Light-gun shooter

Last updated

Light-gun shooter, also called light-gun game or simply gun game, is a shooter video game genre in which the primary design element is to simulate a shooting gallery by having the player aiming and discharging a gun-shaped controller at a screen. Light-gun shooters revolve around the protagonist shooting virtual targets, either antagonists or inanimate objects, and generally feature action or horror themes and some may employ a humorous, parodic treatment of these conventions. These games typically feature "on-rails" movement, which gives the player control only over aiming; the protagonist's other movements are determined by the game. Games featuring this device are sometimes termed "rail shooters", though this term is also applied to games of other genres in which "on-rails" movement is a feature. Some, particularly later, games give the player greater control over movement and in still others the protagonist does not move at all. On home computer conversions of light-gun shooters, mouse has been often an optional or non-optional replacement for a light gun.

Contents

Light-gun shooters typically employ "light gun" controllers, so named because they function through the use of light sensors. However, not all "light-gun shooters" use optical light guns, but some may also use alternative pointing devices such as positional guns or motion controllers. Mechanical games using light guns had existed since the 1930s, though they operated differently from those used in video games. Throughout the 1970s mechanical games were replaced by electronic video games and in the 1980s popular light-gun shooters such as Duck Hunt emerged. The genre was most popular in the 1990s, subsequent to the release of Virtua Cop, the formula of which was later improved upon by Time Crisis . The genre is less popular in the new millennium, as well as being hampered by compatibility issues, but retains a niche appeal for fans of "old school" gameplay.

Definition

"Light-gun shooters", "light-gun games" or "gun games" are games in which the protagonist shoots at targets, whether antagonists or objects, and which use a gun-shaped controller (termed a "light gun") with which the player aims. While light-gun games may feature a first-person perspective, they are distinct from first-person shooters, which use more conventional input devices. [1] Light-gun games which feature "on-rails" movement are sometimes termed "rail shooters", [2] though this term is also applied to other types of shooters featuring similar movement. [3] The light gun itself is so termed because it functions through the use of a light sensor: pulling the trigger allows it to detect light from the on-screen targets. [4]

Design

Duck Hunt. The game is viewed through the eyes of the protagonist; the player is using a light gun controller to target an on-screen duck. Duck hunt pic.PNG
Duck Hunt. The game is viewed through the eyes of the protagonist; the player is using a light gun controller to target an on-screen duck.

Targets in light-gun shooters may be threatening antagonists such as criminals, terrorists or zombies, [5] [6] [7] or they may be inanimate objects such as apples or bottles. [8] Although these games may be played without a light gun, the use of more conventional input methods has been deemed inferior. [5] Light-gun shooters typically feature generic action or horror themes, [6] [9] though some later games employ more humorous, self-referential styles. [10] [11]

Light-gun shooters primarily revolve around shooting large numbers of enemies attacking in waves. [10] The protagonist may be required to defend themself by taking cover, [2] or by shooting incoming thrown weapons, such as axes or grenades. [6] The player may also compete against the clock, however, with some games also featuring boss battles. Games may also reward the player for accurate shooting, with extra points, power-ups or secrets. [6] [10] Games which do not pit the player against antagonists instead feature elaborate challenges constructed mainly from inanimate objects, testing the player's speed and accuracy. [8] More conventional games may feature these types of challenges as minigames. [6]

Light-gun shooters typically feature "on-rails" movement, which gives the player no control over the direction the protagonist moves in; the player only has control over aiming and shooting. [2] [10] Some games, however, may allow the protagonist to take cover at the push of a button. [2] Other games may eschew on-rails movement altogether and allow the player to move the protagonist freely around the game's environment; [12] still others may feature a static environment. [1] Light-gun shooters use a first-person perspective for aiming, though some games may allow the player to switch to a third person perspective in order to maneuver the protagonist. [12]

History

Mechanical and electro-mechanical precursors (1900s to early 1970s)

Popular GunCon light guns. The bright orange illustrates the toy-like appearance of most light guns, whereas the grey example appears more realistic. GunCon 1 and 2.jpg
Popular GunCon light guns. The bright orange illustrates the toy-like appearance of most light guns, whereas the grey example appears more realistic.

