Target: Terror

Last updated
Target: Terror
Target - Terror Coverart.png
Developer(s) Raw Thrills
Leviathan Games (Wii)
Publisher(s)
Konami (Wii)
Designer(s) Eugene Jarvis
Platform(s) Arcade
Wii [1]
ReleaseArcade
  • NA: May 2004
Wii
  • NA: April 22, 2008
Genre(s) Light gun shooter
Mode(s)Up to 2 players simultaneously
Arcade system PC with NVidia Graphics, custom I/O

Target: Terror (known as Target: Force in Japan) is a shooter arcade game developed and published in 2004 by Raw Thrills, and designed by Eugene Jarvis. The game involves shooting terrorists attacking various places in the United States, including Denver Airport, the Golden Gate Bridge and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Contents

There is a special edition called Target: Terror Gold which awards medals to the player as a bonus and, also has hidden minigames that can be unlocked by damaging certain parts of the environment such as windows or oil drums.

Gameplay

The game challenges players to fight against terrorist attacks on the Golden Gate Bridge, the Los Alamos nuclear power plant, and the Denver International Airport using optical guns. The final mission is to prevent a hijacked airliner from being crashed into the White House. The Gold version contains the same levels as the original version but includes several bonus rooms. One such room has the player shooting turkeys with bombs strapped to them that are flung by terrorists in a field. Another bonus room is similar to Missile Command and has players intercepting ICBMs with flares. Players are awarded combat medals after each successfully completed mission. The game features two modes: 2-player simultaneous play on one gun or "Justice Mode". Justice Mode can play both guns on one player. The characters of any kind are portrayed by real live/live action people.

Plot

After dispatching and killing all terrorists, helping all officials (and keeps all the officials alive, along with the innocents) and saving all innocents in all these areas, the player(s) is (are) sent to a Boeing 747 that has been hijacked. The player(s) must fight their way to the cockpit in order to stop the terrorists from performing a suicide attack on the White House. If the player(s) succeeds to killing all the terrorists, helping all officials while successfully keeping them all alive, saving all innocents, and stops the White House suicide attack, the president then says that he and the whole world thanks the player for their courage and bravery of stopping the terrorists, calls the player(s) a hero, and also says "It's because of heroes like yourselves, that this country is a safe place for democracy and the American way of life". On the Wii version the speech abruptly cuts to static. However in the original arcade version the speech is interrupted by terrorists, who capture the president and shoot the player(s). Regardless of platform, the ending is followed by a “To Be Continued” screen, but no continuation or sequel was ever created.

Development

Target: Terror was the first arcade game developed by Raw Thrills. [2] Designed by Eugene Jarvis, [3] the game was inspired by the paranoia in the United States after the September 11 attacks. [2] [4] [5] Raw Thrills felt that such an "outrageous", controversial premise would give them publicity. [2] [5] However, they avoided using ethnic stereotypes. [5]

The game's characters were animated with motion capture; Raw Thrills thought it looked more realistic than 3D models. [2] [4] A nonviolent "paintball" option was included for family audiences. [5] The final level, in which the player must stop a hijacked Boeing 747 from crashing into the White House, was inspired by United Airlines Flight 93 and the speculation over its intended target. [2] [5] [6] According to Jarvis, the scene caused Walmart stores to ban Target: Terror from their arcades. [6] If the player successfully completes the mission the president thanks the player for their actions, but is then kidnapped by terrorists, which is followed by a to be continued screen, however a sequel was never made.

Target: Terror was unveiled at the January 2004 Amusement Trades Exhibition International show in London, along with Raw Thrills' racing game The Fast and the Furious and ICE/Play Mechanix's comic book-based shooting game Johnny Nero Action Hero.

Wii port

Target: Terror was ported to the Wii by Konami in 2008. It supports the Wii Zapper peripheral.

