October 25, 2016 (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
October 16, 2018 (Nintendo Switch)
Big Buck HD Wild
April 1, 2015
Big Buck Hunter Reloaded
2020
Big Buck Hunter is a game hunting video game developed by Play Mechanix. Primarily developed for arcades, the goal of the game is to shoot moving bucks or male animals without shooting a doe or female animal.
The initial series of games released from 2000 to 2005 by Incredible Technologies operated on a single gun platform and allowed four players to compete round robin style through various treks and bonus stages. Games beginning with Big Buck Hunter Pro, released in 2006 by Raw Thrills, introduced a two-gun platform, allowing head-to-head competition in addition to a variety of new animals and critters to hunt.
Gameplay
Inspired by Duck Hunt, the game's goal is to shoot the male animals as they run across the screen. The round ends after a period of time when all the male animals are killed or if some get away. If a player shoots a female animal, they are out.[1] Each scene will begin with a couple of animals walking without any suspicions. After a first shot is done, the animals will begin running and the hunt starts.[2]Big Buck Hunter is separated in five screens, also known as "treks". A hunting sessions concludes in a bonus round.[3] The players can either participate solo or one on one by using two plastic rifles.[4] How much points will be earned depends on certain factors like distance, weight and accuracy. There are different states to choose from with a variety of animals, like antelope or moose.[5] The hunting can be done in different conditions varying from fog to snow, with overall 16 bonus rounds.[6] All of the Big Buck HD machines are networked so they can track the players' rankings through online leaderboards.[7] Big Buck HD was the first edition to integrate Facebook and Twitter, which allows players to share and compare scores and awards via social networks.[8]
Tournaments
Big Buck Hunter game cabinets that are connected to the CoinUp Network can support local and national tournaments. If a game cabinet is participating in a current tournament, the 'Tournaments' button will appear on the first Game Selection Screen. After selecting the Tournament button, the player can scroll through all tournaments currently playing on that game cabinet. For Big Buck Hunter Pro & Safari, the National Tournaments ran monthly (usually from the 7th to the 27th of each month for Pro and the 1st to the 21st of each month for Safari until the end of 2012). National Tournaments did return to Big Buck HD WILD for a short time in 2017 and 2018, but on a weekly basis with a particular theme for each month. Players can find out about current tournament, prizes, participating locations and follow their tournament ranking at the Big Buck Hunter Website. Operators can also choose to set up their own custom tournaments for Big Buck HD, Wild, & Reloaded games that they own via the CoinUp website. They can choose the prizes, cost, sites, and bonuses they desire and assign them to desired units.
Beginning in 2008,[9] a World Championship Tournament was introduced.[10] It brings in 64 people from all over the world in an elimination tournament, where the highest rated players in each region get to earn an invite for the event.[11] Regional Qualifying tournaments occur in August and September, with winners advancing to the World Championship Tournament, which occurs every fall in cities like Chicago, New York City, Minneapolis, Austin, & Las Vegas. On November 10, 2012, the Big Buck Hunter World Tournament was held in the Altman Building in New York City.[12]
Starting in 2013, players would no longer be divided by region, and instead they would have to play 5 national tournaments. Each tournament was themed to a specific animal for the 2013 and 2014 Qualifiers. Their 10 best scores in each tournament would determine where they ended up on the leaderboard. The Ladies' Tourney, introduced in 2011, had its own qualifier tournament as well. Starting in 2015, the qualifier would start as early as May, with a new tournament unlocking at the start of every month, and the tournaments were changed so that they would use random animals since this was the first year where there were more than 5 animals in Big Buck HD. In 2016 and 2017, the tournaments were animal themed once again, with each tournament having 1 or 2 animals in them. Australia & Canada also had their own national tournaments to determine who would move on.
In May 2018, Pro mode was introduced. This mode was designed to allow easier World Championship qualification. The player's top 5 scores on each Trek of each animal determines where they rank on the Skill leaderboard for the Qualifier Season (on Reloaded machines it is their top 3 scores obtained with the gun and their top 2 scores obtained with the bow). If they are not eligible for the Skill leaderboard but have a sufficient cumulative score, they would be on the Wildcard leaderboard. If a player is female, their scores would count for both the World Championship and Ladies' Tourney. Also, any region can participate in Pro mode, and they are no longer locked into their own leaderboards. With Pro mode becoming a core part of the game, the qualifier would start in November, and end in September, with the World Championship happening in October.