Gun games had existed in arcades before the emergence of electronic video games. Shooting gallery carnival games date back to the late 19th century. [13] Mechanical gun games first appeared in England's amusement arcades around the turn of the 20th century, [14] and before appearing in America by the 1920s. [4] The British "cinematic shooting gallery" game Life Targets (1912) was a mechanical interactive film game where players shot at a cinema screen displaying film footage of targets. [15]

The first light guns appeared in the 1930s, with the Seeburg Ray-O-Lite. Games using this toy rifle were mechanical and the rifle fired beams of light at targets wired with sensors. [4] A later gun game from Seeburg Corporation, Shoot the Bear (1949), introduced the use of mechanical sound effects. By the 1960s, mechanical gun games had evolved into shooting electro-mechanical games. [16] A popular sophisticated example was Periscope (1965) by Namco and Sega, [17] with other examples including Captain Kid Rifle (1966) by Midway Manufacturing and Arctic Gun (1967) by Williams. [18] The use of a mounted gun dates back to a Midway mechanical game in the 1960s. [19]

Between the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sega produced gun games which resemble first-person light-gun shooter video games, but were in fact electro-mechanical games that used rear image projection in a manner similar to a zoetrope to produce moving animations on a screen. [20] It was a fresh approach to gun games that Sega introduced with Duck Hunt, which began location testing in 1968 and released in January 1969. It had animated moving targets which disappear from the screen when shot, solid-state electronic sound effects, and a higher score for head shots. [21] [22] It also printed out the player's score on a ticket, and the sound effects were volume controllable. [23]

2D and pseudo-3D light-gun shooter video games (1970s to mid-1990s)

Throughout the 1970s, electro-mechanical arcade games were gradually replaced by electronic video games, following the release of Pong in 1972, [24] with 1978's Space Invaders dealing a yet more powerful blow to the popularity of electro-mechanical games. [25] In the 1970s, EM gun games evolved into light-gun shooter video games. [19] Light guns used in electronic video games work in the opposite manner to their mechanical counterparts: the sensor is in the gun and pulling the trigger allows it to receive light from the on-screen targets. [4]

Computer light pens had been used for practical purposes at MIT in the early 1960s. [26] The Magnavox Odyssey home video game console in 1972 had a light gun accessory, [27] in the production of which Nintendo was involved. [28] In the arcades, light-gun shooter video games appeared in 1974, with Sega's Balloon Gun in August and Atari's Qwak! in November. [29] The use of a mounted gun in arcade video games date back to Taito's Attack (1976). [19] However, light-gun video games were not able to achieve the same level of success as their earlier electro-mechanical predecessors until the mid-1980s. [30]

Light-gun video games became popular in arcades with the Nintendo VS. System arcade releases of Duck Hunt (1984) and Hogan's Alley (1984), [30] with Duck Hunt also becoming popular on home consoles following its 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) release. [1] Light guns subsequently became popularly used for video games in the mid-1980s. [31] [32] In the late 1980s, Taito's arcade hit Operation Wolf (1987) popularized military-themed light-gun rail shooters. [33] [19]

Operation Wolf had scrolling backgrounds, which Taito's sequel Operation Thunderbolt (1988) [34] and Sega's Line of Fire (1989) took further with pseudo-3D backgrounds, the latter rendered using Sega Super Scaler arcade technology, with both featuring two-player co-op gameplay. [35] SNK's Beast Busters (1989) supported up to three players and was a modest success. Midway's arcade hit Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) combined Operation Wolf's scrolling with Operation Thunderbolt and Line of Fire's two-player co-op along with the use of the use of realistic digitized sprite graphics.

In 1992, Konami's Lethal Enforcers further popularized the use of realistic digitized sprite graphics in light-gun shooters, [36] with digitized sprites remaining popular in the genre up until the mid-1990s. [37] [38] Midway's Revolution X (1994) was a Three-player co-op game with digitized graphics like their earlier hit Terminator 2. In 1995, Konami released Crypt Killer (Henry Explorers in Japan), which supported up to three players and was a modest success.

3D light-gun shooters (mid-1990s to 2000s)

Sega's Virtua Cop, released in arcades in 1994, broke new ground, popularized the use of 3D polygons in shooter games, [5] and led to a "Renaissance" in the popularity of arcade gun games. Like Lethal Enforcers, the game was inspired by the Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry as well as a coffee advertisement in which a can of coffee grew larger in a gun's sights. In Virtua Cop the player had to shoot approaching targets as fast as possible. [39]

The acclaimed Time Crisis by Namco, released for Japanese arcades in 1995 and ported to Sony's PlayStation console in 1996/1997, introduced innovations such as simulated recoil and a foot pedal which when pressed caused the protagonist to take cover. The game's light gun controller, the GunCon, was also acclaimed. [2] [31] Namco also released Gun Bullet for Japanese arcades in 1994 and was ported as Point Blank for the PlayStation in 1998, a 2D sprite-based game featuring a unique minigame structure and quirky, humorous tone. The game was critically acclaimed and received two sequels, both for the arcades and the PlayStation console. [8] [40]

