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"The
year was 1849 in the small town called Hicksville where the pioneers
worked hard during the gold rush era. One day a group of outlaws
known as the Wingates came into town, killed the sheriff and took
over the town. The Wingates raided the town everyday and terrified
the people in Hicks-ville. Then came a lone gunman in the windy
afternoon, with a sunset behind him to save the town, to save
the People in Hicksville!"
If
you've never played this true classic, you may laugh at this story,
but I just can't. True, it is a not-so-well written story, but
every time I read it and listen to the well-written intro music
I get a nostalgic tear in my eye. Aahh... Memories...
This
is one of the best shmups for the NES, the only better is maybe
the Life Force/Gradius series. You are a cowboy that has to kill
a lot of outlaws and get the money they have stolen. For the money,
you can buy a lot of things, i.e. horses, ammo and weapons. In
the beginning of the game, you've only got the usual revolver,
but you can buy a shotgun, a machinegun, a Magnum or a Smart Bomb.
Hmm... Don't you think that many of these weapons sounds a little
bit to modern... Yeah, but Gunsmoke is not a historical sim, more
a great, great, great shmup.
If
you are using any of the weapons that you've bought, and you get
killed, the bandits will steal the weapon that you used. There
are six levels, but every level re-runs until you find a "WANTED"
sign and can go to the boss. You can also BUY a "WANTED"-sign,
but they are ex- pensive, very expensive...
The
NES joypad gives you perfect control, but get one with autofire!
The music is very good, but the graphics is way too flat and cartoony
to give the game a realistic look. But sometimes, the landscapes
have a very nice 3d effect.
The
levels get more and more challenging quickly and makes this game
last longer. You have unlimited continues, but when you're using
a Continue, all of your money and weapons will be gone.
Graphics
75%
Sound 90%
Gameplay 95%
Overall 90%
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Ok,
I'll start this off with a harsh comment. This conversion is ARSE.
Gunsmoke
was not a game I liked a damn lot back in the arcades, I used
to play 1942 instead of this, however it was a decent game in
which you could pop a coin every now and then, if you didn't have
a 1942 machine near.
However,
something went wrong with this NES conversion, converting that
once OK game into a pile of rubbish.
To
start, let's talk about the controls. A game designed to be used
with 3 buttons has lost a lot in the conversion to 2 buttons.
I found myself never shooting forward, since this implies that
you should be pressing both the B and A buttons, and it just doesn't
feel right. I rather sweep the screen while shooting to the sides.
The
graphics which are not in-game have been converted pretty faithfully,
but the sprites are the ones which suffer. Who chose the palette?
Krusty the Clown? And where are the enemies? Hiding inside a barrel
surely, because the screen has so little number of enemies at
the same time, that it looks more like Ghostvile.
One
of the biggest casualties is the sound. Where are those snazzy
game tunes the arcade version had? They have been replaced for
something else that, despite being of a cowboyish feel, are a
bit more bland and don't make you feel like killing outlaws, it
makes you feel more like going to their funeral.
Also
how each level works is not very pleasant. The level keeps on
looping until you've found one of those Wanted signs or you bought
one. Then you can confront the end of level baddie. This killed
the fluidity the arcade game had.
In
all, If I was you, and had a NES, I'd get something else, like
Lifeforce or Gradius. And if you preffer shmups of the type where
the main sprite is a guy who shoots baddies and takes no names,
you're better looking into Commando or Guerrilla War.
Graphics
50%
Sound 25%
Gameplay 50%
Overall 45%
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Gunsmoke
- Capcom