The Wii version received generally negative reviews from critics, receiving an average score of 37.26% based on 19 reviews on the review aggregator GameRankings, [7] and an average score of 33 out of 100 based on 19 reviews on Metacritic. [8]

Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb criticized the difficulty of the game, noting "Someone, somewhere is able to play the arcade version of this on one quarter. If you encounter him, do not take this gentleman up on his offer to give you a ride home! It will only end in tears, several years of forced servitude, and a shallow grave near mile marker 117." [9]

In 2009, IGN gave the game "Worst Visuals" award on the Wii, describing them as "so bad it made Aerosmith's Revolution X look good". [10]

The title featured in 19th place in a 2022 Retro Gamer list of the Top 25 Light Gun Games, with critic Ashley Day describing it as a "game defined by surprising moments" and praising its live-action visuals as "better than anything from the Nineties, with tons of unique animations". [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Duck Hunt</i> 1984 video game

Duck Hunt is a 1984 light gun shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was first released in April 1984 in Japan for the Family Computer (Famicom) console and in North America as an arcade game for the Nintendo VS. System. It became a launch game for the NES in North America in October 1985, and was re-released in Europe two years later.

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>Xevious</i> Vertical scrolling shooter arcade game released in 1983

Xevious is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco in 1982. It was released in Japan by Namco and in North America by Atari, Inc. Controlling the Solvalou starship, the player attacks Xevious forces before they destroy all of mankind. The Solvalou has two weapons at its disposal: a zapper to destroy flying craft, and a blaster to bomb ground installations and enemies. It runs on the Namco Galaga arcade system.

<i>Robotron: 2084</i> 1982 video game

Robotron: 2084 is a multidirectional shooter developed by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar of Vid Kidz and released in arcades by Williams Electronics in 1982. The game is set in the year 2084 in a fictional world where robots have turned against humans in a cybernetic revolt. The aim is to defeat endless waves of robots, rescue surviving humans, and earn as many points as possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Jarvis</span> American game designer and programmer

Eugene Peyton Jarvis is an American game designer and video game programmer, known for producing pinball machines for Williams Electronics and video games for Atari. Most notable among his works are the seminal arcade video games Defender and Robotron: 2084 in the early 1980s, and the Cruis'n series of driving games for Midway Games in the 1990s. He co-founded Vid Kidz in the early 1980s and currently leads his own development studio, Raw Thrills Inc. In 2008, Eugene Jarvis was named the first Game Designer in Residence by DePaul University's Game Development program. His family owns the Jarvis Wines company in Napa, California.

<i>Cruisn USA</i> 1994 video game

Cruis'n USA is a racing video game developed by TV Games Inc. and published by Nintendo. It was first released in arcades in 1994 by Midway Games, with a port to the Nintendo 64 developed by Williams Electronics released in 1996. It is the first game in the Cruis'n series and features races set in locations across the Continental United States.

<i>Silent Scope</i> (video game) 1999 video game

Silent Scope is an arcade game created in 1999 by Konami. The game puts the player in the shoes of a sniper during a series of terrorist incidents. It is the first in the Silent Scope series.

<i>Smash TV</i> 1990 video game

Smash TV is a 1990 arcade video game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams Electronics Games. It is a twin-stick shooter in the same vein as 1982's Robotron: 2084, which was also co-created by Jarvis. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Genesis, Master System, and Game Gear versions are titled Super Smash TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raw Thrills</span> American arcade game company

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.

<i>Radirgy</i> 2005 shoot em up video game

Radirgy is a shoot 'em up video game developed by MileStone Inc. and released for the Sega NAOMI arcade platform in 2005. The story follows schoolgirl Shizuru Kamigusa in an age filled with radio waves which she is allergic to. She must save her father, who is developing a remedy for her sickness, from terrorists who have taken control of his company. The game features bullet hell gameplay elements and a distinct cel shaded graphical style.

<i>Time Crisis 4</i> 2006 video game

Time Crisis 4 is a rail shooter and the fourth installment in the main series. It was released as an arcade game in 2006, and was ported with the GunCon 3 light gun peripheral for PlayStation 3 in 2007. It features a new first-person shooter mode. It was later re-released as part of Time Crisis: Razing Storm with support for the PlayStation Move controller, without the first-person shooter mode.