In 1995, Atari Games released the successful Area 51 arcade light-gun game, which featured red and blue HAPP 45. caliber pistol-like light guns and the use of full-motion video (FMV) pre-rendered graphics. [41] Some games attempted to incorporate elements of first-person shooter (FPS) or survival horror games through the use of less restricted character movement or exploration, with varying degrees of success. [6] [12] [42]

Between 1996 and 1997, 3D light-gun shooters gained considerable popularity in arcades. Popular arcade light-gun shooters at the time included Sega's Virtua Cop 2 (1995) and The House of the Dead (1997), Namco's Time Crisis, and Police Trainer (1996). [43] The most successful light-gun horror game series is The House of the Dead (1997 debut), the popularity of which, along with Resident Evil , led to zombies becoming mainstream again in popular culture. [44] [45] [46] In 1998, Midway released their third successful light-gun game called CarnEvil , which featured over-the-top black comedy humor, the use of the shotgun-like light gun which pumps to reload, and the use of blood and gore like Mortal Kombat . [47]

Light guns were suppressed for a time in the United States after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and its attendant controversy over video games and gun crime. [31] Since the late 1980s, light gun controllers have been generally manufactured to look like toys by painting them in bright colours. In Japan, which lacks the gun crime found in the United States and in which civilians cannot legally own guns, more realistic light guns are widely available. [31] Light-gun rail shooters began declining in the late 1990s as FPS games became more popular. [33] Light-gun shooters became less popular in the 2000s, with new games in the genre seen as "old school", [1] [6] [48] such as Raw Thrills' Target: Terror (2004) and ICE/Play Mechanix's Johnny Nero Action Hero (2004).

Wii Revival (2006 to 2014)

The genre went dormant for a period but experienced a small renaissance with the release of the Nintendo Wii in 2006. The system's controller, named the Wii Remote, popularized motion-based gameplay. With the release of the Wii Zapper and third party light gun shells, various developers took the opportunity to release various light gun games on the platform, including Ghost Squad: Evolution, Gunslingers, Dead Space: Extraction, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, The House of the Dead: Overkill, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Wild West Guns.

Sony responded by releasing the PlayStation Move, a motion-based controller for the PlayStation 3 that could also be fitted into a light gun shell called a PS Move Sharp Shooter. This accessory allowed developers to also release light gun games on Sony’s platform. Additionally, Namco released the GunCon 3 for the PlayStation 3, which was supported by Time Crisis 4, Time Crisis: Razing Storm and Deadstorm Pirates.

The Time Crisis and House of the Dead franchises continued to receive acclaimed installments, [6] [10] with the arcade machine for the latter's House of the Dead 4 Special featuring large screens enclosing the player, as well as swivelling, vibrating chairs. [49] Incredible Technologies/Play Mechanix released Big Buck Hunter , which was highly successful and spawned a number of sequels and console ports. Sega released Ghost Squad in 2004, notable for featuring unique machine guns with realistic recoil and an additional trigger for other in-game actions.

The light gun shooter genre fell out of popularity on home consoles when the industry transitioned from the Wii and Playstation 3 to Wii U and Playstation 4 in 2014. Other factors which contributed to this declining popularity includes incompatibility with modern high-definition televisions.

VR Revival, Arcade & PC Emulation (2014 to Present)

Today, the light gun genre is maintained in virtual reality, arcade and PC emulation.

Various VR games with light gun gameplay elements are released regularly after the release of Oculus Rift in 2016, such as Space Pirate Trainer, Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission, Zombieland VR, Blood & Truth, Under Cover and more.

Despite the decline of the arcade industry, arcade continues to see periodical exclusive light gun releases such as Jurassic Park Arcade and Time Crisis 5 in 2015, Point Blank X in 2016, House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn in 2018, Elevator Action Invasion in 2021 and Enter the Gungeon House of the Gundead in 2023.

On PC, various companies offer light gun hardware solutions for light gun enthusiasts, such as Sinden Light Gun, Ultimarc Aimtrak and Retroshooter, in addition to retrofitting classic light gun hardwares for consoles such as Wiimote with Mayflash Dolphinbar and Gun4IR. Besides emulating classic light gun games, players can also find modern light gun releases on Steam, such as Railbreak, BangBang PewPew, BioCrisis and Blue Estate The Game.

