Top 5 Light Gun Shooter Games

I'm a huge fan of playing the light guns shooters games out there. All you have to do is to pick up your light gun, start shooting the crap of them, reloading your weapon and saving bunch of hostages is just what the light gun shooters is all about. There are some of the best light gun shooters games around from 80's to 2000's when all the shooting games was released for both arcade cabinet and home consoles. I've played lot of great shooting games that we all love playing on the arcades and consoles, so I've decided to make my top 5 favourite light gun shooter games that I like on my list.

5 - Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns: Arcade Hits Pack

Both of these games was originally released in between 1996 and 1998 as the arcade version, but it was later released in 2010 as the video game compilation for Nintendo Wii. Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns: Arcade Hits Pack are actually really good arcade video game compilation for the Wii owners because it is the cult classic shooters that haven't got the release for the classic consoles in 90's which is quite shame for hardcore light gun shooter fans, but I'm glad that SEGA brought the 2 amazing light gun classics on Nintendo Wii, so the light gun shooter fans can enjoy playing games on the home console. 

I really enjoyed playing both games because it is the fast paced shooter with tons of action where I just keep shooting bunch of bad guys without having to reload the weapons which is quite awesome, so these games has the insane enemies where they start dodging around the places, shooting lot of projectiles, too many wreckage with tons of explosives and starts flying around with jetpacks and air vehicles that makes the game more exciting to play. This is definitely recommended for hardcore light gun shooters fans out there should able to get this for Nintendo Wii with intense 2-player co-op action.

4 - Ghost Squad 

            

Ghost Squad was originally released in 2004 for the arcade version and it was later released for Nintendo Wii in between 2007 and 2008. It is really good light gun shooter for Nintendo Wii system with 4-players co-op and online high score leaderboard where you can keep your record through online ranking. You get to play as the members of the squad teams has the mission to take down the terrorist and rescuing the hostages. This game has fluid gameplay where you can use the Wii Zapper which is easier to target the enemies and the weapons are actually decent with impressive shooting collisions, responsive reloading times and using the action button which is perfect for hand to hand combat gameplay. Each mission has multiple routes for player to choose and it also has special events for players to complete the task such as defusing the bombs and securing the hostages which gives more challenge for players to satisfy their experiences on light gun games. 

Ghost Squad is a another great cult classics light gun games for the Nintendo Wii with amazing missions, superb 4-players co-ops and it has great gameplay overall.

3 - Time Crisis series

    

Namco made really awesome cover-based light gun shooter series when the Time Crisis was first released in 1995. It is best known for using the cover system which the player can hide behind the objects is a new thing for the light gun shooter genres. I really enjoyed playing some of the Time Crisis games like the first, second and third for the arcade cabinets because I like shooting the bad guys and hiding the objects at the same time and also I love the higher challenge of the game with great missions to play. I also brought Time Crisis: Razing Storm compilation for PS3 which I can enjoy the games like Razing Storm and Time Crisis 4 which I can play with PS Move controller. 

Time Crisis is the greatest light gun shooters franchises for both arcade machines and home consoles as considered to be all time classics.    

2 - Virtua Cop series

Virtua Cop series is a granddaddy of the 90's light gun shooter which was created by SEGA AM2.

It is the most standards arcade shooter games when the arcade version was first released in 1994 and it was later released the SEGA Saturn version in 1995. Virtua Cop is a pretty straightforward shooting game where you get to play as two police officers to take down the criminals and rescuing hostages through the mission. Virtua Cop 2 was released one year later for the arcade version and later for SEGA Saturn version in 1996 which has 1 new playable character. Both of the game was praised by critics for light gun gameplay with precise targeting and easier to shoot at the enemies which makes the game more simple to play and it has more depths of level with detailed graphics was also praised which makes the series a best of the genres. 

I really liked the first Virtua Cop for Saturn version with decent missions and better soundtrack, but my favourite goes to Virtua Cop 2 because it has more actions where you can shoot down the criminals from the vehicles is very entertaining and it does have more responsive light gun gameplay and has better graphics details for Saturn version than the first ones which makes the Saturn version a perfect arcade port. It was also major influence on most of the light gun shooters such as Time Crisis series, House of the Dead series, Resident Evil spin-offs series and Dead Space: Extraction, as well as the FPS games like Goldeneye 007 for Nintendo 64. 

1 - The House of the Dead series

        

The House of the Dead is got to be one of my favourite light gun shooter franchise in history. The first game was released in 1996 and was later for SEGA Saturn release in 1998 as the last game for SEGA Saturn's lifespan. It is best known for shooting the bunch of the ugly ass zombies that was infected by the evil scientist named Dr. Curien who puts his dangerous experiments on people which turns them to deadly zombies, so it is up to two main agents has their mission to take down the mad scientists through the mission.  

