Hang On & Safari Hunt

"The Sega version of Duck Hunt"

Safari Hunt for the Sega Master System was the pack in zapper game for the system. Safari Hunt is for the most part Sega’s counter to Duck Hunt. In my opinion, Safari Hunt is a better game then Duck Hunt. There is much more variety in the game play and it holds one’s interest better.

Game Play:
The game in a nut shell is to shoot as many animals as possible with a certain number of bullets and get enough points to continue to the next round. What is nice about this game is that you will be shooting a variety of animals, in comparison to Duck Hunt which you only get to shoot ducks. The game is split into three levels that are continued sequentially over and over. Every stage has a high score that you must reach to continue to the next level, with the game getting more difficult by increasing the high score necessary to continue. The three stages are lake view, forest, and swamp. Each stage features its own set of animals to shoot. In the lake level you must shoot ducks, fish, and rabbits. In the forest level you get to put some lead in armadillos, bears, and vultures. Finally, the swamp level has one aiming at spiders, monkeys, and black panthers. This game gives variety in its settings and that is what sets it apart and above Duck Hunt.

Story:
There is no story supplied in this game. There may be a story in the manual, but I only have the cart. It is a zapper game and no story is really necessary.

Audio/Video:
The sound in the game is pretty much non existent. There are two sound effects in this game, one when you hit an animal and one when you miss. Neither of these effects are particularly memorable, but they get the job done. It would have been nice if the animals made sounds when they ran across the screen or some ambient sounds to make the atmosphere a little more exciting. There are only 4 songs in this game. The title music is well done and reminds me of an old school rap song, with scratch like sounds and everything. The rest of the songs are only 10 second clips, there is one at the beginning of stage 1, one for between levels, and a game over song. All of these are typical video game music for the time and really aren’t bad, but nothing memorable. It would have been nice to hear some music while playing, since there are no sound effects while playing. This game is very quiet when playing, which is not very exciting. Luckily the game play holds it own.
The graphics in this game are very well done. Every animal has a separate animation after being shot, such as the ducks lose all their feathers when shot and the armadillos roll into a ball. The graphics as a whole are crisp and all the animals are animated and drawn well. The backgrounds are all very nice and colorful. The graphics may not be very complex, but what is presented is very good.

Replayability:
This game is like many other zapper games, they are fun for short periods. This is a game you may want to play for a little while put away for a month and then play it again when the mood hits you.

Conclusion:
I think this is a great gun game and is perfect when you want to take a short break from work, life, or anything. I highly recommend this game to anyone that has a master system and likes zapper games. This isn’t a game that you will spend hours upon hours on, but the time you do spend with it will be fun.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/02, Updated 03/05/02