The Joy-Con of the Nintendo Switch have been used as a light gun substitute for various games, such as The House of the Dead: Remake (2022), though they are less precise than the Wii Remote due to their sole reliance on gyroscopic sensors for aiming. [50]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Casamassina, Matt, Controller Concepts: Gun Games Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine , IGN, Sept 26, 2005, Accessed Feb 27, 2009
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Ashcraft, p. 147
  3. ↑ Hilary, Goldstein, Panzer Dragoon Orta Archived 2009-03-07 at the Wayback Machine , IGN, Jan 10, 2003, Accessed Mar 1, 2009
  4. 1 2 3 4 Ashcraft, p. 145
  5. 1 2 3 Virtua Cop Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine , IGN, July 7, 2004, Accessed Feb 27, 2009
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jeff Haynes,Time Crisis 4 Review, IGN, Nov 19, 2007, Accessed Mar 29, 2008
  7. ↑ Anderson, Lark, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return Review, GameSpot, Mar 29, 2008, Accessed Feb 27, 2009
  8. 1 2 3 Fielder, Lauren, Point Blank Review, GameSpot, Dec 23, 1997, Accessed Feb 27, 2009
  9. ↑ Davis, Ryan, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles Review, GameSpot, Nov 15, 2007, Accessed Mar 1, 2009, Archived from the original on October 25, 2012 on the Wayback Machine.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson, Lark, The House of the Dead: Overkill Review Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine , GameSpot, Feb 14, 2009, Accessed Feb 27, 2009
  11. ↑ Davis, Ryan, Ghost Squad Review, GameSpot, Nov 28, 2007, Accessed Mar 1, 2009, Archived from the original on October 10, 2012.
  12. 1 2 3 Reed, Kristan, Resident Evil Dead Aim, EuroGamer, July 29, 2003, Accessed Feb 27, 2009
  13. ↑ Voorhees, Gerald (2014). "Chapter 31: Shooting". In Perron, Bernard (ed.). The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies. Taylor & Francis. pp. 251–258. ISBN   9781136290503.
  14. ↑ Williams, Andrew (16 March 2017). History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction. CRC Press. p. 10. ISBN   978-1-317-50381-1.
  15. ↑ Cowan, Michael (2018). "Interactive media and imperial subjects: Excavating the cinematic shooting gallery". NECSUS. European Journal of Media Studies. 7 (1): 17–44. doi:10.25969/mediarep/3438.
  16. ↑ "BAC Thinks Highly Of Arcades". Cash Box . Cash Box Pub. Co. 27 July 1968. p. 73.
  17. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian, (2008) Arcade Mania! The Turbo Charged World of Japan's Game Centers, p. 133, Kodansha International
  18. ↑ "Coin Machines Equipment Survey". Cash Box . Cash Box Pub. Co. 20 October 1973. p. 105.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Carroll, Martyn (April 2016). "Operation Wolf". Retro Gamer . No. 153. pp. 34–1.
  20. ↑ D.S. Cohen, Killer Shark: The Undersea Horror Arcade Game from Jaws, About.com, archived from the original on 2017-07-03, retrieved 2011-05-03
  21. ↑ "New Sega Gun To Bow at ATE: Sega Duck Shoot". Cash Box . Cash Box Pub. Co.: 34 4 January 1969.
  22. ↑ Duck Hunt (1969) at the Killer List of Videogames
  23. ↑ "1969 Sega Duck Hunt (Arcade Flyer)". pinrepair.com. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
  24. ↑ Ashcraft, p. 134
  25. ↑ Ashcraft, p. 136
  26. ↑ A History of the Internet, Computer History Museum, Accessed Feb 26, 2009
  27. ↑ The Ten Greatest Years in Gaming Archived 2008-04-19 at the Wayback Machine , Edge, June 27, 2006, Accessed Mar 1, 2009
  28. ↑ Martin Picard, The Foundation of Geemu: A Brief History of Early Japanese video games, International Journal of Computer Game Research, 2013
  29. ↑ Edwards, Benj (2017-06-02). "Atari's Forgotten Arcade Classics". Rolling Stone . Wenner Media. Archived from the original on 2017-09-01. Retrieved 2017-08-18.
  30. 1 2 Adlum, Eddie (November 1985). "The Replay Years: Reflections from Eddie Adlum". RePlay. Vol. 11, no. 2. pp. 134-175 (170-1).
  31. 1 2 3 4 When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy Archived 2009-09-11 at the Wayback Machine , GameSpot, Accessed Feb 26, 2009
  32. ↑ The 30 Defining Moments in Gaming Archived 2011-10-29 at the Wayback Machine , Edge, Aug 13, 2007, Accessed Feb 27, 2009
  33. 1 2 Lambie, Ryan (1 March 2015). "Operation Wolf: The Ultimate '80s Military Gun Game". Den of Geek . Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  34. ↑ Kelly, Nick (26 January 1989). "Arcades: Operation Thunderbold (arcade star)". Commodore User . No. 65 (February 1989). pp. 92–3.
  35. ↑ "Line of Fire". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  36. ↑ Draven, Derek (18 March 2021). "The 10 Best Light Gun Video Games Ever Created, Ranked". Screen Rant . Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  37. ↑ Perry, Dave; Nick; Nick R; Adrian (November 1994). "Reviews: Virtua Cop". Games World . No. 7 (January 1995). Paragon Publishing. p. 21.
  38. ↑ "Finals". Next Generation . No. 1 (January 1995). Imagine Media. 8 December 1994. p. 105.
  39. ↑ Ashcraft, pp. 145-46
  40. ↑ Davis, Ryan, Point Blank 3 Review, GameSpot, May 3, 2001, Accessed Mar 1, 2009, Archived from the original on October 10, 2012.
  41. ↑ Kitts, Jeff (May 2, 2000). "Area 51 Review". gamespot.com.
  42. ↑ Remo, Chris, Time Crisis 4 Review Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine , Shack News, Nov 21st 2007, Accessed Mar 29, 2008
  43. ↑ "Arcade: Sega's Greatest Gun Game! The House of the Dead". Computer and Video Games . No. 188 (July 1997). EMAP. 11 June 1997. pp. 84–5.
  44. ↑ Weedon, Paul (17 July 2017). "George A. Romero (interview)". Paul Weedon. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  45. ↑ Diver, Mike (17 July 2017). "Gaming's Greatest, Romero-Worthy Zombies". Vice . Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  46. ↑ Newman, Kim (2011). Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s. A&C Black. pp. 559–566. ISBN   9781408805039.
  47. ↑ "The story of CarnEvil, an arcade frightfest once called "the most twisted video game ever created"". 15 November 2018.
  48. ↑ Rosenberg, Adam & Frushtick, Russel, Best Light-Gun Game – Ghost Squad Archived 2008-10-25 at the Wayback Machine , UGO, Accessed Mar 1, 2009
  49. ↑ Ashcraft, pp. 147-48
  50. ↑ Scullion, Chris (2022-04-08). "Review: The House Of The Dead: Remake – Control Issues Gnaw At Sega's Arcade Classic". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2023-04-06.