I say the first game are actually decent for both Arcade and Saturn version with interesting chessey story cutscenes, great missions on each chapters, very gorey graphics and of course it was perfect for 2-player co-op to enjoy the light gun horror experiences. I also liked the 1999's sequel called The House of the Dead 2 for SEGA Dreamcast especially with the Wii version in 2008 (as The House of the Dead 2&3 Return) are much better than the first ones because it has better boss fights, more depths of levels and it still has amazing soundtrack as the first game. The another 2002's sequel called House of the Dead 3 is also good as well with better graphics and nice games modes, but it may be not good as the second ones, but it's still worth playing for both arcade and home consoles versions. The another 2005's sequel called House of the Dead 4 is much better than the third ones especially with PS3 version was also released in 2012 with PS Move support and extra two stages from the special version. It has more variety of light gun gameplay such as throwing grenades, shaking the gun to reload the weapons and using action sequences to pushes back attackers which makes the game more up to date. My favourite game on the series goes to The House of the Dead: Overkill because I finding the storyplot a lot more better than the previous arcade classics, the characters are funny and entertaining with hilarious F-word dialogues, and the game still retains the classic gameplay with selectable weapons and upgrades. I say the PS3 version is lot better than the Wii version because it is the extended cut with HD graphics, 3D compatibility, and two new levels with new bosses.

The House of the Dead is deadly fun light gun shooter franchise as one of my favourite light gun series of all time.  

There are my honourable mentions that these are the great Light Gun Shooter games who didn't made it to my top 5 Light Gun Shooter, so here are the list of the games down below:

Dead Space: Extractions

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles

Confidential Mission

Duck Hunt

Rambo (2008 arcade)

Police 911

Lethal Enforcers series

Terminator 2: The Arcade Game

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Wario Land: The Shake Dimension Wii Review

Wario Land: The Shake Dimension (A.K.A Wario Land: Shake It! in US release) is a 2D platform game for Nintendo Wii, which developed by Good Feel and published by Nintendo. It was originally released in 2008 and it was later re-released for Nintendo e-shop as downloadable game for Wii U on April 7th 2016 in Europe. It is the sixth installment of the Wario Land series and it is the first game to be released on home consoles, so unlike the rest of the previous games was already released for handheld systems.

Back in the days, I've never played any of Wario Land games until I got the Wario Land 4 for GBA. It is a fun 2D platform game for the handheld system with very unique gameplay, excellent graphics, catchy soundtrack, amazing level stages and of course the mini game is just made me enjoy the game's overall, but it is shame that after I've already completed the game once, the save data stops working due to faulty battery RAM in the game cartridge because I wanted to play the game again, so I couldn't get it worked properly which means I have to find another copy of the game someday in the future.

In this year, I've decided to buy Wario Land: The Shake Dimensions from the CeX store because the price is much cheaper compared with other stores like Amazon or Ebay, so I've bought it for £6.00 which is a great deal for Nintendo Wii collectors.

Okay then, let's go back to reviewing the game. Wario Land: The Shake Dimension is a great game for Wii titles. The game developer's team did a stunning job for whole game because of the Wii remote is perfect for shaking mechanics and it has unique levels with secrets and rewards which made the gameplay played great. The graphics has wonderful animation with nice art-style and decent design choices which makes the presentation and the stages looked amazing for the Wii hardware systems. The soundtrack is pretty somewhat the best in the series with catchy tunes and very jazzy feel to the music. There are some few issues of the game is the short length of the single player's campaign which makes the game easier to complete and the tilt mechanics are quite difficult to control in the water stage. So far, I really enjoyed playing this game and it is considered to be a underrated gems for the Wii library games because Wario Land: The Shake Dimension needs to be deserve a much credit to show how awesome the modern 2D platform games are and using the Wii remote for shaking mechanics is just simple straightforward and easier to use.



Presentation

The opening cutscenes starts with female pirate named Captain Syrup breaking into museum and observing the surface of the ancient globe, which houses the shake dimension world. Meanwhile at the shake dimension world, the villain named Shake King has obtained the bottomless coin sack, which releases the endless supply of coins when shaken, and captured the Queen Merelda and her Merfle.
After Captain Syrup have learned the crisis of the Shake Dimension world, she began to steal the globe and mails it to Wario, claiming that the real treasure is inside. Before Wario breaks the globe with the hammer, one of the Merfle came out from the globe and asks Wario for help. Wario becomes interested in the affair only after learning of the bottomless coin sack and follows the Merfle back into the Shake Dimension world.

I really love the opening movie is because of the fully animated cutscenes has well designed art-style for the character's design and it has well presented visual animation to make the game more stunning and stylish anime look of the game. The story is pretty good for Wario series because it's all about collecting biggest treasures and it's more like of the epic adventures kinda stuff to the game. Wario as a character can be a bad guy in the Mario series, but sometime he turns out to be good in his series. He is one of the funniest characters in the game because of his obsession with the money and his dumb personalties that made him so entertaining. I really liked the main menu's screen that shows Wario started to shake dancing while he checking the globe with the telescope because of his excitement of collecting treasures.