Development
Big Buck Hunter's concept came from Play Mechanix founder George Petro. After the release of Midway's Invasion: The Abductors in 1999, Petro thought that hunting games were popular in homes but there was also a lack of those in arcades. He pitched the idea to the design team, and shortly after started developing the prototype, with Incredible Technologies handling the manufacture of the arcade machine. Incredible Technologies partnered with Play Mechanix to release the rest of the games until Call of the Wild in 2005. By 2006, the Big Buck Hunter series had sold around 7,500 units.[13]
Needing financial support to make the next game in the series, Big Buck Hunter Pro, the developers contacted Raw Thrills in January 2006. As a part of the agreement, Play Mechanix continued to design the games, while Raw Thrills took over the production and distribution.[14] In March 2008, Raw Thrills released Big Buck Safari, which introduced hunting in Africa, as well as trophy hunting, and included animals such as zebras, elephants, hippos, and other big animals. They released Open Season in November 2009, which added more animals to Pro. In November 2010, Big Buck World was released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Big Buck Hunter. It combines Open Season and Safari into one cabinet.
In 2012, they released Big Buck HD, which combined elements from Pro and Safari and presented them in 1080p high-definition graphics, and added groundbreaking online features such as the ability to compete with players from other locations live, improved tournaments, and easier account creation. A Duck Dynasty-themed side game was added in 2013. In 2015, the update Big Buck HD Wild was released. The game added new animals in annual software updates through 2018, as well as a zombie-themed shooter side game.
The developers partnered with Anheuser-Busch InBev, offering a special permit that unlocks a special "Great White Buck" level. The money earned from purchases of those went to the National Forest Foundation to help preserving forests in the United States.[15]
In 2020, Big Buck Hunter Reloaded was released. In addition to new animals, two new side games were introduced, including a sequel to the zombie game as well as a partial remake of Raw Thrills' previous arcade rail shooter Terminator: Salvation, which was released in 2010. And it also presented a brand new player interface to make it easy to navigate.
List of arcade games
Big Buck Hunter (2000)
Big Buck Hunter: Shooter's Challenge (2002)
Big Buck Hunter II: Sportsman's Paradise (2002)
Big Buck Hunter: Call of the Wild (2005)
Big Buck Hunter Pro (January 23, 2006)
Big Buck Safari (March 11, 2008)
Big Buck Hunter Pro Open Season (November 22, 2009)
Big Buck World (November 8, 2010)
Big Buck HD (June 12, 2012)
Big Buck HD Wild (April 1, 2015)
Big Buck Hunter Reloaded (2020)
Home releases
In 2009, an iOS version of Big Buck Hunter Pro was released.[16] Following that, an iOS version of Big Buck Safari was released in 2011.[17]
In 2013, Microsoft Studios released a port of Big Buck Hunter Pro titled Big Buck Hunter Pro Adventure, specifically released under the name Big Buck Hunter for Microsoft Windows via the Microsoft Store, designed for both tablet and home computers running Windows 8. [18]
In Africa, the Big five game animals are the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo. The term was coined by big-game hunters to refer to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot, but is now more widely used by game viewing tourists and safari tour operators. They are examples of charismatic megafauna, featuring prominently in popular culture, and are among the most famous of Africa's large animals.
Yoshi's Safari is a 1993 light gun shooter developed and published by Nintendo for its Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is the only Mario franchise game to feature first-person shooter gameplay and requires the SNES's Super Scope light gun. As Mario and his pet dinosaur Yoshi, the player embarks on a quest to save the kingdom of Jewelry Land from Bowser and his Koopalings, who have kidnapped its rulers and stolen 12 gems. The game features 12 levels in which the player shoots enemies like Goombas and Koopas, and collects power-ups and coins. At the end of each level, the player engages in a boss fight with an enemy, a Koopaling, or Bowser. Nintendo commissioned its R&D1 department to develop Yoshi's Safari in response to the waning popularity of the Super Scope. Yoshi's Safari was the first Super Scope title to use the SNES's Mode 7 graphics mode, and the future of the peripheral depended on the game's performance.