Related Research Articles

<i>Time Crisis</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Time Crisis is a light gun shooter arcade game, developed and released by Namco in 1995, and the first title to be released in the series of the same name. The game differentiated itself from other light gun shooters of the time by incorporating a pedal that controls when the player character takes cover to reload and avoid enemy fire. Players have a limited amount of time to clear each section by defeating enemies. The game's story focuses on Richard Miller, a secret agent, who is sent to rescue a kidnapped woman from a ruthless tyrant seeking to reclaim control of their former country from a new regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light gun</span> Video game pointing device

A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games, typically shaped to resemble a pistol.

Shoot 'em ups are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character movement, while others allow a broader definition including characters on foot and a variety of perspectives.

<i>Virtua Cop</i> 1994 video game

Virtua Cop is a 1994 light gun shooter game developed by Sega AM2 and designed by Yu Suzuki. It was originally an arcade game on the Sega Model 2 system, and was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995 and Windows in 1996. The Saturn version included support for both the Virtua Gun and Saturn mouse, as well as a new "Training Mode" which consists of a randomly generated shooting gallery.

An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and platform games. Multiplayer online battle arena and some real-time strategy games are also considered action games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shooter game</span> Action video game genre

Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is on the defeat of the character's enemies using ranged weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range weapons, and can be used in combination with other tools such as grenades for indirect offense, armor for additional defense, or accessories such as telescopic sights to modify the behavior of the weapons. A common resource found in many shooter games is ammunition, armor or health, or upgrades which augment the player character's weapons.

The following article is a broad timeline of arcade video games.

