Gun.Smoke

is a 1985 vertical scrolling run-and-gun shooter arcade game produced by Capcom and designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. A Western-themed game, ''Gun.Smoke'' centers on a character named Billy Bob, a bounty hunter going after the criminals of the Wild West.

Gameplay

The game is a vertical scrolling, run & gun shooter in which the screen automatically scrolls upward. Players use three buttons to shoot left, right, and center. The player can also change the way Billy shoots through button combinations. The player dies by getting shot, struck by enemies, or caught between an obstacle and the bottom of the screen. The player can collect various items, including a horse for extra protection, boots for increased movement speed, bullets for faster shots, a yashichi for an extra life, and a rifle for longer shot range. Other items add points to your score such as stars, bottles, bags, and dragonflies.

Two versions of ''Gun.Smoke'' were released in North America by Romstar.

Ports

''Gun.Smoke'' was ported to these systems:

*The MSX
*The PlayStation and Sega Saturn as a part of '' Capcom Generation 4''
*The PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Xbox as a part of '' Capcom Classics Collection''
*The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as a part of ''Capcom Arcade Cabinet''
*Windows 98 and Windows XP as a part of ''Capcom Arcade Hits Volume 3''
*The Amstrad CPC as ''Desperado – Gun.Smoke''; this platform received a sequel called ''Desperado 2''
*The ZX Spectrum

NES version

The game was later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Family Computer Disk System (FDS) in 1988. The game features a new storyline: In 1849, a gang known as the Wingates attacks the town of Hicksville, kills the sheriff, and causes trouble everyday until Billy, the main character, comes to town to free it from the gang. The NES version also has different music.

Differences from the arcade version

Although the NES version maintained the original gameplay of the arcade version, there were several changes:

*Only six of the ten bosses are in this version (Master, Ninja, Cutter, Wolf Chief, Los Pubro, and Fat Man).
*Additional weapon options: a machine gun (which is the normal gun with a turbo function), a shotgun, a smart bomb, and a magnum.
*The player can use their score to purchase weapons and items.
*Four of the bosses had their names changed. Master was renamed to Bandit Bill, Wolf Chief was renamed to Devil Hawk, Fat Man was renamed to Fat Man Joe, and Los Pubro was renamed to Wingate.
*Los Pubro was made the final boss in the NES version as Wingate, a guerrilla of the Mexican Revolution, with a changed appearance featuring a slash over one of his eyes, a cape, and a machine gun. The player must also battle Wingate twice, the first one being Wingate's double and the second, being the true Wingate.
*Other bosses also had changed appearances. Bandit Bill (Master) wears a red shirt and blue jeans. Cutter wears a baggy blue sleeveless shirt and red pants. Ninja wears a purple ninja outfit with a ponytail and shoots shurikens that split in four as his weapon. Devil Hawk (Wolf Chief) is now shirtless and uses fireballs as his weapon. Fat Man Joe (Fat Man) wears an armored plated shirt and uses a bomb gun.
*There is another type of yashichi that will give the player temporary invincibility.

FDS version

Although virtually identical to the NES version, the FDS version featured several differences:

*The game, like most other FDS games, features load times.
*"In America" is changed to "In 1849".
*Bandit Bill's mugshot on the wanted poster is slightly different in both versions of the game. In the FDS version, his shirt has an open collar, with part of his chest showing. In the NES version, his shirt has a scarf around it. The original versions featured wanted poster mugshots with an anime art-style, whereas the NES version featured a more realistic art-style.
*The shopping music features fewer instruments in this version. Many of the songs featured in the NES version are not in the FDS version, and instead reuse the same music for certain scenes in the game. This is due to limited space in FDS disk cards.
*The game demonstration in the NES version is not in the FDS version.
*After beating the game twice, the player is rewarded with a message telling the player to try the game again. After the third time, the player will be rewarded with a message stating "THE END".

German Version

The German release of ''Gun.Smoke'' was released in an altered version where all bosses were replaced by robots, similar to the censored version ''Commando'' on the Commodore 64.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the arcade version was composed by Ayako Mori. On August 25, 1986, Alfa Records released a limited-edition soundtrack, featuring all of the music from the arcade version, as well as two unused tracks. Its catalog number was Capcom Game Music – 28XA-94.

Reception

''Game Machine'' listed ''Gun.Smoke'' in their January 1986 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month in Japan. The US ''Play Meter'' charts listed it as one of the top five arcade games the same month. It went on to be Japan's sixth highest-grossing table arcade game during the first half of 1986.

The arcade game received positive reviews. In a January 1986 issue of ''Play Meter'' magazine, Frank Seninsky listed ''Gun.Smoke'' as the top recommended arcade conversion kit, calling it "a number-one kit with great graphics." ''Computer and Video Games'' magazine gave the arcade game a positive review in March 1986, calling it an "excellent" fast-paced shooter, considering it to be better than light gun shooters such as '' Hogan's Alley'' and ''Shoot Out''.

Sequel

A sequel, titled Desperado 2, was developed by Topo Soft and released in 1991. The game was released on Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.

See also

* ''Commando''

References

External links

*
Gun.Smoke at the arcade history databaseGun.Smoke: NES Game Coverage
*{{WoS game, id=0009331, name=Desperado

1985 video games
Amstrad CPC games
Arcade video games
Capcom games
Famicom Disk System games
NTDEC games
Video games set in the United States
MSX games
Nintendo Entertainment System games
Vertically scrolling shooters
Western (genre) video games
ZX Spectrum games
PlayStation 3 games
PlayStation Network games
Romstar games
Video games developed in Japan
Xbox 360 Live Arcade games
Video games set in the 19th century
Multiplayer and single-player video games