Overall, the presentation is gets the job done with nicely animated cutscenes, simple storyplot and funny main protagonist that makes the game professionally brilliant.


Gameplay

This game has 5 worlds to complete including secrets levels and boss levels. The gameplay is on 2D perspective where you take control of Wario. Your main goal is to collect enough coins and treasures in each levels which you can able to purchase a new maps from Captain Syrup's shop later when having enough money to unlock the new area and of course you must defeat the mini boss in each maps.

The control are pretty straightforward, you can control the player by using the d-pad button to move around and pressing up+jump button or down button to get in the pipe.
Using the shaking mechanics on the bag of coins with the Wii remote which pops the coins out from the bag are very useful to collect enough money, but try to be careful not to drop or lose any of the coins from somewhere else before you start shaking the Wii remote during the gameplay. You can throw any objects by holding the button while you can aim in different direction with the Wii remote's tilting controls which worked very well for some levels.
You can attack enemies by using Wario's charge attack and butt stomp, but you can also use shaking mechanics on the enemies which drops the health items and you can throw the enemies on somewhere else in the level which are quite handy for game's puzzles as well. You can perform stomp punch by shaking Wii remote which are quite useful to stun enemies, dropping the objects and activates certain mechanism which is quite cool in the game.
In the sea levels, you take control of the Wario's submarine by going forward and backwards with d-pad button and using tilting control for moving up and down, but I think the tilting controls are kinda feels awkward to move, but you may be played okay once you get used with the controls in the sea levels. You can also shoot enemies by pressing the shoot button which shoots out the submarine's missiles.

The levels are well designed with no issues at all which makes the level so unique because it gives a higher challenge for the players to explore by finding secrets and collecting rare treasures. The boss levels is also good because it's pretty well challenging which makes the game so much enjoyable to play. You can head at the Captain Syrup's shop to purchase health's upgrade which extends player's health meter and health recovery are quite handy to use when the player runs out the health meter.

Overall, the gameplay mechanism is feels responsive, the levels are very fun to enjoy especially with the boss fights and it is fun to collect money and items in the whole levels makes the game so decent.


Graphics

Production I.G did a fantastic job in the movie presentation because I really loved the fully animated character's design which makes the game look specular on both opening and closing cutscenes. It's colorful and it's well produced animation designs that shows how amazing the game looks. The developer teams did a stunning job on the level backgrounds and visuals are very detailed and more cartoony style that fits very well in the level scenery. It's shows how capable the Wii's hardware systems could able to handle over more than 1000 animation frames.

Overall, it is by far one of the best graphics on the Wii systems that handles perfectly for game's overall.


Music and Sounds

This game has very catchy soundtrack for each levels. It's quite has a jazzy music feel to the game and other sometimes orchestral and atmospheric sounds are also quite sounds amazing for some levels. I say the soundtrack are by far the best in the series. The sound effects are sounds cool in the game especially with the speaker on the Wii remote are also sounds terrific when shaking the controller. I also loved the character's voice because it has very comical voices and fitting tone of the voice which makes the characters sounds awesome in the game.

Overall, it does have the outstanding music, cool sound effects and fitting character's voice in the game.


Special Features

This game has some of the secret levels where you have to find secret maps in each level which you can unlock the new levels in the maps. You can unlock both opening and closing movie at the Captain Syrup's shop and you can obtain the soundtrack by completing the each mission tasks in each levels. The game comes with sticker where you can place the sticker on the game manual book which is kinda look awesome especially with index sticker pages is quite useful.

Overall, It's a nice features of the game has to offer with secret levels, unlockables and sticker pages for game manual book.            



Advantages

Superb presentation

Straightforward gameplay mechanism

Stunning graphics

Outstanding soundtrack

Awesome characters

Impressive levels and bosses


Disadvantages

Tilting control may not be easier for sea levels

Short length campaign



Final Verdict


Presentation 8/10 - Nicely animated cutscenes, simple storyplot and funny main protagonist.

Gameplay 7.5/10 - Gameplay mechanism is feels responsive and the levels are very fun.

Graphics 9/10 - Stunning character's design, colorful animation design and very detailed backgrounds and visuals.

Music and Sounds 9/10 - Outstanding music, cool sound effects and fitting character's voice.

Special Features 7.5/10 - Secret levels, unlockables and sticker pages for game manual book.


Overall 8/10 - Looks like Good Feel did a great job for the Nintendo Wii console. This game has well presenting story and design for presentation. The gameplay has playable controls and impressive levels with superb challenge, collecting cool treasures in secret areas and epic boss fights that keeps the game so much entertaining. The graphics has awesome animation and well drawn backgrounds and visuals that the game has the charm for the Wii system. The music are sounds surprisingly outstanding for Wario Land series in my opinion. Wario Land: The Shake Dimension is very fascinating underrated gem game for Wii owners should able to get this game for Nintendo Wii and I'm also glad that the game was re-released for the Wii U in Europe, so I'm also recommended for Wii U owners should get the game from Nintendo e-shop.                  



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