Mortal Kombat 3 is a 1995 arcade fighting game developed by Midway Games. It is the third main installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise and a sequel to 1993's Mortal Kombat II. As in the previous games, it has a cast of characters that players choose from and guide through a series of battles against other opponents. The game avoids the tournament storyline of its predecessors, as various warriors instead fight against the returning Shao Kahn, who has resurrected his bride Sindel and started an invasion of Earthrealm.
Sunstorm Interactive was an American video game developer founded in 1995 by Anthony Campiti, which specialized in hunting simulators and first-person shooters. The majority of their titles were small-scale "value titles", priced between $20 and $30 as compared to the typical computer game that was priced at $50 at the time.
Deer Hunter is a series of hunting simulation video games. Originally available for Windows platform published by WizardWorks, it has since been published on MacOS, Game Boy Color, PlayStation 2, and mobile phones. The first Deer Hunter game was an early success in the casual game market.
Captain America and the Avengers is a beat 'em up arcade game developed and released by Data East in 1991. It features the Avengers team of Marvel Comics characters in a side-scrolling brawling and shooting adventure to defeat the evil Red Skull. The game received ports for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and Game Gear. A different Data East game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Raw Thrills, Inc. is an arcade video game entertainment company based in Skokie, Illinois. It is best known for developing arcade games based on films.
NBA Hangtime is a 1996 basketball arcade game developed and released by Midway. Home versions were released for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Super NES, Sega Genesis, and Microsoft Windows.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter II is a hunting video game published by HeadGames Publishing, Inc. It is a sequel to Cabela's Big Game Hunter, and was released in 1998.
Cruis'n is a racing game developed by Just Games Interactive and published by Midway Games for the Wii. It is a modified version of Raw Thrills' The Fast and the Furious which was released in arcades in 2004, based on the Fast & Furious franchise; the Wii version used the Cruis'n brand owned by Nintendo.
Wild Guns is a 1994 space Western shooting gallery video game developed by Natsume for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Set in the Wild West with steampunk and sci-fi influences, the story follows Annie and her bounty hunter Clint, seeking revenge for the death of her family. The player controls either Annie or Clint sidestepping and jumping in the foreground while shooting down enemy robots in the background and dodging enemy bullets. These gameplay mechanics combine elements from third-person shooters and light gun games.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter is a hunting video game series published by HeadGames Publishing, Inc and Activision from 1998 to 2014, named after retailer Cabela's.
Marksman Shooting & Trap Shooting is a light gun shooter compilation game released for Master System in North America in 1986. A third game, Safari Hunt, was included in the European version, retitled Marksman Shooting / Trap Shooting / Safari Hunt. Safari Hunt was also bundled with Hang-On as part of another multicart and also as a built-in game in Version 2.4 of the Master System BIOS. All three games were released in Japan individually for Shooting Zone, a Master System-compatible arcade board dedicated to light gun games.
Trials HD is an Xbox Live Arcade game developed by RedLynx and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on August 12, 2009 as part of the second annual Xbox Live Summer of Arcade and was later re-released in a retail pack alongside Limbo and 'Splosion Man in April 2011. It is a 2.5D puzzle/racing game. The player must guide a trial motorcycle with exaggerated physics through various obstacles to reach each stage's finish line. On September 6, 2012 it was announced that a Microsoft Windows version of Trials HD would be bundled inside a special version of Trials Evolution, dubbed Trials Evolution: Gold Edition—although this version changes the physics of the game. It is the third game in the series. On February 11, 2016, Microsoft added Trials HD as part of its backwards compatibility program for Xbox One.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2012 is a hunting video game developed by Cauldron and published by Activision for the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 in 2011.
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013 is a first-person shooter light gun hunting video game developed by Cauldron and published by Activision on October 23, 2012 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Wii. A Wii U port was released later on December 4, 2012. The game's story features Jacob Marshall as he tries to hunt in Africa, while remembering a past hunting trip in Alaska with his father and brother.
Andy Lin is an American esports player of Big Buck Hunter and professional photographer based in New York City.
Arcade1Up is a computer hardware production company that specializes in the production of working 3/4 scale arcade cabinets that play arcade video games using modern components and emulation.
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