NES

Hogan's Alley

In 1985, Shigeru Miyamoto brought back the "simple pleasures" of a shooting gallery, with the success of the ever-popular Hogan's Alley. The game itself does not have a deep story line, but the object is pretty classic. In game A, you enter a practice range, where you shoot the gangs, yet not the innocent. Game B is quite simalar. Now, you scroll through a suberban area, with the same object as Game A. The final game, C, the idea is to guide cans to the other side of the screen, gaining points for each perfection (See Picture:) Miyamoto broke groung with this instant classic. It belongs in any collection. If you don't have a zapper and this cartidge, your missing out on a great game.

Hooooooooogaaaan! Okay, this game is completely unrelated to Hogan's Heroes. In fact, if memory serves, Hogan's Alley was a training course used by the FBI. A Hollywood-style set was built, and cardboard cutouts of bad guys and innocents would pop up from windows and alleys. The agent in training had to make split second decisions on when to use his weapon and not. Well, playing this game won't score you the G-badge, but you can pretend if you want.

While simplistic, this light gun game does add a few wrinkles to the standard "Duck Hunt" formula. The first variation places you in a shooting gallery with cardboard figures that appear three at a time. You'll want to shoot the dirty crooks but hold your fire against the woman, professor, and policeman. In general it's pretty dull affair. The second variation places the figures in side-scrolling urban scenery, which spices things up a bit. But the third stage really steals the show. In this one you repeatedly shoot tins cans that appear on the right side, keeping them in the air long enough to have them land on ledges on the left. Each ledge has a different point value, so it's a nice combination of skill and strategy. Hogan's Alley isn't bad for a light gun game, but it certainly won't have you hooting and hollering and keeping the neighbors up all night.