This bizarre lightgun shooter from Exidy was first released in 1986, and it caused some controversy – in North America, at least. Many arcade owners refused to buy Chiller – because of the subject matter – so Exidy instead marketed it to countries that didn’t mind the satirical violence.
Monthly Archives: October 2023
Ghoul Panic, Arcade
First released into arcades in 1999, Ghoul Panic by Namco is a spooky Halloween-style lightgun shooter for one or two players that is heavily inspired by Namco‘s Point Blank series. The game was developed by Eighting/Raizing and features colourful, well-animated 3D graphics throughout.
Point Blank, Arcade
Point Blank (aka Gun Bullet in Japan) is a minigame-based, humorous lightgun shooter for one or two players. It was created by Namco and initially distributed into arcades in 1994.
Under Fire, Arcade
I’ve played a number of bad lightgun shooters with digitised graphics recently and Taito‘s 1994 arcade game, Under Fire, is probably the worst of the bunch.
Time Crisis, Arcade
Time Crisis is a classic lightgun shooter, developed and distributed into arcades by Namco in 1995. The game is played in a 3D environment, with all the locations, characters and cut scenes fully-modelled as texture-mapped polygons. Unlike many lightgun shooters of the time, Time Crisis is a single-player only game, because it utilizes a foot pedal for taking cover.
Operation Wolf 3, Arcade
Developed by East Technology for Taito, and first distributed into arcades in 1994, Operation Wolf 3 is – as the title suggests – the third game in the famous Operation Wolf series. It’s a lightgun shooter for one or two players, and it goes the route of using digitised graphics, which I personally think was a mistake, because the hand-drawn 2D graphics of Operation Wolf, and the sequel, Operation Thunderbolt, are much better than the dodgy visuals in this.
Gunbuster, Arcade
Gunbuster is a lightgun-based First-Person Shooter (FPS) for up to four players, first distributed into arcades by Taito in 1992. It was released as “Operation Gunbuster” in North America and as “Gun Buster” in Japan.
Lucky & Wild, Arcade
Lucky & Wild is a one or two-player lightgun shooter from Namco that is incorporated into a driving game. Not only does each player hold a handgun in one hand, but they also have a steering wheel and two pedals (accelerate and brake) to contend with. That might sound like too much to handle, but it works well in the context of a car chase shoot ’em up. Which is what this game is. Imagine Chase HQ crossed with Operation Wolf, and you get Lucky & Wild.
Maximum Force, Arcade
Maximum Force is the ‘spiritual successor’ to Atari Games‘ hit lightgun shooter, Area 51. It was developed by Mesa Logic (the same company who made Area 51) and features the same style of gameplay and graphics – pre-rendered backgrounds and environments; fixed, on-rails camera movement, and shot-on-video digitised characters. The game was first released into arcades in 1997 and caters for one or two players.
Area 51, Arcade
Developed by Mesa Logic and distributed into arcades by Atari Games in 1995, Area 51 is a lightgun shooter for one or two players where you play as a member of a military incursion team, called the Strategic Tactical Advanced Alien Response (STAAR), which has been sent in to prevent aliens – known as The Kronn – and alien-created zombies, from taking over the infamous Area 51 military facility.
The King of Grabs 