Gangster Town

The Good
Every shooter game on the Sega Master System is so much fun, because in one of these games, you get to shoot gunslingers, zombies, ghosts, objects, and other stuff, and doing this lets you proceed through the game. In Gangster Town, you use the Light Phaser to fight mobsters through various scenes, such as downtown, a saloon, nightclub, and harbor.

The game is structured in such a way that you do a little target practice first, shooting as many targets as you can before the music fades out, indicating that the scene has ended. You are then play a scene where you have to shoot the gangster that pops his head out of the window and shoots at you, and later on in a scene, you have to destroy a bomb that is supposed to kill you. The rest of the game includes horizontal side-scrolling scenes where mobsters shoot you from windows, behind bars, and from behind crates. At the end of each scene, there is a boss that you have to fight, but unlike other shooter games like Wanted, you will not fight these bosses alone, but rather with a few mobsters here and there.

If you are lucky, you can even play a bonus game, where the object is to shoot some bricks to find a gold key within a strict time limit. If you manage to find a key, you receive a bonus. The row of red hearts represent your energy. If you get hit by a mobster, the heart will turn white, and if you have too many white hearts, then you are out of the game. If you see some white hearts, you can shoot anything to see if you can get some more health.

Gangster Town is one tough game. You see, some statistics will be shown when each scene ends, and these show specific information, such as the number of hits and qualification score. If you did poorly at a scene, your qualification score will be much lower than the required amount, and you have failed. Fear not, just because you fail does not mean that the game is over. You see, when I played the game, I still failed each scene despite how many gangsters that I hit, which is more than you ever could. This would make me complete the game again for some more practice.

The graphics and sound is good, and have got the same standard as the many SMS games that are out there. The side-scrolling scenes are well done, and are drawn exactly what each real-life location should look like.

The Bad
Gangster Town requires really good motor skills. If you are not fast enough at the game, more and more gangsters will pop up and shoot you, resulting in you losing energy like you wouldn't believe. Of course, if you do not have any motor skills at all, you could always shoot like hell around the screen, and hope that you shoot enough gangsters.

The Bottom Line
A very good game that requires a bit of motor skill in order to successfully complete the game. If you win, but did poorly in completing each scene, you can play the game again and see if you fare better than last time.

Rating: ***½