<i>Virtua Cop 3</i> 2003 video game

Virtua Cop 3 is the third and final game installment from Sega's Virtua Cop light gun shooter franchise, and released exclusively for video arcades in 2003. The game is available in standard and deluxe cabinet formats and runs on Sega Chihiro arcade hardware. A port for the Xbox was planned, but later cancelled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic game</span> Game that employs electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play

An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common forms of electronic games, including handheld electronic games, standalone arcade game systems, and exclusively non-visual products.

<i>Lethal Enforcers</i> 1992 video game

Lethal Enforcers is a 1992 light gun shooter released as an arcade video game by Konami. The graphics consist entirely of digitized photographs and digitized sprites. Home versions were released for the Super NES, Genesis and Sega CD during the following year and include a revolver-shaped light gun known as The Justifier.

Point Blank, known as Gun Bullet, or Gunvari in Japan, is a series of light gun shooter games developed by Namco for the arcade, PlayStation and Nintendo DS; the trilogy was first released in arcade in 1994 and was later ported onto the PlayStation. Point Blank DS was released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS featuring 40 challenges from the original series.

A beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, while a number of modern games feature more open three-dimensional (3D) environments with yet larger numbers of enemies. The gameplay tends to follow arcade genre conventions, such as being simple to learn but difficult to master, and the combat system tends to be more highly developed than other side-scrolling action games. Two-player cooperative gameplay and multiple player characters are also hallmarks of the genre. Most of these games take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical, science fiction or fantasy themes.

A side-scrolling video game is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics during the golden age of arcade games was a pivotal leap in game design, comparable to the move to 3D graphics during the fifth generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GunCon</span> Family of gun peripherals

The GunCon, known as the G-Con in Europe, is a family of gun peripherals designed by Namco for the PlayStation consoles. The original controllers used traditional light gun technology, while newer controllers use LED tracking technology.

The 1990s was the third decade in the industry's history. It was a decade of marked innovation in video gaming. It was a decade of transition from sprite-based graphics to full-fledged 3D graphics and it gave rise to several genres of video games including, but not limited to, the first-person shooter, real-time strategy, survival horror, and MMO. Arcade games, although still very popular in the early 1990s, began to decline as home consoles became more common. The fourth and fifth generation of video game consoles went on sale, including the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color and the Sega Dreamcast. Notable games released in the 1990s included Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Tekken 3,Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Final Fantasy VII, Unreal Tournament, Star Fox, Half-Life, Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario 64, Pokémon Red and Blue, NBA Jam,Daytona USA, GoldenEye 007, System Shock 2, Civilization,Ridge Racer, Sonic Adventure, Gran Turismo, Super Mario Kart, Pokémon Gold and Silver,Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, Silent Hill, Dead or Alive 2, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon, Fallout, Metal Gear Solid, Diablo, Virtua Fighter, Tomb Raider,Sega Rally Championship, Wing Commander,Super Smash Bros, Secret of Mana,Thief: The Dark Project, Age of Empires, Nights into Dreams, Panzer Dragoon, Gunstar Heroes, EverQuest, Chrono Trigger, Battletoads, Worms, Myst, Micro Machines, Streets of Rage 2,Baldur's Gate,Donkey Kong Country, Wipeout, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins,Lemmings, EarthBound, StarCraft, Banjo-Kazooie, PaRappa the Rapper, Resident Evil, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Soulcalibur, Command & Conquer, and Dance Dance Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cover system</span> Video game gameplay mechanic

A cover system is a video game gameplay mechanic that allows a virtual avatar to hide from and avoid dangers, usually in a three-dimensional world. This method is a digital adaptation of the real-life military tactic of taking cover behind obstacles, for purposes of attaining protection from enemy ranged or area effect attacks, such as gunfire or explosions.

<i>Virtua Tennis</i> Video game series

Virtua Tennis is a series of tennis simulation video games started in 1999 by Sega AM3. The player competes through tennis tournaments and various arcade modes. While originally released for arcades, all games in the series have been ported to other platforms, including most major consoles.

Electro-mechanical games are types of arcade games that operate on a combination of some electronic circuitry and mechanical actions from the player to move items contained within the game's cabinet. Some of these were early light gun games using light-sensitive sensors on targets to register hits, while others were simulation games such as driving games, combat flight simulators and sports games. EM games were popular in amusement arcades from the late 1940s up until the 1970s, serving as alternatives to pinball machines, which had been stigmatized as games of chance during that period. EM games lost popularity in the 1970s, as arcade video games had emerged to replace them in addition to newer pinball machines designed as games of skill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arcade game</span> Coin-operated entertainment machine

An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games or merchandisers.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.