Wild Guns

"You will love every moment of this incredibly fun and breathtakingly awesome game"

Wild Guns is an action game for the SNES with a gameplay style that very few games have adapted. You have full control over your cowboy or cowgirl on a 2D plain allowing you to run, jump and shoot – however you can only move within the confines of the level which is slightly bigger than the screen. Meanwhile you shoot in to the background whilst enemies such as robots, cowboys and pirates appear there to shoot back at you. It is far more fun and awesome than it sounds and it already sounds very fun and awesome.

The story is really rather insignificant though I will put it here anyway on the off chance you're interested. Basically Annie's family was murdered by the Kid family and now Annie wants revenge. She hires Clint in order that she has a little extra firepower and the two proceed to hunt down the killers. The story isn't original or great, but who cares about that because this is a fast paced action game not an rpg.

The moveset allows for some very awesome stuff. Instead of having to tap down on the shoot button you can just hold down to the button to get some rapid fire shooting. To avoid bullets you can jump or double jump out of the way or even do something as mundane as run – though be aware you can't shoot whilst running. The reticule for the aiming of your weapon is moved with the same D-pad that makes you run which sounds like a horrible idea but it actually works brilliantly as whilst shooting you can't run (allowing you to aim easily) and even whilst running the reticule sensitivity is just right to allow you to still aim incredibly easily. In fact all of the controls are amazingly tight which allows you to truly get in to the action.

Whilst you're shooting you can still roll out of the way to avoid oncoming bullets – however is this really a great idea? As soon as you stop shooting (which happens when you roll) your combo stops, but more importantly you can shoot bullets down in mid air before they hit you which fills up a special meter – when the special meter is full you get 10 seconds or so of insane firepower, invulnerability and a flashing screen as you blow the hell out of everything –this is insanely cool. Of course the bullets would be near impossible to blow out of midair if not for the fact that little flashing green bulls-eyes that show where incoming bullets will hit – this is a fantastic idea as it means you can have tons more bullets flying at you and yet still have and incredibly more fun and just as difficult time.

The levels range from Western bars to water-filled caves to robot factories to one particularly fun level where trains pass in front of your train carrying enemies. All the levels look lovely and have reasonably destructible scenery – from windows to beer bottles to pipes. To add further greatness to this any bullet marks you leave in walls stay there until the end of the level – sheer awesomeness.

Unless you haven't guessed yet I truly adore the gameplay in this game as it is incredibly action packed and unbelievable kick-ass. To add to this there are massive bosses taking up the entire screen towering over you, you can throw back any dynamite towards enemies that throw it at you, punch enemies that come near you sending them flying, lay explosives (from your stock of 3) that hurt everything on screen, shoot power ups that turn your gun in to very cool weapons ranging from a rapid-rapid fire machine gun to a slightly less rapid but still very fast bazooka.

If I haven't sold you on it yet then I doubt I ever will but I can only keep trying. The graphics are great – everything looks polished and it is very easy to see what is going on even during the manic action. Meanwhile some rocking music makes things even more intense. This is what action game music is about – something which keeps you playing and makes every killer moment ten times as intense.

The game is very difficult even on easy mode (yay for three different difficulties) but after half an hour you will be doing quite well. Unfortunately it is only a couple of hours long and once you're good enough to avoid dying you could probably cut that down to under an hour – but you know what? That doesn't matter one iota. You will love every moment of this incredibly fun and breathtakingly awesome game and are more than likely to return to every now and then for a quick – and still just as fun – playthrough.

Gameplay = 10/10
Graphics = 9.5/10
Music = 9.5/10

Final Score = 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/08

Game Release: Wild Guns (EU, 10/31/96)