Wild Guns

The Good
Wild Guns is one of those games that, because of its genre, has the essence of the arcade machines on it.

The story of the game, as we've seen in many other arts (remember the movie Wild Wild West), take place in an alternative Western, where guns and cowboy hats mix with robots and advanced technology. It seems that this strange jumble of genres doesn't work when they're together, but the results for this game are good enough.

We can choose between two main characters, a woman called Annie and a man called Clint (what a coincidence) as well as different clothes for each one, which is not something common in games of this genre.

The concept of the game is as simple as destroying everything that you see on the screen and avoid all the bullets fired by our enemies. We have two movements to dodge, the first one and the most useful is the classic dodge-roll, but we can also make a jump (which can be a double jump if we press again the button) as a second way to avoid the bullets. Talking again about the concept, the game is an action game, and we don't have hostages or civilians to hurt, so, the player will press the shoot button from the first second of the game, and he won't stop pushing it 'til the end of the game. Istn't it funny?

The players has different weapons (no matter which character, the weapons are the same for both). We have shotguns, grenade launchers and a powerful and deathly weapon (which is a gatling) that makes the player invincible for a time. Of course, we have powerful bombs that will kill everything on the screen, which are the best thing to use when we're running into difficulties. The most remarkable feature of the game is the lasso, with that, we can hold an enemy for a short time. It looks a bit stupid to use the lasso when we have those guns around, but when you know how to use it well it's something deciding for the adventure.

The game has six stages, the first one which is an introduction, and then four stages to finish in the order that we want. One we've done it, we have to face the final ending stage. Each stage has three parts (except the last one which has four), and each part has a mini-boss to defeat besides the big ending boss of the stage. We have also bonus stages to get higher scores (and gain some extra lives).

The game is not difficult, but as it's usually in those kind of games, you'll have to learn the weakness of your enemies to progress. The game has some difficulty levels and there are infinite continues, so, the game is not a big challenge for players.

Talking about technical aspects, graphics are as good as they can be for the 16-bit system of Nintendo, with different enemies and varied stages (from mines to a classic western saloon). FX and music are also good.

The Bad
The game is a bit short as well as easy, but, used to other impossible games of this genre it's not something so bad.

There are different bosses, but the game needs more mini-bosses for the parts of each stage because you'll fight against them a few times, maybe a pair more would have been enough.

Once you've finished the game, there are not many more things to do. The hardest level is not a big challenge if you've finished the normal one, so, once you've finished the hardest level the game becomes an anecdote on your shelves. To sum up, more personality needed.

The Bottom Line
Wild Guns is an action-packed game that will satisfy most of the players, addictive and perfect to play with a friend, but also funny for one player. A game which is a bit simple, but a game that will do the work for those who love games of this genre.