougher targets. You can definitely see the stepping stones that were leading to games like Virtua Cop and House of the Dead, even in small 8-bit sprites. The details are great as well, as much of the scenery is destructible, and you can even shoot down the ghosts of your fallen targets for big points!

As a gun game, Gangster Town just does more than most, and has a well-defined atmosphere to tie it all together. It's awesome, inexpensive, and a grear reason to own a second Light Phaser. The game rules.

Played it?

[Az]

Gangster Town is both one of my favorite light gun games and SMS games as a whole. The SMS is *the* system to have for gun games (besides a Wii) and even though this was an early release it's still great. There's an insane amount of detail on all the stuff you can shoot. As a kid I loved trying to shoot all the bottles in the background of the bar level, or shooting the drum set, or repeatedly shooting the tires off the getaway car. Going from this to other games with so little to shoot at (like Hogan's Alley or Marksman/Trap Shooting) is letdown.

One thing that always comes to mind with Gangster Town is the muscle memory reflex I had with it, you had to have a really fast trigger finger to always shoot the bad guys twice (once as a kill and another to shoot their angels).

[celerystalker]

Master System does just annihilate the NES for light gun games. Really, the only system I play more gun games on is Saturn, though I do like Dreamcast and Wii as well... especially since Sega did that Gunblade NY/LA Machineguns disc on Wii... that got my attention in a hurry.

[Emperor Megas]

Shooting gangsters, having them die and release an angel who floats off to heaven...and then being able to SHOOT DOWN the escaping angel was one of those things that completely fucked my 12 year old head all the way up. I knew that something special was happening there, and it was the sort of thing that only SEGA would offer up. Just such a classic light gun shooter.

[JeremiahJT]

Are there any other 8-bit light gun games that offer simultaneous 2-player action?

I have only played this a little a bit so I do not really have an opinion. I think I did get my wife to play with me once for the coop play.

[celerystalker]

Are there any other 8-bit light gun games that offer simultaneous 2-player action?

I have only played this a little a bit so I do not really have an opinion. I think I did get my wife to play with me once for the coop play.

Gangster Town is the only 2 player co-op simultaneous gun game I'm aware of for 8-bit consoles. It's amazing how well it works, and makes me wonder why more didn't happen.

[Emperor Megas]

Technically Duck Hunt can be played 2 player. One player shoots and the other controls the ducks. It's not two players both 'shooting' though, so I suppose it doesn't really count.

[celerystalker]

Technically Duck Hunt can be played 2 player. One player shoots and the other controls the ducks. It's not two players both 'shooting' though, so I suppose it doesn't really count.

Yep! My brother and I used to do that. One of the coolest things to do when I was younger. We did that, and then when one of us was taking our turn in Super Mario Bros, the other would pretend to lay down cover fire with the Zapper. When Scud came out on Saturn and you actually COULD have one player run 'n gun and player 2 use a light gyn fir cover fire, I about jumped through the roof!