<i>Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII</i> 2006 video game

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII is a flight combat video game for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. It was developed by Ubisoft Bucharest during the second fiscal quarter of 2006 for both the North American and European regions. The game features 46 different World War II fighter planes and allows the player or players to take part in several World War II events as a fictional squadron. Online support allows 16 players to take part in head-to-head and co-operative battles.

<i>Ghost Squad</i> (video game) 2004 Video game

Ghost Squad and Ghost Squad: Evolution are light gun rail shooter arcade games developed and published by Sega. A home version of the original Ghost Squad was developed for Nintendo's Wii game console. A sequel, Operation GHOST, was released in arcades in 2012.

<i>Maximum Force</i> 1997 arcade game

Maximum Force is a light gun shooter arcade game developed by Mesa Logic for Atari Games in 1997. In 1998, Atari Games re-released the game as part of one machine called Area 51/Maximum Force Duo that also included Area 51, and later ported the game to both the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn game consoles.

<i>Cruisn</i> Video game series

Cruis'n is a series of racing video games originally developed by Eugene Jarvis for Midway Games and published by Midway and Nintendo. The series distinguishes itself from other racing games with its over-the-top presentation and fast-paced gameplay, featuring a wide variety of vehicles and tracks based on a number of real world locations. The series debuted in North American and European arcades in 1994 with the release of Cruis'n USA, which, along with Killer Instinct, was advertised as running on Nintendo's Ultra 64 hardware. Two sequels followed, Cruis'n World and Cruis'n Exotica, which featured new vehicles and tracks. All three games were released for the Nintendo 64 as well, with Exotica also being released for the handheld Game Boy Color. The next game in the series, Cruis'n Velocity deviated from the traditional arcade gameplay of the series and was released for the Game Boy Advance.

<i>Cruisn</i> (video game) 2004 video game

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.

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.

<i>SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1</i> 2008 video game

SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 is a video game compilation created and published by SNK which includes sixteen Neo Geo games. The compilation was released on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the Wii. In Australia, it was only released on the PlayStation 2.

<i>Nex Machina</i> 2017 video game

Nex Machina is a 2017 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Housemarque. The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Windows on 20 June 2017. It received positive reviews from critics.

References

  1. ↑ Target: Terror from AllGame.com
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Sheffield, Brandon (2007-05-07). "Eugeneology: An Interview with Eugene Jarvis". Game Developer. Archived from the original on 2022-12-13. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  3. ↑ Donlan, Christian (2012-04-12). "People Go To the Games Arcade To Witness Blood-Soaked Atrocities". Vice. Archived from the original on 2022-12-14. Retrieved 2022-12-13. Jarvis also made Target: Terror, a shooting gallery game that does for 9/11 what NARC did for the 1980s drug scene: it buries the whole thing in arthritic digital actors and then allows you to blow everybody to pieces.
  4. 1 2 Klepek, Patrick (2008-05-28). "Wii And Arcade Game 'Target: Terror' Is A Response To 9/11, Sequel Coming". MTV. Archived from the original on 2022-12-13. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Borgeson, Mitch (2004-03-02). "Stopping al-Qaida, a quarter at a time". Salon. Archived from the original on 2022-12-14. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  6. 1 2 Feldman, Curt (2005-02-18). "Q&A: Arcade master Eugene Jarvis". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2022-12-13. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  7. ↑ "Target: Terror Reviews". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  8. ↑ "Target: Terror (wii: 2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
  9. ↑ Jeff Gerstmann, Giantbomb.com (7 May 2008). "Target: Terror Review". p. 1. Archived from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
  10. ↑ IGN Staff (20 March 2009). "IGN: The Greatest Graphics of All Time". p. 2. Archived from the original on 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  11. ↑ Day, Ashley (7 July 2022). "Top 25 Lightgun Games". Retro Gamer (235). Future Publishing: 55.
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.